- Feb 3, 2024
- LitBits
- 0
New blog post by AgentPete
Safeguarding Writers’ Mental Health In 2025
Writers are, by definition, people of heightened awareness and sensitivity. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t – couldn’t – be a writer.
Yet in a world that increasingly seems to fetishize cruelty, revenge and malice – as attested by our ever-degenerating political discourse – how can the sensitive person protect themselves?
The coming period will not be easy on our minds or souls. So let’s get some self-defence measures in place.
By far the most significant mega-trend in the coming year will be the continuing and unwelcome rise of authoritarianism, both internationally and sometimes even locally.
At its root, the authoritarian drive for power stems from profound personal insecurity and unchecked paranoia. From much reading about authoritarians, and from a few disagreeable direct experiences, it is clear to me that authoritarians commonly have a secret, dreaded fear. At heart, they believe themselves to be weak and powerless people.
The typical authoritarian’s early (dysfunctional) life experience usually teaches them they are not deserving of love; so in its place they become obsessed with being respected. And if respect is not forthcoming, then they resort to instilling fear and even terror. This is what their elaborate and very public display of “power” is designed to conceal: not least from from themselves.
This “guise of power” as psychiatrist Bandy Lee aptly terms it, manifests externally through coercion, fear, and violence; if unchecked it may ultimately lead to entire societal destruction. Chaos is a necessary precondition for the authoritarian’s ascent and, sure enough, we are starting to see that take hold now.
Leaders who deliberately create chaotic conditions are hardly in short supply at the moment. They do so because they understand at a visceral level that it utterly exhausts the rest of us. A poll yesterday shows that most people are backing away from TV news: they no longer want to engage in, or even know about, the current highly toxic political environment. This is one common technique by which the authoritarian typically browbeats his community into passive acquiescence.
In relationship terms, this would be immediately recognised as abusive behaviour. And that’s exactly what it is when our leaders do it to us, en masse.
But how do we deal with it?
In an abusive personal relationship, the answer is clear – remove yourself from it. In the wider environment that’s rarely possible.
However, knowing that the typical authoritarian seeks to deprive you of your own personal agency and power suggests an excellent defence: concentrate on strengthening it.
True power (not the “guise of power” referred to above) comes from inside. Call it personal development, self-actualization, or whatever other term seems most appropriate for you. The essence is always the same: an honest but kind engagement with yourself to nurture and grow, both as a writer and as a human being.
For writers in particular, the journey of self-development is no joyride. It involves looking into some dark places and processing the discoveries. These are the same places that the authoritarian personality will never dare to examine, because they are too terrifying.
Terrible as the journey may be, the rewards are well worth it. You will find your own deepening self-awareness gives you far greater emotional contact and resonance with your readers. You will also find that as you mitigate internalised cycles of fear and hostility, your own sense of confidence blossoms, until, quite literally, nothing seems impossible.
Making a sincere commitment to “do the work” will enhance your own resilience and immunity, not just to the tribulations of the writer’s everyday life, but also to the authoritarians’ toxic miasma.
It was John Donne who admonished us that “no man is an island” (I assume he included all gender identities else it doesn’t make sense). Writers particularly need to heed Donne’s wisdom.
The insidious trope of the solitary author, heroically struggling in their garret against near-insurmountable odds, is an unhelpful and potentially catastrophic lie. We are at heart social animals and it does us no good to act as if we weren’t.
This means actively participating in healthy and supportive communities like Litopia, while avoiding those that aren’t. True personal power flourishes when it cooperates with others and contributes to others’ own development. It thrives in conditions of abundance, creativity and generosity.
In the coming times, the authoritarian mindset will seek to replace shared positive values with isolation, division, hatred and fear; for the authoritarian personality cannot prevail when his constituency is happy, harmonious and creatively fulfilled.
For everyone, these are perilous times. But for writers, they are times of great potential, too.
All my best for a surprisingly good year ahead.
