Social-Political Issues
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Agitation, Frenzy & Psychological Unbalance
When we study the great historical dramas and the unwise behavior of men in the long list of tragedies of the last 100 years, we almost never see mention of the psychological phenomenon that we call here Agitation or Frenzy.
To avoid mistakes, it is necessary first to distinguish the difference between agitation or frenzy and anxiety. Anxiety has been defined by scholars as the illness of the century. In fact, it is agitation that usually leads to anxiety, and this consequence can be avoided before it becomes a pathology.
Frenzy here means to be in a feverish or frantic state. Because of this etymologic meaning I make an analogy here with the psychological situation of an agitated or frenzied individual.
This frenzy has some characteristics. It gives the individual an energy whereby he feels the owner of the object of his frenzy.
For example, we can point to the frenzy of Hitler speaking before a hypnotized multitude whose delirium grows as his words add fire to his frenzied state.
Another case would be the frenzy of Hitler when he is alone with a few of his sycophants who are lavishing praise on his quite mediocre paintings.
This frenzied state of delirium is in itself toxic and addicting. Just as it happens with drugs, this frenzy demands increasingly larger doses to satisfy the addicted man.
Under the light of the landmark book Revolution and Counter-Revolution by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliviera, we can infer that this frenzy has entered the soul of Western man in a systematic but gradual way since the decay of the Middle Ages. His masterful words are:
“In the 14th century, a transformation of mentality began to take place in
“Christian Europe; in the course of the 15th century, it became ever more apparent.
“The thirst for earthly pleasures became a burning desire. Diversions became more and more frequent and sumptuous, increasingly engrossing men.…”
There was a growing desire for a life filled with the delights of fancy and the senses.
“And, all the while, in great and small alike, there was a fading of the will of yore to keep the royal power within its proper bounds as in the days of St. Louis of France and St. Ferdinand of Castile.”
The Roman maxim Divide et impera, (Divide and conquer) could be paraphrased to apply to this phenomenon with the maxim of the forces that control our world: Agitate and conquer.
The emergence at the beginning of the 20th century of the great means of mass communication – cinema, radio and television – allowed an intensification of the process of this frenzy in minds.
Even before the 20th century, writers would use the technique of suspense in their books to heighten the curiosity of the reader from the beginning to the end of their books, especially in mystery or suspense novels. However, there was an organic proportion of surprise awakened in the reader that allowed him to put down the book at a certain point because his duties obliged him to stop reading to rest.
In family readings, the obligation to stop at the end the chapter so that all could go to bed would encourage youths to study the historic and social period of the novel’s setting in order to better follow the story.
In such readings there was expectation not frenzy.
As the means of mass communication progressed, it did not take long for its directors to develop a process that made the reader, listener or viewer dependent upon their products. Such processes were scientifically studied using observation, statistics and even subliminal methods. After the introduction of cybernetics, they acquired a high level of efficiency.
This process of creating dependence touched upon all of the five senses. Of the five, the strongest are sight and hearing, and these are also the ones that interact more directly with the mind. For example, if an individual watches a graphic movie in which hundreds of persons are brutally killed, he may need a session with a psychologist to recuperate his psychological normality.
It is also by means of these two senses that we are stimulated to feel delight and comforting sensations.
The suspense used in the early movies, along with other ways to influence human psychology, began to determine collective behaviors in ways unknown until then by those who study the human mind.
I want to stress how this frenzy is a factor that destabilizes the mind. Some of its effects follow:
The victim of this maneuver who has acquired an addiction can be free of it insofar as he becomes aware of it and wants to be rid of it and return to his psychological normality.
Recourse to Our Lady and the Saints can only increase the chances of success to heal this difficult psychological situation.
To avoid mistakes, it is necessary first to distinguish the difference between agitation or frenzy and anxiety. Anxiety has been defined by scholars as the illness of the century. In fact, it is agitation that usually leads to anxiety, and this consequence can be avoided before it becomes a pathology.
Frenzy here means to be in a feverish or frantic state. Because of this etymologic meaning I make an analogy here with the psychological situation of an agitated or frenzied individual.
