When everyone around is only talking about government decisions, it is difficult to refrain from commenting on this matter. But sometimes we feel that we have crossed the line of reason, and our own violent reaction surprises us.
“I try to distract myself, but I can’t. Friends are surprised at the degree of my boiling. Why do I react so emotionally?
Ella, 41
Ekaterina Mikhailova, psychotherapist: “Let’s think about what’s going on with you. There are plenty of reasons for anger in your life, as well as in the lives of other people. And they didn’t show up yesterday. You describe a picture of complete immersion in destructive feelings: as soon as the topic of power arises (whether in a trifling conversation or a TV report), you get turned on and hardly restrain yourself. Friends (!) Are surprised at the degree of your boiling – but this is already disturbing, because they know and love you. Ella, something’s not right here. Something important is happening with your only life, so you should not think about the vices of power (whatever you mean by it), but about yourself. You should pay attention to your feeling of powerlessness, the feeling of being “trapped”, of your hands tied. You write that you wear headphones at work so as not to hear the chatter of colleagues about politics and bosses and not break loose. The state of disagreement and even hatred in you turns on at the mention of any person in power, and at the same time there is an acute feeling of your powerlessness. I think this reaction is not related to your beliefs or critical mindset. It is like an uncontrolled surge of accumulated energy. This happens when a person experiences a serious injury. A random word is enough – and an emotional explosion of destructive rage follows. It’s easier and safer to get angry about “power”: it’s everywhere, it’s impersonal, but it can also be dangerous, so guilt doesn’t accompany the seething rage. Ella, think about a possible severe traumatic experience of the past few years. You may even need psychological support. Pay special attention to those episodes in which you experienced helplessness before someone’s evil will. If such a connection is found, this alone will greatly reduce the degree of your rage: you will feel that with all the grimaces of this very power, it is still not about it. Such a vast potential adversary is a large “screen” onto which something else is projected.”