HURRY UP! STOP AND THINK!

Victor Bloom MD

Stop and think before going on a murderous rampage! The New York Times recently did a series on multiple murders, in an attempt to define the critical underpinnings of the recent rash of school and other massacres. It pointed to the usual suspects:

Violence in the media, violence in videogames, erosion of values, secularization of society, availability of firearms, undetected mental illness,

detected mental illness, parental neglect, parental abuse,

defense mechanisms of denial and avoidance, lack of mental health facilities... to name just a few.

All this has got me to thinking, and I came up with what may be an over-arching theory, one which accounts for the fact that the pace of our lives has speeded up beyond our ability to maintain control over primitive impulses and irrational behavior. Consider the speed of cars, the speed of airplanes, the speed of computers and the speed of information flow.

Think of 'road rage,' which happens when some people are interrupted in getting from point A to point B in the shortest possible time. Think of the reckless pace of our highways, the rate of speech in commercials, the sound bites. Consider the medication advertisements, when one form of headache remedy is touted to work seconds faster. The speed of round the world communications, the speed of space travel, of intercontinental ballistic missles, the lightning pace of the Gulf War, global communications at the speed of light--- the contemplation of them leaves us feeling breathless.

Now consider our modern advertising mantras:

Just do it!__ Go 4 it!___ Do it NOW!___

These resonate with the time-honored admonitions:

'Strike while the iron is hot!' and 'He who hesitates is lost'.

I answer with:

'Look before you leap!'___ 'A stitch in time, saves nine.'___ 'A penny saved is a penny earned.'___ 'Smell the flowers.'___ 'Watch a sunset.'___ 'Count to ten.'___ 'Think before you act.'___

The key to maturity and a healthy adaptation to life is the ability to 'delay and postpone.' This ability is a key developmental factor in the parenting of children. It is the antidote to impulsiveness and reckless action. Parents must be a role model of slowness to action, inhibition of temper outbursts and the creation of an atmosphere of safety and calm, of thoughtfulness and consideration. Parents should encourage creative thought and expression. The reading of the Harry Potter books, for example, lets the child fantasize impulsive behavior manifested in the story, while listening calmly while the parent reads. The very act of reading and being read to teaches the value of abstract thinking as opposed to concrete action.

Perhaps a balance should be restored in high schools and colleges between emphasis in the humanities as opposed to violent competitive sports. Why shouldn't writing, music and drama have equal weight to sports in the curriculum? Why don't they command the audiences and the money?

Golf seems to be by itself in the area of sports in its requirement of concentration and study before each stroke. Its increasing popularity is a good sign. There is no physical combat--- the game is all mental. To many it is a boring sport to watch, but not to those who have tried it more than once. The behavior of tournament golfers can be role models to sports fans of thought before action, and while competing, civil, respectful and polite behavior.

The present day public seems to prefer the physicality of the more violent sports, such as ice hockey and car racing. In Freudian terms, society's tendency now is to prefer the violent acting out of primitive drives and emotions, rather than those requiring contemplation. Sublimation into the arts and humanities requires much delay and postponement, as contrasted with activities requiring quick and aggressive action and reaction.

It would have been one thing for the Columbine killers to have restricted their fantasies to writing and performing a play about murder. As a matter of fact they did make a video which rehearsed their plans and announced their intentions, but the dramatization did not sufficiently vent their pent up feelings, and unfortunately the warning signals were not heeded. They were not heeded by parents or police, teachers or fellow students. In this time of haste and speed, people don't stop to think enough about what is right in front of their eyes.

The spirit of the times reinforces haste and impulsive action. Society must realize this and slow down, in order to address the downside of this tendency to decrease the interval between thought and action. With nuclear missles poised in more and more trouble spots in the world, a slowness to act is not only basic to the flowering of the arts, but may ensure the future of civilization.

It is time for all of us to stop and think and slow down.

Dr Bloom is Clinical Associate Professor of Psychiatry, Wayne State University School of Medicine. He is a member of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and on the editorial board of the Wayne County Medical Society. He welcomes comments at his email address--- vbloom@comcast.net.