Notes from a psychologist: the sound of guns

I have devoted most of my life to studying one of the most fundamental questions: what is the psyche?

It turned out that this mental life is incredibly complex and in no way resembles the body’s life. These two lives – of the psyche and the body – are interconnected. But they are not the same thing. Therefore, having rejected the dubious theories that treat the psyche like the body, I began to search for the thoughts of those who have come close to understanding the psyche in small ways.

I am deeply convinced that the most important thing that we, Ukrainians, need to know about our mental life is how the sound of gunfire affects our mental world and what we can do for our psyche in the current circumstances.

I believe that the most relevant is the doctrine of the signalling systems of our central nervous system. Someone will say – this truth is as old as the world! I can’t disagree with you, but this theory may provide insight and solutions.

According to this theory, the psyche is constructed from the images received from the organs of vision – the eyes and the organs of hearing – the ears. The visual images we receive visually are completely unconscious, purely subjective, and devoid of any chance of being true to reality because reality is an intellectual matrix. The visual image is irrational and sensual. The auditory image is a rational construct. It is formed under the influence of a word heard by the ear. The words, in turn, are addressed to the cerebral cortex, the part of the brain responsible for comprehension and awareness. The eyes and ears provide these two levels of perception of reality, with the eyes being the first signalling system and the ears the second.

Our enemy may be weak, but weakness strengthens and morphs meanness. So, he acts vilely. Why? Because using a flying weapon is not just about physically hitting objects. It means creating a rational construct in the minds of Ukrainians with the sound of a military weapon that will paralyse (because it is the central nervous system) and destabilize motor activity. And this will remain in the psyche for life.

This rationally created construct, in which the hissing, crackling or quietly silent, or, conversely, whistling sound of weapons will become the primary, unfortunately no longer conscious, the regulator of making choices and their implementation in the decisions of our lives.

This construct will paralyse any intentions and desires. It will bring life to a terrible dead end or abyss, in which there will be only the clang of weapons.

Think of yourself and how you feel about this sound. I think most of us will relive it. It is the power of this construct – it will never disappear. The only thing left is to work with it.

So, what to do with gun sounds?

1. Avoidance strategy. Avoid loud noises as much as possible. It is advisable to go to a bomb shelter if you hear them. You may object – where is the siren in this construct? It is the primary sound of a weapon. Therefore, a bomb shelter is a perfect shelter from these sounds.
2. The strategy of fear and paralysis. For Ukrainians, the siren and the sound of weapons are spontaneity and uncertainty at the beginning of the war, and later they become a necessity. It is how it happened. But our hearing receptors can adapt to repetitive sounds. The psyche arouses fear and gives false signals to the body to react to the sound as a threat to life. It all depends on how your parents brought you up as a child. The more you were frightened, the more you react inappropriately to the orcs’ efforts to frighten you.
3. Thinking strategy. The main thing is thoughts. They should accompany the sound image not through subjective sensory perceptions, i.e. fantasies, but through the reality in which you are.
4. Reality strategy. It is essential that any stop in action, movement, or activity generates an inner sense of fear. Therefore, if you are sitting or standing in a bomb shelter or any other shelter, remember that this natural feeling of anxiety disappears exactly when you can resume being active. Do not associate it with sounds – change the focus of your inner perception.

And most importantly, a stressful situation itself is not capable of trauma. The psyche comes up with the so–called “trauma” later. It will only take the event and fill it with all its pathogenic fantasies.

So, the sound of a gun is a choice between the place you are and the thoughts that circulate in that place. Be in the right safe places when the orkestans start their safari on all of us!