You don't have to be a social science researcher or psychotherapist to recognize that things are falling apart.You just have to be alive and willing to see the world as it is and not withdraw into drugs, alcohol, over-eating, television, movies or other readily available escapes. OK, let's be honest. Things can get overwhelming and we need some escapes. Otherwise we'd become suicidal.
I just got back from New York where I appeared on the CBS Early Morning Show (you can watch the segment here) and talked about Irritable Male Syndrome. I was amazed at the response. Within hours after the show aired last Tuesday, 20,000 people came to my website and 8,000 took the quiz (www.IMSquiz.com) to see if they, or someone they loved, were suffering from IMS.
In the research I did for the book, I found that there were four key causes that led to depression and aggression if not treated:
- Biochemical changes in brain chemistry.
- Hormonal fluctuations.
- Increasing stress.
- Changes in our role identity.
Men tend to "act out" our worries and fears. We get aggressive, angry and sometimes violent. Women tend to "act in" their worries and fears. They often become anxious, obsessive and depressed.Women's style often garners more sympathy and support. Men's style tends to alienate people. It's easier to reach out to someone who is sad and depressed than someone who is angry and aggressive. However, both men and women need empathy and support.
Although people are focused on the current economic crisis these days (and which Presidential candidate is most likely to help us survive and keep a few of our hard-earned dollars), most of us are aware that there are other problems we must face. Like the massive luxury ocean liner that most believed unsinkable, civilization is hurtling at a lethal "iceberg" with climate change, peak oil, economic dislocations, environmental destruction, population overshoot, and male-led terrorism and violence looming just beneath the surface. We are told by our leaders not to worry, that the leaks in the boat can be fixed, that modern technology will save us. Yet more and more people believe that collapse is imminent and are clamoring to get off the ship. John L. Petersen, President and Founder of the prestigious Arlington Institute, is considered by many to be one of the most informed futurists in the world. He says, "Converging trends strongly suggest that the world -- and our country -- are about to experience the greatest change and disruption known in our history. The next half dozen years will likely see rapid, global climate change coupled with the beginning of the end of the petroleum era and a reorganization of the planetary energy regime, a major shock to the global financial system, unprecedented food prices, and the growing possibility of wild card events such as a bird flu pandemic."
Many people react as though the end of civilization was the end of the world. But it isn't. True, the old system -- what I call the Ship of Civilization (also called "the Dominator Model" by Riane Eisler, the "Taker culture" by Daniel Quinn and "Empire" by David Korten) -- is sinking. But that's the good news, not the bad. Though it's been afloat for a long time, it was never built to last. It was an unfortunate diversion from our true path and was doomed from the get go. Humans lived well for millions of years before we boarded the indentured Ship of Civilization, and if we get off in time we have a good chance of living many millions of years more.So where do we go if we get off the Ship of Civilization? In simple terms, we go home. The good news is that we do what most of us truly want to do. We disengage from multi-national corporate world we were told would lead to health and well being, but has actually brought us more suffering. We slow down our lives. We make a commitment to a place. We put down our roots in a neighborhood and begin to localize. We take our money out of the multi-national banks and invest our money in our home town. We support the farmers markets in our area. We talk more and drive less.
Clearly we are moving into a new world. The President (and many others) got it wrong when he insisted that "the American way of life is not negotiable." The truth is that the American way of life is not sustainable. We need to accept that the old world, the Ship of Civilization, is going under. A new world, if we choose to help bring it into being, will be much better than the one we are leaving. So if things seem to be falling apart, it may be the sign of better things to come. What do you think?
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