Robert Jay Lifton

On Death and Death Symbolism: The Hiroshima Disaster†

(1964). On Death and Death Symbolism: The Hiroshima Disaster. Psychiatry: Vol. 27, No. 3, pp. 191-210.

On Death and the Continuity of Life: A Psychohistorical Perspective

Unlimited technological violence and absurd death have replaced sexual repression as an urgent theme for contemporary man. Psychoanalytic theory, developed during the late Victorian era, must be re-evaluated within the context of current historical forces. In attempting to understand the impact of extreme violence and mass death, the writer finds it more useful to speak of a process of psychic numbing rather than repression. This numbing process involves an impairment of the symbolization or image-forming function. Illustrative material is drawn from the writers previous study of Hiroshima survivors, and in observations made in clinical work. The goal is to evolve psychohistorical theory adequate to the dangerous times in which we live.

The dimensions of contemporary war and violence: How to reclaim humanity from a continuing revolution in the technology of killing

An emerging school of thought contends that the world is becoming increasingly safe. Proponents of the peaceable-world argument point to statistical evidence that war and violence have diminished since prehistoric times and to the non-use of nuclear weapons since 1945. The peaceable-world claim is misleading because it does not confront a continuing revolution in the technology of killing and the increasing capacity for numbed technological violence evidenced by the Holocaust, nuclear weapons use, and drone warfare. We, as human beings, are not surely destined for either extinction or continuation as a species. We must embrace a broadening identity and recognize the profound contemporary existential danger so we can reclaim technology and imagination to serve life.

Toward a nuclear-age ethos

Although the dangers of the arms race and of nuclear war are enormous, the author believes that such dark times can be fertile for development of principles that will enhance human life.

The prevention of nuclear war

Physicians are exercising their responsibility as healers in their efforts to prevent nuclear war. Death for Hiroshima survivors was experienced in four stages: the immediate impact of destruction, the acute impact of radiation, delayed radiation effects, and later identification as an atomic bomb survivor. Each phase had its physical and psychological impacts and negates Hiroshima as a model for rational behavior despite those who claim survival is possible for those who are prepared. The psychic effects of modern nuclear, chemical, and germ warfare need to be challenged with a symbolization of life and immortality. Studies of psychological reactions to the terror children felt during practice air-raid drills indicate that the fears can be surpressed and re-emerge in adult life as a linking of death with collective annihilation. Other themes which emerge are feelings of impermanence, craziness, identification with the bomb, and a double existence. Psychic numbing and the religion of nuclearism cause dangerous conflicts with the anxieties caused by increasing awareness of death. (DCK)