Kasvamisen häpeä - Shame of growing up

(...in english below...)

Tämän päivän lääketiedeyhteiskunta tekee pahimmillaan kasvamisesta ja aikuistumisestakin poikkeavaa. Pakonomainen medikalisaatio ja kaiken diagnosointi vaikuttaa siihen, miten katsomme tavanomaisia tapahtumia. Puhun tässä lähinnä muutamista nuoruusiän aikuistumiseen liittyvistä häiriöistä, kuten syrjäytyminen, itsensä viiltely ja muu fyysinen ja henkinen itsensä vahingoittaminen.

Mielestäni tällaisissa ilmiöissä on kysymys eräänlaisesta kasvamisen välivaiheesta. Tilasta, jossa mielemme jäsentyy uudelleen ja rakentaa itseään. Tilanne itsessään ei ole mitään, minkä parantaminen olisi edes mahdollista. Tilanne korjaantuu, kun mielen rakenteet ovat valmiit ja olemme henkisesti saavuttaneet tason, jossa voimme alkaa uuden elämän. Jos keskitymme parantamaan tuota ”sairautta” ja puutumme asiaan häiriönä, keskitymme vain siihen hetkeen. Ilman että katsoisimme tulevaisuuteen. Samalla teemme siitä myös häpeällistä ja salattavaa, mikä vain vahvistaa eristäytymisen tarvetta ja tarvetta nopeaan lopputulokseen – usein jopa seurauksista välittämättä.

Ikävintä on se, että kun vaihe on ohitettu, emme voi olla yhteisössämme edes ylpeitä siitä. Vielä vuosia jälkeenpäinkin on salattava se, että kasvumme ja kehityksemme oli rajumpaa ja voimakkaampaa kuin normaalisti. Näin henkiset arvet jäävät vaikka fyysiset paranisivat. Sen sijaan, että voisimme olla puhtaasti ylpeitä itsestämme ja olla onnellisia uuden elämän saamisesta.  

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In today’s society maturing and growing up can be a real problem. With too much diagnosing and medicalization we make normal things shameful and wrong. For example normal steps of becoming adult, can be diagnosed as diseases or disturbances in growth – even though they are very normal steps in becoming a perfectly normal citizen.

I was thinking for example phenomena like scarification, social exclusion and other ways hurting oneself physically and mentally. Today we talk about disturbances, deviations and mental diseases. This puts our focus to very moment we live in and bars our vision to see where we are going. In my opinion situation like this is only a halfway. Our mental and spiritual side is maturing and restructuring itself.  Change will not come easy to all. But the focus should be in future, in a new and whole individual, not in a blackness and mess of a current situation.

When we get over that phase, we really can’t be happy about it. In today’s society we will carry the shame with us – for we had a mental disease, disturbance which is something exceptional. Instead we should be able to be happy that we’ve won ourselves, grown up and ready to a new life.

Identity consumerism or just a weak mind?

So called "people's doctor", Tapani Kiminkinen, said in last week's Vihreä lanka that's Finnish attitudes have changed a lot in last decades. Whether it is about digestion problems, peeing problems or erection problems, a today's Finn is always asking for a pill to fix a problem.

Our non-governmental organizations are worried about decreasing activism and falling amount of people participating into volunteer work. People join organizations, give few euros, pay their membership fees and think it's enough. When there's no one to do the work, how will the organization's money turn into action?

The Facebook "like"-phenomenon is familiar to lots of people too. It's easy to sign addresses, petitions and do the "liking" in Facebook, but when for example the degrowth should start, no one's ready to give up their benefits. Or when the personal freedom of choice is limited due to ecological reasons, the same "likers" are on barricades screaming for rights. But again - it's just a noise - no action.

Is this happening just in Finland? When did we turn into cattle without own capacity to think and power to act? Or are we just market-copies of each other and everyone's afraid the break the reality so the disguise wouldn't fall of?

In the name of God...

Today the common christian’s faith is really put into test. Latest is the Israeli’s absurd and ultimately violent attack over aid convoy heading to Gaza. Western society has used “jihad-argument” against muslims over the last years claiming islam to be violent religion. Well, look at our holy land now.

I have been taught that forgiveness and mercy are the key things in christianity. Looking at the length of the war and disputes at Israeli region, one can only wonder. I’ve been also taught that there was a time when christians were afraid to publicly express their faith. Well, looking at it now, after years of warfare, killing people, burning innocent people alive, experiments with torture techniques, child abusing and all the other atrocities committed in the name of god, I understand. It’s hard to admit that you belong into this kind of institution and even fund it with paying taxes.

Has it been always like this? Or were there a time when christianity was what the bible teaches us? It’d be nice to think that it’s only power-corrupted institution which is on its natural path of decline before vanishing totally.