Hmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm....
In labeling someone's behavior as a persecution complex; we essentially ascribe a few values to it:
- An element of their behavior (whether intensity, frequency, reasons, or rationale) are irrational, socially unacceptable, or destructive
- And their irrationality is deemed as psychologically unhealthy
In this way, I've always seen persecution complex as a two way road. Yes, someone has to act, react, and perceive things in a certain manner. But most importantly
other people have to be disturbed by them to label it as persecution complex.
Because what you label as persecution complex,
others may see it as a having very valid reason to be angry at.
and others may see it as a very healthy coping reaction.
Especially when we're just doing armchair psychology about a particular tendency in a large group of people; who aren't likely to receive psychological examination about their behaviors.
when it's a very tenuous interpretation of things,
Tenuous ...by whose standard?
I mean, it is very easy to forget the fact that values and ethics and morals change. And then there's also the fact that the media used to be more homogenized in their values.
What used to be okay (rape jokes, sexual harassment, child workers and soldiers) are now less okay, and things that used to be not okay (bashing religions, polyamory, premarital sex, LGBTQ+ folks) are now more okay. That means more people changing values. A more diverse set of values.
Even in personal scope, things change-- Having a kid changes things. Trauma changes things. Having a parent dying changes things. Shock and suffering and surprise changes things. Falling in love changes things.
Part of the change -is- how you see the world. What used to be okay is now less okay and vice versa.
This all means that what used to be tenuous may be less so now.
Mind, that doesn't mean your perception is wrong. If their actions disturbed your sensibility, then they are. If they hurt you, then I understand and support you if you choose to do something about it. But that doesn't mean they are objectively in the wrong for acting / reacting as they did. And that doesn't mean they always have some intristic personality flaw that makes them an awful human.
Even those who are formally diagnosed with persecution complex (as part of schizophrenia, for instance) does not mean they are fundamentally broken.
while other people can be indifferent to personal swipes, etc.?
A casual reminder that silence does not mean approval.
And that there are strong people and there are numb people and sometimes they are mixed with each other.
Just because people ACT indifferent does not mean they are indifferent.
The way things were, many people repressed their voices. Many people think it is better to stay quiet and grit their teeth and hope the storm passes over. Many people were afraid of speaking out.
Again, this doesn't necessarily mean an admirable thing.
But I'm going to offer at least one answer;
In some levels it's more tiring and painful hearing an insult for the hundredth time than the first time.
