The excitement that used to start 1 month before the new year, and the plans made for New Year's Eve, are no longer there. New hopes for 2023 are not being discussed at all. Experts speaking to AKŞAM described this feeling as 'Bad World Syndrome,' stating that the emotional nature of the Turkish people makes them more affected by global problems.
The excitement experienced before every new year is absent this year. Posts like '2022 end now, let 2023 come with new hopes' are a thing of the past. Yasemin İlan from Akşam Newspaper asked experts the reason for this hopelessness. Psychiatrist Prof. Dr. Nevzat Tarhan, speaking to Yasemin İlan from Akşam Newspaper, explained the situation by saying, "The global crisis experienced after the pandemic negatively affected society," and continued as follows: "Western society is 'thought-based,' while we are 'emotion-based.' We are very quickly affected by events, make sudden outbursts, and easily fall under the influence of propaganda. In the current process, the uninspiring nature of scientific discussions has created anxiety about the future for all of us. Along with this, we have started to experience 'Bad World Syndrome,' just like the rest of the world. However, our being an emotion-based society has led us into a more pessimistic picture. In such syndromes, three different reactions emerge."
■ First Reaction: "Withdrawal, pessimistic thinking, and entering a depressive state of mind occur."
■ Second Reaction: "Aggressive behaviors and outbursts of anger occur. Since we come from Ottoman culture, our upbringing does not allow this."
■ Third Reaction: "It is avoidance behavior. A person, anxious about the future, leaves the country they live in and seeks salvation in another geography."
Opportunity is needed against threat
"Today, to overcome the unhappiness we experience as a society, 'objective ideas' are needed. People with scientific credibility need to say, 'Life has threats, but it also has opportunities.' We need trust and morale. In the past, there have been famines and epidemics, but every night has had a morning. We are an impatient nation, which is why I say 'emotion-based.' Think individually: an illness comes to the body, we get treated, and it passes with time. If someone tells you 'it's impossible,' it actually means 'it's difficult.' Difficult but possible. When we encounter a problem, we should say, 'we will overcome it, but it will take time.' Western society is also heavily experiencing 'Bad World Syndrome.' Anxieties about the future have increased globally. If these problems are not resolved within a few years, physical problems may begin; such as heart attacks, brain hemorrhages. As a country, we are not experiencing a security problem, and that is what is truly important. As long as we do not have security problems like Syria and Ukraine, no one can destroy us, and we will overcome all problems.
Change your perspective, not the flow
"We must make a change in our life philosophy. If you can't change the flow, change your perspective; focus on what you can do. Think of the positive days of the past, bring positive possibilities for the future to your mind, and have positive dreams. Finally, I want to tell you the success story of the frog, for all of us to learn a lesson: A competition was organized in the land of frogs. The frogs were to try to climb a high tower, and whoever succeeded would receive a prize. As the frogs quickly moved towards the tower, all the spectator frogs cheered, shouting, 'You can't do it, you can't climb, you'll fall, you'll die!' The frogs gave up one by one along the way, none could climb the tower. Only one frog reached the top of that tower. Everyone was surprised, they asked the frog who achieved the difficult task, 'how did you do it?' but there was no answer. It turned out that frog was deaf; because it didn't hear what was being said during the race, it succeeded in climbing the tower and came in first. We should be like this too; we should turn a deaf ear to negative talk."