PARANOIA AND THE MICHIGAN MILITIA

Victor Bloom, M.D.

Last week the town of Decker, Michigan had a Town Hall, hosted by Ted Koppel of "Nightline". All America could see the citizens of a town that had become famous (or infamous) due to the presence of the Michigan Militia, which had questionable connections with the Oklahoma City tragedy. In fact, the assembled townspeople, many of whom had a chance to talk on national television, represented the entire ideological spectrum, from radical conservative to ultra-liberal. The militiamen spoke with much feeling about their fear of the government. Some of the young women who were liberals, said their main fear was of the militia, with their shooting off guns and setting off of bombs. Fortunately, there were also many in the middle,swiss replica watches espousing reason and moderation.

But there was no doubt that some on the extreme right were paranoid. That word is bandied about quite often, of late, and bears some explanation and understanding. There are many forms of paranoia, the most severe being the paranoid schizophrenic, who is delusional and convinced that others may be plotting against him. He may even think he is Napoleon or Jesus Christ, she may believe she is Joan of Arc; they may think they are being persecuted because of their identity. Often, these people believe the radio or television are talking to them or about them, or that their phone lines are being tapped, or that they are being followed. It is common for them to think that some large oppressive force, like the government, is acccumulating a dossier on them, based on trumped up information. Less extreme is the paranoid state, in which a fairly functional and organized person constantly entertains a complex delusional system, and believe all sorts of things refer specifically to them, but they don't let it interfere with their overall adjustment, and rarely talk about it, and don't act on it. The least severe, the paranoid personality, is just chronically suspicious and distrustful of others.

Characteristic of the paranoid is little or no empathy. That is, they are so wrapped up in their own feelings of persecution, their dread of some plot against them, that they don't really believe that other people may like them or bear them no ill will. They don't know how other people feel. They don't believe others have good intentions toward them, or are harmless. In all probability, people with various states of paranoia did not receive empathy in their infancy or childhood; therefore, they were uncomfortable most of the time. We all have seen a 'fussy baby'. Imagine feeling fussy, tense and uncomfortable, most of the time. Imagine being raised by parents who had no empathy for the feelings of a child, treating them as pint-sized adults, most often with punishment or scolding, or worse, neglect. Children who feel bad, come to think that they ARE bad. Feeling that you ARE bad is so intolerable, that these feelings are eventually projected upon the environment, and then the perception is, that other people are bad, and that they are misunderstood, victims, victims of society, the government. Who is the government? It is the rest of us, of course, but we become a nameless, faceless, nemesis.

Most paranoids retain the childhood feeling of hopelessness and helplessness. Most learn to live with it. Others react to this feeling of impotence by trying to exercise power, and one way to do that is to shoot guns and explode bombs. The delusion is that the government is against them, because they are against the government. Surely the federal government has grown and is very powerful, but it is a stretch of the imagination, in this free society, to feel persecuted and oppressed by an elected government. Nobody likes to pay taxes, but few of us believe we can live in a country without paying some dues. There is a role for the military, roads, health, education and welfare. Some of these paranoids become libertarians, anarchists and revolutionaries, in order to overcome feelings of helplessness and insecurity, stemming from childhood abuse and neglect. Many rationalize the brutality they experienced, with homilies like 'spare the rod and spoil the child', or feeling that they deserved the beating they got. This implies an internalized 'bad' parent, who is then externalized as a bad government official. The president is often the target of 'kooks' as recent history amply describes.

The problem with paranoids, and their lack of empathy, is that their deeds are often misunderstood, and the people call for severe punishment. Paranoids are familiar with this attitude and only plan to get even. Illustrating this tendency, much has been said about Oklahoma City being the punishment for the government's storming of the Branch Davidians in Waco, Texas, two years before. It is hard to believe any of us would identify with the cult members there, but the paranoids do. To them it is a fantasy come true, the government killing members of a cult--- men, women and children, who challenged the government in their right to arms themselves and violate segments of the firearms laws. And in their foolhardiness, they killed four ATF government agents. They were cop-killers, and so the FBI had little sympathy for their holding out over time, with women and children. A false rumor was set out, that Kuresh was abusing the children, and so the assault was rationalized. It later came out that the children were not abused, and tragically, in the attempt to help them, they were killed.

At a time of escalation of violence and heightened feelings all around, amply demonstrated by the citizens of Decker, Michigan on national television, it was heartening to note that most of the speakers were reasonable and nonviolent, urging moderation and reason. In the name of reason, psychological knowledge will help us to deal with the paranoids in a more gentle and empathic manner. They are all to used to escalation of feelings and violence, and their answer is revenge. We need to call a halt to this endless, vicious cycle. In times of stress, we all need to keep our heads, and keep in touch with our hearts.