Experiencing powerlessness is a terrible thing. It includes ‘defenceless suffering, repercussions on the future, restriction of freedom of life and attack on happiness’. Powerlessness leaves its mark on both the individual and the social environment of that person. A well-known example of powerlessness is a natural disaster such as at Pukkelpop and the Tsunami, which caused the death of several people. Dying (when there is no suicide) can be described as the scariest form of powerlessness.
What is powerlessness?
Powerlessness is the most horrible thing there can be. Not being able to change the situation you find yourself in can simply paralyze a person. Powerlessness includes 4 important elements that feed each other:
- undergo defenselessly
- impact on the future
- restriction of freedom of life
- attack on ‘being happy’
Powerlessness will have an impact on both the individual and the social environment.
Going defenseless
A patient with diabetes and epilepsy comes to the doctor and tells his story: ,Doctor, lately I have been suffering from vision loss and uncontrollable seizures., The man already knew that he would have to suffer these two diseases for the rest of his life because they can be controlled but not completely cured. In addition, he was already told that his diabetes was hereditary and his epilepsy was idopathic (= no real cause demonstrable). The two diseases he contracted came as a destiny. Something that took him by surprise and that he has to move on with in life. It is then impossible to completely remove these 2 obstacles throughout his life path. People with an incurable form of cancer and other chronic diseases are of course also included, some worse than others.
Repercussions on the future
It is clear that powerlessness has an impact on the future, because it places a grid on reality to face the future. Even though this person tries not to think about the fact that he has these diseases and just wants to move on, he will still be reminded of them, if it were not for the medication he has to take, the discomforts he experiences and the various checks. in the hospital. The path he wants to take is limited, and will largely depend on this powerlessness.
Restriction of freedom of life
Powerlessness causes the restriction of freedom. The man is obliged to take his medication at that time, to come for a check-up on those days and cannot just go somewhere when it suits or forget to take his medication. In the case of a man with severe diabetes, a good greasy meal followed by a tasty dessert and a good coke will be one of the little things that this person has to be careful about and then it’s all about the little things in life. !
Attack on being happy
Being happy doesn’t just happen. We are constantly working on our lives and the positive satisfaction we get in return makes us feel happy. Someone who faces barriers to happiness will always feel that he experiences a deficiency in terms of happiness compared to others, because ‘I shouldn’t have this and that’… Worse is the core: the physical and mental health of these people. has already been affected.
What powerlessness is not
Having an accident that is within your control
- a chain smoker who later develops lung cancer
- on a financial level: making an investment that has a bad outcome
The consequences that resulted from this could be avoided because people knew in advance that they could be confronted with this.
Natural disaster as powerlessness
A natural disaster is something we are confronted with very often in the world. Characteristic of this is that it appears suddenly and importantly: this was impossible to foresee or avoid. Just think of the Tsunami and, for example, the Pukkelpop incident where several deaths were caused by a heavy storm. The impact on the social environment is enormous.
Powerlessness in its narrowest sense
Where the characteristics of powerlessness are attributed to: defenseless suffering, repercussions on the future, restriction of freedom of life and attack on happiness, death emerges as the scariest and most perfect executor of this. At least if we don’t take our own lives. Someone who is dead can only suffer defenselessly, has no future, no longer has the freedom to live (because that life has ended). The trait ‘attack on being happy’ is also linked to this in the most perfect form because one can no longer define one’s happiness personally when one is no longer there.
Moreover, death also imposes the most gruesome verdict on the immediate environment. What’s worse than someone who has died?