---
Safeguarding Writers’ Mental Health In 2025
Writers are, by definition, people of heightened awareness and sensitivity. If you weren’t, you wouldn’t – couldn’t – be a writer.
Yet in a world that increasingly seems to fetishize cruelty, revenge and malice – as attested by our ever-degenerating political discourse – how can the sensitive person protect themselves?
The coming period will not be easy on our minds or souls. So let’s get some self-defence measures in place.
Understand What Personal Power Really Is, And Focus On Developing Yours
By far the most significant mega-trend in the coming year will be the continuing and unwelcome rise of authoritarianism, both internationally and sometimes even locally.
At its root, the authoritarian drive for power stems from profound personal insecurity and unchecked paranoia. From much reading about authoritarians, and from a few disagreeable direct experiences, it is clear to me that authoritarians commonly have a secret, dreaded fear. At heart, they believe themselves to be weak and powerless people.
The typical authoritarian’s early (dysfunctional) life experience usually teaches them they are not deserving of love; so in its place they become obsessed with being respected. And if respect is not forthcoming, then they resort to instilling fear and even terror. This is what their elaborate and very public display of “power” is designed to conceal: not least from from themselves.
This “guise of power” as psychiatrist Bandy Lee aptly terms it, manifests externally through coercion, fear, and violence; if unchecked it may ultimately lead to entire societal destruction. Chaos is a necessary precondition for the authoritarian’s ascent and, sure enough, we are starting to see that take hold now.
Leaders who deliberately create chaotic conditions are hardly in short supply at the moment. They do so because they understand at a visceral level that it utterly exhausts the rest of us. A poll yesterday shows that most people are backing away from TV news: they no longer want to engage in, or even know about, the current highly toxic political environment. This is one common technique by which the authoritarian typically browbeats his community into passive acquiescence.
In relationship terms, this would be immediately recognised as abusive behaviour. And that’s exactly what it is when our leaders do it to us, en masse.
But how do we deal with it?
In an abusive personal relationship, the answer is clear – remove yourself from it. In the wider environment that’s rarely possible.
However, knowing that the typical authoritarian seeks to deprive you of your own personal agency and power suggests an excellent defence: concentrate on strengthening it.
True power (not the “guise of power” referred to above) comes from inside. Call it personal development, self-actualization, or whatever other term seems most appropriate for you. The essence is always the same: an honest but kind engagement with yourself to nurture and grow, both as a writer and as a human being.
For writers in particular, the journey of self-development is no joyride. It involves looking into some dark places and processing the discoveries. These are the same places that the authoritarian personality will never dare to examine, because they are too terrifying.
Terrible as the journey may be, the rewards are well worth it. You will find your own deepening self-awareness gives you far greater emotional contact and resonance with your readers. You will also find that as you mitigate internalised cycles of fear and hostility, your own sense of confidence blossoms, until, quite literally, nothing seems impossible.
Making a sincere commitment to “do the work” will enhance your own resilience and immunity, not just to the tribulations of the writer’s everyday life, but also to the authoritarians’ toxic miasma.
You Are Not Alone In This
It was John Donne who admonished us that “no man is an island” (I assume he included all gender identities else it doesn’t make sense). Writers particularly need to heed Donne’s wisdom.
The insidious trope of the solitary author, heroically struggling in their garret against near-insurmountable odds, is an unhelpful and potentially catastrophic lie. We are at heart social animals and it does us no good to act as if we weren’t.
This means actively participating in healthy and supportive communities like Litopia, while avoiding those that aren’t. True personal power flourishes when it cooperates with others and contributes to others’ own development. It thrives in conditions of abundance, creativity and generosity.
In the coming times, the authoritarian mindset will seek to replace shared positive values with isolation, division, hatred and fear; for the authoritarian personality cannot prevail when his constituency is happy, harmonious and creatively fulfilled.
For everyone, these are perilous times. But for writers, they are times of great potential, too.
All my best for a surprisingly good year ahead.
---
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