If the World is on Fire, So are we
written by Deepa Chopra, MD, FACP. FRCP
"How do we explain a world that seems to have exploded in violence, war, and populist hatred of “the other,” particularly when the other is part of a flood of refugees and immigrants fleeing intolerable conditions at home?
Before settling on an answer, consider a notion that runs through the world’s spiritual traditions: The source of violence “out there” in the world lies “in here” with ourselves.
This notion is hard to accept in the face of the rationales everyone uses to avoid looking inside. Most of these rationales are some form of blame — violence is social, connected to poverty, a family history of violence, rooted in age-old grudges, or somehow the product of collective insanity. Along with blame goes the usual moral judgments that treat violent behavior as a personal failure of character.
If you can set aside these explanations for a moment, it makes more sense to connect violence holistically to physical and mental health. A step was taken in this direction by an article in the International Journal of General Medicine with the surprising title, “Global Correlations Between Chronic Inflammation and Violent Incidents.” The findings from several studies revealed a strong correlation, up to 80%, between markers of chronic inflammation in a person’s blood and incidents of increased anger, aggression, and hostility."