Authority Traumatic Stress Disorder (ATSD) is not a term you will find in any book. In fact, when I searched for that term on line, I only found 4 instances of that exact phrase, none of them coming close to what I want to share. I made up the term in an attempt to describe the trauma, stress and anxiety that people feel as a result of a life time of experiencing the behaviours of others who claim authority over them. Especially those who abuse their authority while engaging in violence and bullying by threatening and intimidating people.
Source: commons.wikimedia.org
It does not seem to matter who it is. Most people with some level of authority tend to engage in these kinds of abusive behaviours, whether it is covert or overt. It could be a spouse, teacher, lawyer, politician, social worker, doctor, engineer, police officer, judge or any other professional who has been granted power or authority over others by the feudal state. If we stand up to that authority they will engage in violence or coercion in an attempt to retain their authority. Anybody who stands up to authority is typically labeled ODD, oppositional defiance disorder in an attempt to intimidate people to back down and be compliant.
The authorities created a disorder to describe and treat those who want to stand up, draw a line in the sand and say 'no more abuse, violence and coercion'! Granted that ODD is mainly for those with anger and violent issues themselves. But what about those who peacefully stand up against the state? So I created a term ATSD; authority traumatic stress disorder. The main problem is the difficult to completely remove oneself from having to interact with the authorities which caused the trauma or stress and continues to do so.
While I'm no medical professional, I am very aware of the trauma and stress associated with state sponsored bullying, abuse of power, threats and intimidation. When we peacefully stand up to authority to confront the bullying, those with the authority either balk at the rebuke and get even more aggressive or they will back off. As with any other traumatic experience, people who are working at ending this violent relationship must find a way to set the boundaries so that those with authority are no longer engaging in violence. Peace is paramount when making a stand.
It is tough as there is no where one could go to 'get away' from the bully. They are all around. The approach I took was to say no and completely cut off all ties with the state, despite their infrequent attempt to re-engage with me. I've done something that is unorthodox, unpopular, brazen and peaceful on my part.
But healing from a life time of authority driven indoctrination is very difficult to do. As a result of years of indoctrination, I've been looking over my shoulder for over a decade wondering when they would come to 'get me'. I've had to find the courage and strength to stand up tall and not take any abusive behaviours from anybody wearing the fictional mask of authority despite how I felt about it all. I call this 'Authority Traumatic Stress Disorder' (ATSD) and I've seen it in many others as well.
It is a scary process as we all have been conditioned from birth to obey authority or else face the consequences. People rarely confront this preconceived notion of authority and truly contemplate that the relationship is founded on violent and abuse. Finding the courage and strength to stand up to this abusive relationship also requires that we rebuke the authority as well and find ways to self-govern instead.
To reject a life time of indoctrination is one of the most difficult things I've ever had to do. The fear, anxiety and stress associated with this level of emotional healing is compounded by the fact that the authority is still there, still abusive and even justified in their actions. One cannot really leave and be 100% safe as the risk of violence is always present.
I've found that my successes have brought some comfort as my confidence grows. It is nearly been 10 years since I sent them my declaration and I've been followed many times by police since, but only stopped once. I've been intimidated by the military only to have them apologize and withdraw and establish a no-fly-zone around our domain. I've had social workers crying and thanking me for reminding them what their job is all about. I've even had a provincial minister say, in a round about way, that I was right and encourage me to resolve my dispute with the county. Judges refuse to hear my case and make it clear that they are not precedent setting. I did not even have to say a word to the judge.
Despite all of that, I've spent the last decade looking down my drive way wondering if the cops are going to show up one day. This is how deeply ingrained and damaging authority sponsored violence has become. I've spoken with others who feel scared, intimidated and even feel a great deal of anxiety when they confront the violence of the state wondering if they are going to come and steal their kids or throw them in jail. In my view, it is just as bad as PTSD but how many of us are willing to acknowledge that something like ATSD even exists? Most people just bend over. Many of them complain and ask why we don't just submit! Insanity!
Over time the healing does bring relief, but until the authority declares peace as well, I feel it will always be there, nagging us, haunting the depths of our minds and hearts. I don't really think that people are even aware how much damage and violence that authority has done to us all.
