When madness and adversity strike and bad things happen to good people, the world loses its rhythm and life loses its logic; However, one thing that good-hearted people will never lose is hope: although evil sinks us, it will be goodness that will lift us up, it will be this chain of gold that unersies us all that will sooner or later make us grow into even stronger and braver people.
They say that one of the main weapons of terrorism, in addition to killing and sowing chaos, is to sow psychological fear among the population. That fear gives them not only importance, but power over their victims; the guarantee that the invisible threads of terror will change our way of life and leave open this need that everyone needs in their daily lives: to feel safe.
- “Terrorists try to change our behavior by causing fear.
- Uncertainty and division in society.
- -Patrick J.
- Kennedy-.
On August 17 of that year we experienced the same feeling after the new terrorist attacks in Barcelona and Cambrils, once again we have seen bad things happen to the right people, we regret the loss of life, the beautiful lives of the good people, children, mothers and fathers, grandparents, friends and citizens of 18 nationalities who moved every afternoon in one of those beautiful cities that adorn our world.
Evil has visited us again and, although it is not something new or isolated, although there are dozens of people who die every day under the same circumstances in different corners of our planet, there is something that transcends all this. How to react in such cases? Terrorism psychologists like Jeff Greenberg, Sheldon Solomon and Tom Pyszczynski warn us that these events are changing us in a very specific way.
During those days, social media was filled with photos of kittens. Most Twitter users have come together with a very specific goal: to prevent the dissemination of images of victims and to stop the possible leakage of information that might be useful to terrorists. More than an isolated fact, the commitment is realized by shaping an exceptional civics that is also seen in the streets: the neighbors of Barcelona offered accommodation to anyone who needed it, transport was free and companies also contributed their grain of sand.
It is in these situations that we realize that, despite chaos, tragedy and horror, acts of altruism are the acts that honor us, those that show us that beyond what we can think, our world is mostly inhabited by good people. exactly what the experts explain to us, such as those mentioned above. Jeff Greenberg, a psychologist at the University of Arizona, tells us that after such a terrorist act, people have established cultural livelihoods.
Few moments leave us as fragile and vulnerable as these facts, nothing can be as devastating as discovering that our sense of security is false and that terrorism is as blind as it is unpredictable, that one day it is there and the next it hits us.
However, in these contexts where bad things happen, far from fueling anger or desire for revenge, something very striking happens in the population, the notion of community grows and, above all, we try to rebuild that stability that goes further. simply by erecting a demolished building or rebuilding a collapsed street.
What we are looking for, above all, is to regain emotional stability and trust in who we are. A society that continues to believe in peace and respect. People who, despite being hurt by the most abject evil, must continue to believe in good. of human beings.
Psychologists and psychiatrists who specialize in the psychology of terrorism tell us that in these situations two types of responses must be put into practice, two behaviors that will ultimately allow us to adequately face these contexts that sometimes occur very close to us.
Let’s see what’s next
In conclusion, as we have often noticed, bad things happen to the right people, however, the only difference for those who understand violence as a form of language and oppression is that goodness does not know abandonment and never gives up. defend our usual values, where peace will undoubtedly be our best standard.