Someone recently stated that the social problems we are currently facing are primarily due to the “enemy from within.”   When we look back over our collective history as a species, we discover that several people have already used this phrase.  What all these individuals seem to have in common is that their use of “enemy from within” refers to other human beings, specifically, individuals within one’s own society or country.

However, to say that the “enemy from within” refers to other individuals in our society as the cause of the problem is to deny and deflect the power and responsibility of our consciousness and psychology, for either enhancing or, as in this case, potentially negating our existence. Regardless of which side of the aisle an individual makes their living on or is associated with, the fundamental problem implied by the enemy from within is to be found inside each of us, not something external, not something having to do with others.

Suppose we continue to focus externally on finding the cause of and a resolution to our social issues. In that case, we will most assuredly fail in our efforts, continue to experience a variety of social ills, and also risk destroying that which we claim to cherish: our way of life.  The serious maladies we face today are very harmful, violent, destructive, and potentially devastating to our culture. Blaming others and continuing to play the victim does not resolve our problem; instead, it only escalates its existence and furthers the possibility of our annihilation.

We must face the truth about our social issues. We are the real cause of our social dis-ease. Collectively, we are responsible for the deterioration of our society. The cause of the maladies that are literally destroying our society is emanating from within each of us. Even though many may initially be unable to perceive or understand that the fundamental cause threatening our social structure exists within us, it does not mean that it does not.  The “enemy from within” can be interpreted literally, referring not to an external threat but to that which is within us. I believe this is the most adequate and appropriate interpretation.

So, what exactly is the “enemy from within?”  I believe first that it is not another person, nor does it have anything to do with another person or group of people. The enemy from within is within all of us, in our individual psychology, not something external.  I believe that this enemy from within is a way of thinking, a thought or belief I have about myself, a negative thought or belief that constantly tells me I am not good enough, not enough, broken, defective, inadequate, less than, or some other negative belief that I have created about myself. The real enemy or threat to our existence is generated from within each one of us.  It is our collective pathology that is the true enemy.

To better understand that we have this negative belief about ourselves that is the real enemy, one needs to recognize the fact that we think with two connected but distinct minds. We have a conscious mind that we conduct most of our daily life affairs with, and an unconscious mind whose operations are hidden from us but significantly affect most of our lives, both psychologically and physically. Both minds are essential for our very existence and are integrated.  It is in the unconscious mind that the enemy from within exists. The enemy from within is an unconscious, negative self-belief that we are responsible for creating and nurturing for many years, both individually and socially. This unconscious negative self-belief is also known as our self-image.

This negative belief that we have about ourselves affects everything in our lives.  Our self-image affects our physical health, our future, our career, and, most importantly, our relationships with others.  As the enemy from within is negative, it will have a detrimental impact on my relationships with others. If I think and believe negatively about myself, I will struggle to experience empathy or love towards others.  I cannot give away externally what I do not have internally. Such a situation will also cause me to be unable to accept affection and love from others. I will be unable to fully accept the love and affection from another due to my belief that I am unworthy or undeserving of the love and affection due to my flawed nature.

Another effect of the enemy from within on relationships with others is that it also hinders, if not stops, me from creating a connection or bond with others. I will tend to perceive another person as different or even separate from me. With this lack of connection or sense of relatedness, I may even think that this other person harbors negative thoughts and feelings about me, dislikes me, or even hates me.  I may even believe that they are in some manner against me, wanting to cause me harm, even. This perceptual process is the result of projection, specifically projection from our unconscious mind and a wounded self. What I project outward will come back to me. Even though the projection is an attempt by the individual to heal, the results can be lethal to both the individual and others.

Believing that I am not good enough, I tend to avoid dealing with the negative thoughts I have about myself, repressing them from my conscious mind and depositing them into my unconscious mind, and then attempting to further rid myself of such thinking by projecting them outward, onto others.  Whatever I think negatively about myself, even if I hate myself, I will attempt to purge myself of those negative thoughts and, in the process, project them onto another person. Eventually, I will begin to take my projection personally, believing that the other person does not like me, hates me even, and possibly is out to harm me. Such reasoning may trigger my tendency to defend myself, even in the absence of empirical proof that overt aggression has been directed towards me. This projection of a negative self-image is a powerful and potentially destructive process that demands a solution if we are to continue to be.

This thesis about the enemy from within provides us with much insight and understanding into the causes of our social maladies, which we are currently facing in abundance, especially where acts of violence are involved. This psychological profile allows us to understand better the devastating nature of human violence and the physical destruction that this type of behavior can cause and inflict upon other individuals. While I believe that everyone in our society is not the same, that is, does not share the same type of negative self-limiting beliefs or negative self-image as everyone else, many individuals are different in that their level of pathology is such that it creates the necessity for that person to execute harm upon and against others. Given certain sociological conditions, these individuals will have more opportunities to seriously harm, if not kill, others when their pathology is allowed to bring about external destruction.

What is the solution to this serious and potentially devastating situation that we are all now facing in our society, country, and even globally? While the solution for our society and all those who live within it will require a transformation of the fundamental nature of our individual self-images, such an undertaking will take time and a great deal of commitment to complete the task of psychological change.  While it is debatable whether we have the necessary time and resources to transform our citizens in such a manner to avoid what appears to be an almost inevitable social collapse, certain conditions must be in place if we are to have at least the possibility of succeeding at our efforts to survive as a species.

The sociological conditions that serve as breeding grounds for the pathology of a wounded self to be the architect of continual social decay and eventual destruction are characterized by an individual having autocratic control over most, if not all, citizens of a society, rather than there being a balance of power in place that would set humanistic limits on his behavior. With little or no checks and balances placed upon an autocratic with a wounded self, there will be no motivation for such an individual to limit the destructive path that he will most definitely carve out against others. Such an autocratic individual, who can easily be compared to a dictator, like Adolf Hitler, will impede the possibility of the social structure undergoing the necessary healing and transformation to save the society. The purpose or mission of the autocratic individual is to destroy, not preserve. While the individual is at war with himself, the implications for others are real and potentially devastating.

By Dr. Harry Henshaw

Enhanced Healing Counseling

Enhanced Healing Counseling Music

Positive Affirmation Recordings

Relaxation Music Recordings

Testimonials