The American Trance is the trance of fear. What is fear doing to us? How does our culture promote it? And how do we de-trance?

1. VIRAL FEAR AND THE AMERICANVIRAL FEAR AND THE AMERICAN
TRANCETRANCE

2. MODERN LIFE AS PATHOLOGYMODERN LIFE AS PATHOLOGY

3. What accounts for cultural pathology?
What does it do to us?
I have worked with private patients for
25 years and often find that unless they
develop an awareness of the effects of
the culture they live in—and the mental,
emotional, and spiritual means to
combat those effects—they may wind up
fighting an uphill battle.

4. How do we deal with this?
We can do as Garrison Keillor suggests:
“I believe in looking reality straight in the
eye and denying it.”
It certainly helps the people who are
selling us things we don’t need or
ideas that are harmful.

5. Or
We can practice awareness
and wisdom,
which as one sage said,
“is a firm grasp of the obvious.”

6. HOW DOES CULTURALHOW DOES CULTURAL
PATHOLOGYPATHOLOGY
FACILITATEFACILITATE
INDIVIDUAL PATHOLOGY?INDIVIDUAL PATHOLOGY?

7. THE PRINCIPLESTHE PRINCIPLES
OF CULTURAL TRANCE.OF CULTURAL TRANCE.
We are always in and out of trance.We are always in and out of trance.
This is a normal part of human experience.This is a normal part of human experience.
We are therefore often susceptible to suggestion.We are therefore often susceptible to suggestion.
We are surrounded by media, which are filled with suggestionsWe are surrounded by media, which are filled with suggestions
grounded in fear, gluttony, entitlement, and envy.grounded in fear, gluttony, entitlement, and envy.
We receive and embed these suggestions unconsciously unless weWe receive and embed these suggestions unconsciously unless we
develop the awareness to combat them.develop the awareness to combat them.

9. American Cultural PathologyAmerican Cultural Pathology
People both affect and arePeople both affect and are at the effectat the effect of their surroundingof their surrounding
cultures.cultures.
What are some of the effects of contemporary American culture?What are some of the effects of contemporary American culture?
1. Viral Fear1. Viral Fear © or The Next Osama Syndrome© or The Next Osama Syndrome
2. The Need For MORE or Gluttony2. The Need For MORE or Gluttony
3. Self-Loathing3. Self-Loathing
4. Self-Inflation and Entitlement4. Self-Inflation and Entitlement

10. VIRAL FEARVIRAL FEAR©©
Viral fear is the continualViral fear is the continual
bombardment of consciousness withbombardment of consciousness with
messages of fear.messages of fear.
We also call this the “Next Osama”We also call this the “Next Osama”
syndrome.syndrome.
They can seem benign or evenThey can seem benign or even
reasonable,reasonable,
like the fear of germs…like the fear of germs…

11. Or they can be dramatic,Or they can be dramatic,
frightful,frightful,
and life-altering…and life-altering…
yet still seemyet still seem
reasonable, if only at thereasonable, if only at the
moment.moment.

12. The Need for
MORE:
We are sold
a bill of
goods we
don’t need
and in our
right minds
don’t want.

13. We are
asked to
believe
nonsense
and we do.

14. Our image of
ourselves is distorted
by the media mirrors:
We are told we are
never good enough,
pretty enough, sexy enough,
high enough, mighty enough,
thin enough, smart enough,
tight enough, rich enough,
happy enough, or
spiritual enough…unless of
course we have THEIR
products.
And we believe it.

15. WHAT DOES THAT
DO TO US?

16. It creates pathology.It creates pathology.
•DestructionDestruction
•EntropyEntropy
•EmptinessEmptiness
•IsolationIsolation

17. The pathology includes:The pathology includes:
Fear (of everything)Fear (of everything)
Self-LoathingSelf-Loathing
Unreasonable EntitlementUnreasonable Entitlement
Gluttony and GreedGluttony and Greed
(or the constant need for more)(or the constant need for more)

18. For more information on
Viral Fear or The Next
Osama Syndrome and
the ways to antidote it,
please go to:
www.wordsaremedicine.com
www.thenextosama.com
Judith Acosta, LISW,
Keynote Speaker on
Verbal First Aid,
Trauma and Viral Fear.