What is this evil? If we recognize it to be the root of all suffering, then even the Buddha dealt with it in his own way, yet it keeps harassing us. While living in the USA, I had the privilege of meeting Andrzej Lobaczewski, a clinical psychologist who coined the term
ponerology from the Greek word for evil. He used this term to describe the results of his many years of research, which can be said to supplement ethics from the psychiatric point of view. Unfortunately he was not always able to get his message through, and the better part of his work was never published as far as I know. Closer contact with Andrzej Lobaczewski encouraged me to familiarize myself with other problematics on similar topics smuggled out of the Soviet Union and Hungary. Since I gave a series of interviews at that time (namely 1984) in connection with the publication of my work
The Psychological Roots of Communism, I decided to devote an additional radio interview to this very subject. The statements made therein had been jointly formulated beforehand with Andrzej Lobaczewski, who didn't disclose his name at that time. Although this was all quite a long time ago, I believe the topic deserves wider renown.
Comment: According to the
National Institute of Mental Health:
9.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older suffer from Mood Disorder
6.7 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older suffer from Major Depressive Disorder
1.5 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older suffer from Dysthymic Disorder
2.6 percent of the U.S. population age 18 and older suffer from Bi-polar disorder
1.1 percent of the population age 18 and older suffer from Schizophrenia
18.1 percent of people in this age group in a given year, have an anxiety disorder.
2.7 percent of people age 18 and older suffer from panic disorder
1.0 percent of people age 18 and older suffer from Obsessive-compulsive disorder
3.5 percent of people age 18 and older suffer from Post Traumatic Stress disorder
3.1 percent of people age 18 and over suffer from Generalized Anxiety Disorder
6.8 percent of people age 18 and older suffer from Social Phobia
0.8 percent of people age 18 and older suffer from Agoraphobia
8.7 percent of people age 18 and older suffer from marked and persistent fear and avoidance of a specific object or situation
0.5 percent to 3.7 percent of females suffer from anorexia
1.1 percent to 4.2 percent suffer from bulimia (The mortality rate among people with anorexia has been estimated at 0.56 percent per year, or approximately 5.6 percent per decade, which is about 12 times higher than the annual death rate due to all causes of death among females ages 15-24 in the general population.)
4.1 percent of adults, ages 18-44 suffer from ADHD
Accounting for comorbidity, "An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older - about one in four adults - suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year." Notice that psychopathy and personality disorders such as narcissism and borderline personality disorder, are not even included in this list. Either mental illness is on the rise, or different criteria were used to come up with the figures cited by Wasilewski.
Comment: According to the National Institute of Mental Health: Accounting for comorbidity, "An estimated 26.2 percent of Americans ages 18 and older - about one in four adults - suffer from a diagnosable mental disorder in a given year." Notice that psychopathy and personality disorders such as narcissism and borderline personality disorder, are not even included in this list. Either mental illness is on the rise, or different criteria were used to come up with the figures cited by Wasilewski.