Collective Numbness: From Silent Wounds to Social Unity and the Choice of Leadership

H. Soleimani – In Iran today, a heavy silence and psychological numbness have settled over public life. The water and electricity crisis, runaway inflation, the suppression of protests and waves of emigration engulf society day after day, yet no widespread, sustained response is to be seen. Instead of crying out, society has taken refuge in silence and numbness. This is what sociologists call “collective numbness”: a state in which people suppress their feelings and protests in order to survive.

But this stillness does not mean consent. The experience of other nations has shown that societies can rise again from within numbness. The key question is this: how can the cycle of silence, eruption and suppression be broken, and society brought from numbness to unity?

The roots of collective numbness in Iran

Today’s social numbness in Iran is the result of decades of accumulated bitter experience:

Continuous repression: from 18 Tir 1378 to the Green Movement of 1388, Aban 1398 and the “Woman, Life, Freedom” uprising, there have been arrests, imprisonment and executions.

Failure to change circumstances: repeated defeats have reinforced the feeling that “no effort makes any difference”.

Chronic crises: inflation, unemployment, water shortages and power cuts have become part of everyday life.

The collapse of intermediary institutions: the absence of independent parties, unions and associations has made collective energy episodic and fragmented.

Mass emigration: the departure of active people has further depleted society’s human capital.

Psychological and social mechanisms

A numb society employs the same defence mechanisms that psychologists identify at the individual level:

Emotional suppression: anger and fear are pushed into the unconscious.

Emotional detachment: disasters are seen, but society responds to them as a “spectator”.

Discrediting: humour and jokes (clearly visible on social media) take the place of seriously confronting pain and suffering.

These reactions reduce psychological pressure in the short term, but in the long term they erode social sensitivity and make society passive.

The cycle of silence, eruption and suppression

Iran has repeatedly become caught in this cycle:

1. Silence and numbness: society falls silent in order to survive the heavy costs of repression.

2. Eruption: An ethical or economic shock (such as the death of Mahsa Amini or a sudden rise in petrol prices) breaks the threshold of tolerance.

3. Silence: Violent repression, the absence of support networks and psychological exhaustion quell the wave.

Until structural change takes place, this cycle will be repeated time and again.

One of the main reasons the cycle of silence and eruption persists in Iran is the absence of centralised leadership, as well as the society’s historical individualism. At moments of crisis, people have a psychological need for leaders who can not only offer hope but also illuminate the way forward and turn scattered voices into a unified demand. Historical experience shows that without leadership, no social movement will reach its destination, even if millions of people take part in it.

The solution is the broad acceptance of a trusted, symbolic leader for the transitional period: a figure who can both inspire and command acceptance across diverse political and social groups. Such leadership gives society hope, creates cohesion and strengthens the social movement’s resilience in the face of repression.

Today’s world has also shown that every major movement needs a focal point. Iran, too, must find a strong, well-known politician accepted by the majority of groups in order to move beyond this situation: someone who is not merely an individual, but a symbol of collective will.

Of course, this path requires the groups and political parties to reach an initial agreement around a shared figure. Premature disagreements and rivalries will benefit no movement; they will instead leave society once again mired in distrust and division. History is merciless: future generations will ask every movement and group why, at a critical moment, you sacrificed collective interests to your disagreements.

On the other hand, through its infiltrators and cyber army, the Iranian regime continually sows and cultivates discord. Whenever a qualified individual comes to the fore, they try to discredit that figure through assassination, character assassination or organised attacks. A clear example is the repeated attacks on Prince Reza Pahlavi, particularly abroad, whose sole aim is to create division among opposition forces. These actions show that, in such circumstances, solidarity and national consensus can become a powerful alternative for leadership and the overthrow of the regime—a situation that can no longer be silenced through repression.

Nevertheless, it has often been observed that some people who support Prince Reza Pahlavi go to extremes and treat other groups harshly—a behaviour that he himself does not endorse and that will only reinforce fears about the future. Society must therefore not be led astray; this is the time to build collective trust and, on that basis, chart the path ahead.

The experience of other countries

History shows that collective numbness is not necessarily the end:

South Africa: A society numbed under apartheid regained solidarity under Mandela’s leadership and through the Truth and Reconciliation Commission.

Poland: Workers broke the silence of communism through the Solidarity trade union.

Chile: The ‘No’ cultural campaign and the 1988 referendum brought Pinochet’s dictatorship to an end.

South Korea: The unity of students and workers in the 1980s led society from fear and silence to democracy.

Eastern Europe: Independent media and transnational solidarity broke through the wall of communist silence.

Methods of collective self-healing

Moving beyond numbness requires a gradual and sustained process:

1. Reviving collective memory: recording and remembering events, holding small commemorations, and sharing stories across generations.

2. Strengthening networks of trust: local groups of 5–7 people addressing tangible issues such as water, the environment or livelihoods.

3. Low-cost but sustained action: targeted boycotts, trade-union campaigns and local initiatives.

4. Restoring a sense of efficacy: focusing on small, measurable achievements to convey the message that “change is possible”.

5. Safe emotional spaces: small-group conversations, art, music and mourning rituals for those killed by the regime, to restore empathy.

6. Linking livelihoods with dignity: showing that crises such as water and electricity shortages are not merely technical or economic, but are bound up with justice and human dignity.

7. Sustained support: setting up local small-scale funds for arrests, medical care and families’ living expenses.

Unity: the key to breaking numbness

Nothing can break this numbness as effectively as social unity.

Reducing individual fear: when people know they are not alone, they act more courageously.

Restoring a sense of efficacy: even small collective actions convey the message, “We can.”

Resilience in the face of repression: united networks are better able to continue and endure.

Global experience confirms this too: “Solidarity” in Poland, the unity of students and workers in South Korea, the cultural campaign in Chile, and even in Iran, the “Woman, Life, Freedom” movement, which showed how a shared slogan can set a numb society in motion—even if it later subsides under repression.

Conclusion

Collective numbness is a silent wound; a psychological response to pressure and repression. But it is not a society’s inevitable fate.

The experience of other nations has shown that the cycle of silence–eruption–silencing can be broken by reviving collective memory, forming small networks of trust, developing shared leadership and building social unity.

Unity plays a vital role: people realise that they are not alone and that together they can overcome fear and numbness. Small flames, when united, break the cold of numbness and pave the way back to social life.

References:

Martin Seligman – learned helplessness

Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann – the spiral of silence

Sidney Tarrow – cycles of protest and social movements

Diane Vaughan – the normalisation of deviance

Iranian experiences: 18 Tir 1378, the Green Movement of 1388, Aban 1398, ‘Woman, Life, Freedom’ 1401

South Africa – Mandela and the Truth and Reconciliation Commission

Poland – the ‘Solidarność’ movement

Chile – the 1988 referendum

South Korea – the Gwangju Uprising and the democratic transition

Eastern Europe – the revolutions of 1989