Disillusionment

Disillusionment is the disappointment that you feel when you discover that something is not as good as you had expected, thought was true but wasn't, or realize that something you thought was correct is not as you believed it was.

If you feel disillusioned and frustrated with the process of change, acknowledge and validate these feelings. These feelings of resistance are often a form of self-protection. By admitting how you feel to yourself, you actually give your emotions less power.

Feeling disillusionment means you're bummed out. The definition of disillusionment doesn't sound so bad: being freed from false beliefs or illusions. Well, sorry to disillusion you, but it's not so great.

These sentiments created a situation of post-war disillusionment because the Second World War was over but the challenges that the people faced still remained, and in some places, the problems increased. People openly regretted getting involved in the war, and together with their leaders they publicly rejected all wars.

The difference between illusion and disillusion is that illusion is anything that seems to be something that it is not, while disillusion is the act or process of disenchanting or freeing from a false belief.

As we are witnessing, there is growing disenchantment with governments, disarray with elections, and disillusion with established political parties. One might ask: Are we headed towards disillusionment?

Well, living through different phases of a global disaster as the COVID-19 pandemic that continues to wreak havoc on the entire world with communities locked down; businesses shut; people staying at home, and as a result, world economies coming to a screeching halt, with millions of people becoming unemployed overnight adding financial insecurity to the widespread fear related to the spread of the contagion, one may say yes!

Although it may seem like we have had to respond to this once in a generation, disaster without a clear road map, we can actually learn what may lie ahead by studying existing literature on major disasters.

One useful example is the theoretical model, developed by Zunin and Myers in California, for the phases of disasters:

1. The pre-disaster phase of the COVID-19 pandemic was characterized by fear and uncertainty.
2. The impact phase is usually the shortest of all of the disaster phases.
3. The heroic phase we watched in awe as many people stepped forward, risking their lives, to honor their professions.
4. The honeymoon phase of community cohesion.
5. The disillusionment phase marked by “optimism turns to discouragement and stress continues to take a toll, negative reactions, such as physical exhaustion or substance use, may begin to surface. The increasing gap between need and assistance leads to feelings of abandonment.”
6. The reconstruction which is the last phase to rebuild, make things better and address injustice whereby “Individuals and communities begin to assume responsibility for rebuilding their lives, and people adjust to a new “normal” while continuing to grieve losses.”

Disillusionment is the longest of the phases, the depth of which will largely dictate how quickly and easily we will recover, which is why it will need to be characterized by a mental health innovation trend of prevention innovation. These know-hows must focus on the prevention or mitigation of mental health issues like depression, suicidal behavior, and addiction, as it is through prevention that we will lessen the depth of a post-crisis crash.

The COVID-19 pandemic is forcing us to face the reality that our world has shifted, our climate has changed, and that natural disasters and pandemics are but part of our new normal. In other words, as some would say, the golden years we once enjoyed, observed, or remember, are unfortunately gone. Are we having a hard time let go of our not so distant past?

“How strange when an illusion dies. It's as though you've lost a child.” Judy Garland

Food for thought!