So I coined a new phrase tonight, ATSD, to bring attention to the psychological stress and trauma that results from authority and perhaps we can now start talking how we are doing to heal from it all. It will take years, perhaps even generations. The trauma is real. The healing must be allowed without interference.
I am glad that you have coined the phrase ATSD. It does exist and many of us suffer from it. Every time we say no to one authority or another, I find I am looking over my shoulder waiting for the other shoe to drop. When will they learn that when we say no, we mean no. Not maybe, not sometime. We mean not ever.
I wonder if that is part of the lesson we are meant to learn while in this physical realm. It seems to be systemic to all walks of life, present in all corners of the planet. The fact that people are standing up and working on healing this trauma may be a huge part of our healing and Spiritual growth!
I learnt this from a young age, the police in England would be constantly harassing us during a span of over 4 years, pulling our cars over, accusing us of all sorts. This created for me a pure hatred towards police. And still today I ignore the fact they exist, I dont ask them for anything or even see them as anything but gangsters. I left the house life because of wanna be gangsters who got nowhere in life. I cut all strings with society, and live now in a "different bubble" which luckily enough , donsnt have much interaction with people who believe they have authority over me. The best phrase " I dont UNDERstand " (stand under) is to be used to answer any police officers questions - thus legally never agreeing to any fictitious authority.
And of course a human who is bullied by the people who are "supposed" to help the people, then it really can effect the mind. I lost a great paid job because I lost a driving license from police corruption sayin I was stoned on weed and driving a car when my friend, who had no license was actually driving the car. one example of many. Biggest organised gang on the planet.
It is really tough to confront when supported by the public mob. Seeing it as mob rule is really tough, but that is exactly what is going on. That is why I focus on education and bringing awareness by confronting violent behaviours as changing the system is not possible without risking corruption and selling my own soul or engaging in violence and coercion to accomplish it!
Well done mate. Your valuable to Steemit and great that your on here to post this kind of awareness!
Thanks
I know what you mean about always looking over your shoulder and expecting them to turn up. Every time I hear sirens I tense up, yet most of the time they are ambulances, so I shouldn't. That pounding knock at the door makes my heart jump. Yet most of the time when you firmly, but politely stand your ground, doing no wrong, they do back down. They know when they're in the wrong. It's just sometimes you hear those stories of the one that gets aggressive and you wonder if this will be the one.
Another thing they talk about like it's a bad thing is people who have a problem with authority. It seems to me that those who don't question authority have more of a problem. If you have chosen to give someone authority because it's their area of expertise, then fine, but we didn't choose to give these people authority over us, so I think we are well within our rights to ask them to justify it.
I agree with you. In fact, it is the duty and responsibility of the citizen to hold the authority accountable. The citizen is the checks and balance with authority. If the citizen does NOT do their duty, then authority will run rampant. We are not actually supposed to submit to authority, but challenge it, confront it and hold it accountable at all times. People think that is what the three branches of government are for, but there is a four branch that never seems to be discussed an that is the people! But we have been remiss in our duties.
It does not help that we have developed such a fear of the authorities due to the abusive way they often treat people. Often those that do challenge them are beaten down, not only by the authorities, but those around them. You also have to be confident in knowing where you stand, because they will make rules up knowing full well most don't know enough to argue it and because they change the rules at whim anyway, you can't keep up with it.
I agree. That is why I took the stand that I did. I had the skills to be able to stand up and know when they lie. I felt it was my duty to do so because their game is so complex. I know that a lot of people just cannot do what I did. So I stood up for them. I share for them. I teach this stuff so that we can all find freedom as we all have a piece to the puzzle.
I have friends (and myself) who have a knocking ban because a knock on the door could literally cause a heart attack. We have to open the door quietly and holler "hey its me" instead of knocking. 'Murica.
I most certainly have this after what happened at my place before last that drove me to move to the middle of the bush offgrid on my own lol. I'll be posting about that soon enough! I just gotta say it's pretty badass that they established a no-fly zone around your place.
Well, it was a complete surprise to me. I did not even ask that they do that. However, I do believe that when we start to stand our ground within the proper jurisdiction, they have to back down. It also helps to have the courage to stand up to them too. That also helps in the healing process too.
