We are afraid of losing loved ones or our livelihood, of becoming a victim of a catastrophe, AIDS or a terrorist attack… Objectively, our life today is more stable than it was even a few years ago – but we do not feel calmer. Why?
We strive for social stability and, it would seem, we have achieved considerable success in this. Our country is on the rise: oil prices are higher than ever, the budget is replenished, GDP is growing, the ruble is strengthening, debts to the Paris Club have been paid ahead of schedule … We have a rest abroad, buy housing and cars, take care of ourselves – in a word, we do everything 20 years ago they could not even dream. Yet many of us are keenly aware that life is far from perfect. What are we worried about?
About it
- Natalya Kozlova. Soviet people. Scenes from history. Europe, 2005. Diaries, letters, memories of falling in love, what they were afraid of, what they dreamed about – the history of everyday life against the backdrop of the recent past.
Bible stories
Modern fears have thousands of faces, but at a deep level, their list has remained unchanged for many centuries. “Our current anxieties are essentially biblical fears: war, famine, pestilence,” says the sociologist Lev Gudkov. “Anxiety and anxiety have always existed, and it is hardly possible to imagine a society completely free from them,” continues the psychotherapist. Anna Varga. “However, their form and manifestation depend primarily on the specific cultural context and the state of society at the current moment.” So, people have always been afraid of military operations. In the Middle Ages – feudal or religious conflicts; in the XNUMXth century, during the era of the Cold War, the greatest concern was the possibility of a nuclear strike. Today the situation has changed again, and with it the face of our anxiety has changed: we are afraid of terrorist attacks. But, as before, we feel wounded, and it is difficult for us to adapt to the new situation. “Living in different regions, we react to events with varying degrees of emotionality: distance reduces the severity of experiences, but still what happened worries us,” adds the psychologist. Sergey Enikolopov. “And anxiety arises as a result of the accumulation of fears and threats.” As a result, we easily surrender to the power of feelings: we lose our bearings, we do things that are dictated not by reason, but by emotions.
WE NEED DECADES TO ADAPT TO THE NEW REALITY.
To adapt to a new reality, it takes time – years and even decades. “Therefore, let’s say, over the past twenty years, the “set of fears” in Russia has changed very little – and this despite the fact that reality itself in our country has undergone a truly radical transformation over this period,” comments Lev Gudkov.
We are not afraid
According to sociological research, regardless of age, level of education and income, we are most afraid of losing our loved ones (65%); the second place (60%) is occupied by the fear of poverty and poverty; 46% of Russians are afraid of war; 43% – natural disasters, 41% – old age, illness, helplessness*. “We are not afraid because there is a real threat of a tsunami, loss of a job or attack by the enemy. In general, we are afraid of misfortunes as such, Anna Varga explains. – If we talk about specific fears, then the roots should be sought in the historical memory of the Russian people. In less than a hundred years, we have survived the revolution, famine, Stalinist terror, wars – it is impossible to find a family in Russia that has not suffered. And when today we say: “I am afraid of losing a loved one” or “I am afraid of poverty”, we mean not only a personal experience. Our words largely reflect the unconscious collective anxiety of society, that is, social fears. “It is wrong to consider anxiety only as a reactive state – a temporary reaction of the human psyche that occurs in response to a difficult life situation,” Lev Gudkov believes. “These are not individual experiences, but fears historically anchored in public opinion.”
Time movement
One of the main reasons for our anxiety is the discrepancy between expectations and reality. We send the child to a private lyceum, hoping that the son or daughter will study in a new way and develop in the spirit of the times, and suddenly we find out that drugs are being sold in the school yard. We hope that “liberated” sex will bring only boundless joy, until we discover that it can kill by infecting the AIDS virus. “As a result, we are losing a sense of security and stability,” Sergei Enikolopov believes. “The world ceases to be predictable and benevolent for us, and self-doubt settles in us.” “In addition, we are left alone with our fears, because the public institutions designed to help us cope with the changing situation are not fulfilling their protective function today,” explains Lev Gudkov. “And we feel helpless in the face of our own worries.”
UNDERSTAND THE STRUCTURE OF THE COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS GOVERNING OUR LIFE.
live today
Living in a state of anxiety is not easy, and therefore we try to cope with our fears in the way that experience tells us. Some people go into hyperactivity, continuous hectic activity. Others selfishly try to delay as far as possible the moment of growing up, which is inevitably associated with the realization of responsibility for their lives and the lives of their loved ones. Someone hides behind a mask of cynicism, outliving their fears at the expense of others. But all these strategies come down to one thing: to leave, to run away from a personal, clear attitude to today’s realities of one’s own life. “There is no point in denying the existence of death, illness or suffering – they have always been and remain an integral part of human life,” says Anna Varga. “But, step by step, defining our attitude to our own anxieties, we get a chance, if not to overcome them, then to manage them.” And, moving away from the logic of life dictated by them, eventually get closer to yourself.
* Based on data from Levada Center surveys conducted in 46 regions of Russia in September 2005.