Wednesday, April 16, 2008
Wine of Life, Sands of Time.
Long time, long time.
While enjoying my warm shower this afternoon, I was reminded of a news article, that i'd read about two weeks back. It was about some green lasers being aimed at passenger planes in Australia. The reason why, that article caught my attention, was simple. I was wondering how the passengers on board felt. It was seemingly like a terrorist attack, they could lose their lives, at any moment. Were they frightened? Confused? Or... Indifferent? Maybe... Ecstatic?
I believe there is a... Switch... Inside the human mind. This switch... Toggles the patterns and behaviour, of humans. Let's say... The switch is almost permanently in the "Off" position. Which means, we're in our normal behaviour. However, this switch... Can flip to the "On" position, when triggered by certain events. This causes us to act irrationally, sometimes even posing a danger to ourselves/others. We shall call this switch, the... "Self-destruct Switch".
When the self-destruct switch (SDS) is activated, as I mentioned earlier, we start to behave in a way, that, deviates... Doesn't seem like... Ourselves. These events that trigger the activation, could be trivial, or serious. For example, I had a friend, let's name her
W.
W had her SDS activated a few years ago, when a close friend she regarded as her Big Brother, wanted nothing more to do with her. It was like... Her world had come crashing down on her. It pained me to see her, act in that way too, 'cos she was like a little sister to me. Wrist-cutting, threatening to jump into the Singapore River to drown herself, just to name a few. Quite different, from her usual jovial self.Another good example, was another news article I read a few years back. Correct me, if my memory fails me. I read about this kid, who committed suicide, because his parents didn't want to buy him a new handphone. (Is that right? I don't remember clearly, but eh, the gist is there.) Now, i'm not saying that it's stupid, to want to take your own life, over any issue we deem trivial. We don't seem to be putting ourselves in others' shoes. We may think it's trivial, but to someone else, it could mean the world. It's not in our position to, eh, label someone stupid. For taking his/her own life, over something WE deem trivial. Rather than we ourselves, stupidly thinking, 'how stupid of someone, to take his/her life over something so trivial', shouldn't we find something more constructive to do, like, identifying people who are clearly distressed, and try to help them out? But yeah, it's stupid, to want to take your own life, 'cos, I believe, any problem can be solved, if we sit down and think long, think hard, enough. (I'm just saying, it's not right to want to take your own life, because life's more valuable than that. Incoherent thought. Back to the point.)
It is possible, to shutdown the SDS, in, eh, less extreme cases. The psychological stress and trauma caused, in some individuals, could be so great, it's irreversible. But generally, generally... Just show the troubled individual... That you'll be there. That you genuinely care for their well-being. In
W's case, I got her to tell me what's wrong. Though I didn't probe much. Though I didn't dispense advice, 'cos I know, advice isn't what she needed. In most cases, advice isn't what the individual needs. I don't want/need any advice myself, when I tell someone about my problems, unless i'm really lost, and ask for it. Probably the suggestions you're giving, he/she already thought of. So yeah, most troubled individuals... They only need a listening ear. For someone to know what they're going through. For someone to understand what's going on in their minds. For themselves to know, that someone genuinely cares for them, in this vast, unfeeling world. Slowly but surely, W's SDS deactivated. She stopped with her nonsense, and reverted to her usual self. To date, W is happy and well.In some special cases, people who have their SDS activated, somehow manage to think it through rationally, and come to self-actualisation, that they're acting irrationally.
At this point, probably what I just typed above, doesn't seem to have link to the news article about the faux terrorist attack. Let me explain, why i'm so intrigued about said article. I wondered, if any of the passengers on board the plane, were in some kind of psychological distress. And if there were any, were their SDS(es) already activated? What was going on through their head(s)?
"Yes, i'm going to die. Liberation..."
"Could I die, a more gruesome death?"
"My torment is finally, finally... Over."
Probably something along that line. It's dangerous, to think like a suicidal person, because you might start to act like one. So... Kids. Don't try this at home.
It's such a saddening fact... That people even contemplate killing themselves. And yet. It's not surprising. I say that, because I once entertained such thoughts, too. Lol. I once thought of studying psychology, so I could better understand, such individuals. But... I'm only human. There's a capacity, as to how many problems, I can listen to... I identify with people's problems so much, that I guess, one day i'd probably kill myself, if I were to practise psychology. It doesn't mean, that i'm not interested in the subject. Morbid thought. To want to know about suicide. But still, it's interesting.
Maybe thoughts of suicide, is actually a psychological defensive mechanism, but that's another thought for another post. Lols.
I don't know why I blogged about this.
Thy Sins be Cleansed.
11:58 AM
