Psychic Disease

The recurrence of what we call Evil in the world is worth some exploration.  Throughout history we are given accounts of extremes often ascribed to a person but more often the extreme was supported by those around them.  Some examples are Nero, Caligula, the Spanish Inquisition, the French Revolution, Napoleon, Hitler, Hussein in Iraq, the current Iran regime, the current Syrian regime, Al Qaeda, Venezuela’s Chavez, and I am sure that one can come up with many more examples.

Those listed above achieved the extreme on a grand scale and in more than one way.  There are many who achieve it on a lesser scale.  The movie Wolf of Wall Street is a story about a man who engaged in extreme self indulgence.  Because the details of Bernard Madoff are not as yet revealed, one can only imagine his lifestyle.  It is safe to say that most people who amass a fortune and then spend it satisfying their own appetites and those around them are examples.

“Of what,” you may ask.  And the answer is excessive (and you fill in the blank.)  We see examples of this in what people own and have on, where they live, and in how many places they maintain residence and there is a fine difference between getting along comfortably and being excessive.

In our society, that is the set of legal and ethical rules that we as a nation have adopted, the only arbiter of the situation is the person making the decision as to how to spend his resources, resources converted into money for spending.

There is now a mentality being expressed by the current president that the government should step in and manage this set of affairs for people; this isn't new, income tax was among the first such movements.  The extent to which he and his administration, including the sympathetic members of Congress, are successful in managing the distribution of wealth remains to be seen.  The majority of thinking people will decide that in future elections.

This is not, however, a political essay.  It is an attempt to pose the question: is there such a thing as psychic disease? 

In thinking about it as I write, I am inclined to think along the lines of Aristotle and perhaps agree with his philosophy of “the mean.”  I can’t quote chapter and verse but the sense of it is that going to excess is harmful or, perhaps, excess is a psychic disease.

Using the word disease as it is defined in a dictionary, i.e. a condition of the living animal or plant body or of one of its parts that impairs normal functioning and is typically manifested by distinguishing signs and symptoms, one could come to this conclusion.

Another expression of this same idea is the seven deadly sins, Lust, Gluttony, Greed, Sloth, Wrath, Envy, and Pride.  It can be seen that these are all extreme excesses of basic virtues. 

There is a direct parallel between diseases of the body and the psyche.  Such a disease can be self induced, inherited due to the influences of family, one can be infected by a culture that supports it, or it can be passed along from another who is infected or is a carrier of it, much like  polio  or tuberculosis.

It can get to epidemic proportion such as that which affected revolutionary France, Germany after WWI, or the Bolshevik Revolution in Russia.  These psychic diseases were exploited by megalomaniacs to the point of chaos and stopping the spread of it/them was only achieved with the resolve of those who recognized them for what they were.This is where we are today with religious extremism. 

The conclusion is that there are psychic diseases that breed in dissatisfaction and misery in the emotional sources of individuals and that they can be controlled but not eradicated.