by Anthony J. Marsella
To the many experiencing a diminution in their activism, and questioning their powers and commitment, I say:
The better term is “demoralization.” Not depression, nor any other pathological condition. Rather a normal response to life conditions denying agency, limiting will, or restraining courage thru punishment and torture.
The cure is not to be found in testosterone, serotonin, or dopamine, but in the recovery and building of a new self-identity relevant to the pressing and oppressing social conditions nurturing “demoralization.”
Demoralization!
A normal human response to anguish and desperation caused and sustained by offenses to the human spirit caused by injustice and abuses in the social fabric!
Right the wrongs, when you can, where you can, how you can.
The “demoralization” will diminish, but return until such time justice is the arbiter.
The struggle is constant, but the vision restorative.
Anthony J. Marsella, Ph.D., Professor Emeritus, Department of Psychology, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, Hawaii. Dr. Marsella has promoted cross-cultural understanding and acceptance as a key to peace within and among nations. He has conducted international research for three decades, as a Fulbright Scholar in the Philippines, a project director for a psychiatric epidemiological study in Borneo, a National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) Culture and Mental Health Fellow at the East-West Center in Honolulu, Hawaii, and a professor of psychology and director of the World Health Organization (WHO) at the University of Hawaii at Manoa. He is Past President of Psychologists for Social Responsibility (PsySR).
