Contents
The twilight of the mind, the loss of human form, imprisonment … In us, rational modern people, the word “madness” still causes awe. Is it not because it reminds us of the shadowy part of our soul, invisible to the world? In order to understand our feelings and try to understand the phenomenon itself, we decided to look at it with the help of those who had already been in its power once.
They evoke mixed feelings in us: curiosity, disgust, pity, irritation – and a desire to step back, not to look. A strange appearance, untidy or frilly clothes, slow movements or erratic gestures, a fixed or, conversely, elusive look …
The life of mentally ill people is full of fears, uncontrollable affects, confused thoughts. They can see images, hear sounds that do not exist in reality, their thoughts and actions are subject to a strange, bizarre logic. However, despite this inner chaos, they manage to maintain human dignity and the hope of understanding. Why is it so hard for us to feel empathy for them? Why, instead, do we have a desire not to know, to forget, not to think?
Own and others
Madness is scary. First, because it is associated with violence. And not always wrong. Even if robbery-murders are much more common than insanity crimes, psychiatrists still know how easily a mentally unstable person, pursued by imaginary enemies in a fit of paranoia, can turn into a criminal.
If a person’s behavior does not comply with generally accepted rules, he is perceived as a stranger.
In addition, the appearance and behavior of mentally ill people become a challenge to social norms that prescribe to follow the rules of behavior and control emotions. We try to follow these guidelines, and everything that goes beyond them is alarming and annoying. And people with mental problems are so different from us: we cannot understand what is happening in their inner world, what prompts them to behave inappropriately, from our point of view. It is this dissimilarity that causes tension and fear.
“This happens because in any culture people are used to dividing others into friends and foes,” explains anthropologist Marina Butovskaya. – If a person’s behavior does not comply with generally accepted rules, he is perceived as a stranger. And strangers scare us with the impossibility of predicting their actions, understanding their intentions. And therefore, unconsciously, we perceive them as a source of danger.
challenge to sanity
“The fear of going crazy can manifest itself in various forms,” says psychiatrist Elena Vrono. — We may be afraid of the possibility of destruction of personality or intellect. In addition, we may be afraid of losing control of the situation or losing social connections. However, behind all these manifestations lie deeper, archaic fears.
Sometimes in a panic attack or in a state of severe stress, it may seem to us that we are “going crazy”: strong anxiety seizes the soul, thoughts are confused, we do things that are unusual for us. This happens because in everyone there is a germ of mental imbalance, a certain zone that is beyond the control of reason.
Many are afraid of the diagnosis – it seems to be a stigma that will remain for life
“Each child in his development goes through a stage when his psyche is filled with fears and fantasies about objects that carry danger, about absorption, devouring, disappearance,” explains psychotherapist Valentina Shipilova. – If a child grows up in an atmosphere of love and acceptance, these fears and fantasies are gradually forced into the unconscious, and the psyche builds a powerful defense against them.
In adults, they can “break through” in a state of stress or trauma – for example, in the form of nightmares, confusion of thought. What happens to mentally ill people? Their psyche does not have such defenses, cannot cope with such fears, and they experience this whole nightmare every day in reality.
Looking at them, we get scared, because they touch on deep-seated fears, from which we are well protected, but of which we have vague memories.
Baggage of prejudice
Another reason for fear is the attitude towards psychiatry in general (in everyday consciousness this is a closed, incomprehensible and therefore frightening area) and towards psychiatric clinics, which until recently (rightly) were associated with violence and inhumanity. Meanwhile, the improvement of psychotropic drugs gives sick people more and more chances to get rid of suffering, to regain peace of mind.
“And yet, the prejudice against psychiatry is still very strong,” Elena Vrono is sure. – People are afraid of the diagnosis – it seems to many a stigma that will remain for life. Therefore, people do not seek help even in very simple cases. If a person, for example, has bronchitis, he will not be treated on his own, but will resort to the help of a doctor. If the soul hurts, the best way out is to also go to a specialist and be treated.
Contact with the unconscious
We are able to empathize with the suffering of the mentally ill because each of us has experienced anxiety or despair. Although we rather respond not to the pain of these people, but to our own fears, we are afraid to find ourselves in a similar situation. Usually compassion occurs through identification with another person, when we can put ourselves in his place, feel what he is experiencing.
But with mentally ill people, such an identification is practically impossible, since you have to put yourself in the place of someone who has unbearable feelings for us, to feel the chaos that reigns in his soul.
About manias, phobias or split personality, we can form only a vague idea. Therefore, if in a panic attack or in a stressful situation it suddenly seems to us that we are going crazy, it is worth remembering that this “madness” is temporary. It is important to understand: we are faced with our own unconscious, but not with a real illness!
“I really wanted to understand these people and get closer to them as much as possible”
Julia Vysotskaya, actress
In 2002, she played Zhanna, a patient in a psychiatric clinic, the main character in Andrey Konchalovsky’s film House of Fools. Preparing for filming, which took place in one of the neuropsychiatric dispensaries in Moscow, Yulia Vysotskaya spent two months among the patients of the boarding school, trying to understand their attitude, to find the exact features for the role.
Psychologies: With what feelings did you go to the dispensary for the first time? Weren’t you afraid?
Yulia Vysotskaya: It wasn’t scary, because I didn’t know anything about this world at all. But when I got there, I experienced fear – primarily at the psychophysical level: there are different smells, different views, different energy. Everything else. No, no, there was no aggression, people are very calm. But they perceive themselves and the world around them differently, they have special relationships with the past and future, cause-and-effect relationships and associative thinking are less developed. For patients, for example, it was not a surprise that I appeared there and then went somewhere – it didn’t matter to them where I was at night … It seems to me that you need to go crazy in order to fully understand what and how they feel .
Were you not afraid to become the same, to go crazy?
No, because at that moment I really wanted to understand these people and get as close to them as possible. I wanted to let myself go professionally as far as possible. It was scary because there you can’t draw parallels with your usual life, from the feeling of unpredictability – not only the reactions of people, but also everything that happens. The first days I was in a tense state, and then I relaxed and felt more comfortable. Although sometimes a terrible thought appeared: what if I never get out of here? Moments like these really help to enjoy the moments of normal life.
What did help you overcome your fear?
Just time. I came there every day, for several months – that’s what I got used to. The desire to know helps overcome fear. You still do not understand what to expect, but your body and your unconscious stop reacting to this world as a hostile environment.
Maybe you have kept contacts with one of the patients of the clinic?
For them, it seems to me, there are only those people who are with them at the moment. I came to the dispensary three or four months after filming, but, in my opinion, I was more glad to see them than they were to see me. For them, what is happening today, now, is more significant. I don’t remember this experience every day, but I certainly remember every face and every fate. In fact, such an experience – like every day we live – leaves some kind of imprint on us, and we become different. I am who I am now, and thanks to the boarding school too.