Hitler was infamous for speaking in a frenzied state
For example, we can point to the frenzy of Hitler speaking before a hypnotized multitude whose delirium grows as his words add fire to his frenzied state.
Another case would be the frenzy of Hitler when he is alone with a few of his sycophants who are lavishing praise on his quite mediocre paintings.
This frenzied state of delirium is in itself toxic and addicting. Just as it happens with drugs, this frenzy demands increasingly larger doses to satisfy the addicted man.
Under the light of the landmark book Revolution and Counter-Revolution by Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliviera, we can infer that this frenzy has entered the soul of Western man in a systematic but gradual way since the decay of the Middle Ages. His masterful words are:
“In the 14th century, a transformation of mentality began to take place in
“Christian Europe; in the course of the 15th century, it became ever more apparent.
“The thirst for earthly pleasures became a burning desire. Diversions became more and more frequent and sumptuous, increasingly engrossing men.…”
There was a growing desire for a life filled with the delights of fancy and the senses.
“And, all the while, in great and small alike, there was a fading of the will of yore to keep the royal power within its proper bounds as in the days of St. Louis of France and St. Ferdinand of Castile.”
The Roman maxim Divide et impera, (Divide and conquer) could be paraphrased to apply to this phenomenon with the maxim of the forces that control our world: Agitate and conquer.
The emergence at the beginning of the 20th century of the great means of mass communication – cinema, radio and television – allowed an intensification of the process of this frenzy in minds.
Even before the 20th century, writers would use the technique of suspense in their books to heighten the curiosity of the reader from the beginning to the end of their books, especially in mystery or suspense novels. However, there was an organic proportion of surprise awakened in the reader that allowed him to put down the book at a certain point because his duties obliged him to stop reading to rest.
A family reading is entirely different from media trying to control public opinion, below, a G5 tower
In such readings there was expectation not frenzy.
As the means of mass communication progressed, it did not take long for its directors to develop a process that made the reader, listener or viewer dependent upon their products. Such processes were scientifically studied using observation, statistics and even subliminal methods. After the introduction of cybernetics, they acquired a high level of efficiency.
This process of creating dependence touched upon all of the five senses. Of the five, the strongest are sight and hearing, and these are also the ones that interact more directly with the mind. For example, if an individual watches a graphic movie in which hundreds of persons are brutally killed, he may need a session with a psychologist to recuperate his psychological normality.
It is also by means of these two senses that we are stimulated to feel delight and comforting sensations.
The suspense used in the early movies, along with other ways to influence human psychology, began to determine collective behaviors in ways unknown until then by those who study the human mind.
I want to stress how this frenzy is a factor that destabilizes the mind. Some of its effects follow:
- Frenzy produces in the individual the incapacity to have certainties. When his good ideas are always attacked, this makes him insecure. For example, he is convinced that the indissolubility of marriage is the foundation for the stability of society. However, the means of communication are always sending clear or subliminal frenzied messages that favor divorce.
- It causes the person to be guided only by sensations. The media is always frantically showing that “good is everything that gives pleasure,” independent of its licity. For example, a person loves to listen to very loud music because it makes him feel excited. When a neighbor comes to his door at 11:00 pm to complain that he cannot sleep, the addict of this frenzied sensation becomes irritated and revolts, because the only thing that matter to him is to be excited by music.
- Frenzy rejects every effort that demands discipline to reach perfection. The individual addicted to it takes the attitude “it is already good enough as it is” to avoid the obligation to do things well.
- Frenzy with its characteristic slavery to the prevailing public opinion destroys individual creativity, which must face the challenges of public opinion without being intimidated by contrary opinions raised by those who disagree with his perspective.
- With the speed of cybernetics and internet, frenzy became uncontrollable.
The frenzy of listening to loud music disregarding the rights of his neighbor
The victim of this maneuver who has acquired an addiction can be free of it insofar as he becomes aware of it and wants to be rid of it and return to his psychological normality.
Recourse to Our Lady and the Saints can only increase the chances of success to heal this difficult psychological situation.
Posted June 19, 2024
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