Thank you brother for giving a name to the darkness within - lack of focus, sleepless nights - dreading going out in the truck - irritability when dealing with these clowns - and the dark thoughts .. so dark.. and fear - not that i'm afraid, but because it takes great effort to not" loose control" with these bullies and if i loose control it's game over, they win.
It's been a long time since i was able to vent the darkness within by fighting - either in the ring or cage in an effort to release the pressure and clear my mind - Now the darkness is controlled by my comprehension of the cause - and avoidance. Bravo to you for for this blog - The darkness has a name - and i'm not alone. Love to you and Carey :)
My friend, even though I just put a name to it, these issues have plagued mankind for generations. I'm actually astonished that nobody has talked about or identified the trauma, stress and anxiety imposed by authority before. Perhaps they did and I'm just ignorant of the research. If so, I would love somebody to point me in that direction. But when I compare the trauma of authority to any other abusive relationship or trauma from horrific events, the reaction is the same. This cannot be ignored.
I've only been able to recognize it due to my zealous work to heal from my own past. I am sad that you also feel the same way I feel, but grateful that you found some peace and comfort knowing that you are not alone and that you have been able to identify it to some degree. Over the years I have no doubt that you will explore it deeper and find a way to heal from it. It will be difficult as the violence and coercion continues, but I do have faith that as we stand in solidarity against violence and coercion that we can remedy this so that we can finish the healing and find peace within. My thoughts and prayers go out to you my friend. May Creator guide you along that journey towards healing.
You are NOT alone!
Me too. I have to use so much of my precious energy to keep from going full postal every day i barely have enough energy left over to provide for my survival needs. Oh the rage is so consuming!
I'd say there are at least 5 billion suffering this at this time on this particular chopping block. I believe the authorities are willingly breaking The Golden Rule which has always been premised on noncoercion and non-necessary exploitation; in fact, capitalism in its present form breaks the Golden Rule ubiquitously. This is no random event of chance, IMO...
I would say the number is closer to 7.6 billion in my view. Time for the people to stand up and hold authority accountable. In my view, the golden rule has been broken many times. Time for each individual to examine their relationships and integrate it back into their lives. We cannot do that with the state. it can only be done through self-governance. How many people are willing to make the changes to self-govern? Well, I'm one who is. Anybody else?
According to you, how to deter ATSD ?
violence may occur due to factors of emotions, the wrong book, filled with heavy loads. and emotions can not be controlled.
thanks @wwf
We can ride ourselves of ATSD by abandoning authority and turning towards self-governance instead. But it will take generations to accomplish that as it took generations to get where we are today. But we can start the healing process if we accomplish this one goal in our life times.
This is so true that masses are unaware of the damage those authorities have done to them in all these years.
This is also true that courage to confront them is minimum due to which they are always feel dominance over us. Actually Authority Traumatic Stress Disorder (ATSD) is a quite new term for me and i was also unaware of it before reading your this valuable blog. Thanks a lot for this information my Great Friend Rob <3
My friend, it is a new term because I just created it. :)
This is something wonderful Rob :)
Thank you. Now people can bring the issue into their consciousness and start working on healing it. But until then, it seemed elusive and unidentifiable. I hope this helps.
Like you there should be some mentors to express the things to make the community aware of this concept so that they can find it helpful for them :)
Thank you! I have a very severe case of this.
We all do. It is global in scope and pervasive in everyone!
Thats all my life..since the age of 13. I wish i could explain. I mightbe able to gather enough courage to say it out loud someday.. Fear is a bitch...
Indeed it is. I pray you find the courage to confront it and realize that it has no teeth! But that is a personal journey you must take. My thoughts and prayers are with you.
a very good writing @wwwf, that's true as you say, if we live with full load, then stress, trauma and anxiety will always haunt us. But if we live the way we are, without having to make a burden, even if we live with a lot of deficiencies, I think we can live happily. Thanks for sharing a word that can be a motivation for me and the crowd.
Well I could point out the fact that cops in major countries are corrupt, and they've affected the right things which has however brought a negative change to people's lives
That may be true, but it goes much deeper than police. This is authority in general and impacts any occupation that has authority built into it.
Due to a prolonged conflict will be a stress of trauma hallucinations should be eliminated with recreational adventure
Nice post...
very nice pick of life .