Shiloh
Editor, Senior Moderator
Source: http://www.cidrap.umn.edu/news-pers...bedfellows-gnawing-anxiety-and-under-reaction
COMMENTARY: Strange COVID-19 bedfellows: gnawing anxiety and under-reaction
Filed Under:
COVID-19
Peter M. Sandman, PhD, and Jody Lanard, MD
| Mar 17, 2020
Editor's Note: This commentary was published on Mar 11 on psandman.com and has been slightly adapted here with permission.
The other day, a new neighbor overheard us complaining about how slowly western governments were imposing drastic social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19. He entered the conversation, saying, "It's not as if life as we know it is ending." He seemed a little anxious as he said it, contradicting his words.
He was wrong, of course. Life as we know it is ending for now, and the sooner people's mental understanding of this catches up with their gut understanding, the sooner people will demand and support stronger government responses.
In recent days, several other friends have expressed a lot of anxiety to us about this pandemic coronavirus, but then mentioned almost in passing that they were taking a trip to Florida next week to visit grandchildren, or going into New York City by train for a dinner date, or excited about a planned week in Hawaii, or attending a business meeting in Michigan. They mostly dropped these trips into the conversation without connecting them to the COVID-19 discussion.
We think their anxiety about COVID-19 was in one place and their cognitive understanding of COVID-19 was in another.
So we want to talk about these strange COVID-19 bedfellows: gnawing anxiety and under-reaction...
COMMENTARY: Strange COVID-19 bedfellows: gnawing anxiety and under-reaction
Filed Under:
COVID-19
Peter M. Sandman, PhD, and Jody Lanard, MD
| Mar 17, 2020
Editor's Note: This commentary was published on Mar 11 on psandman.com and has been slightly adapted here with permission.
The other day, a new neighbor overheard us complaining about how slowly western governments were imposing drastic social distancing to help slow the spread of COVID-19. He entered the conversation, saying, "It's not as if life as we know it is ending." He seemed a little anxious as he said it, contradicting his words.
He was wrong, of course. Life as we know it is ending for now, and the sooner people's mental understanding of this catches up with their gut understanding, the sooner people will demand and support stronger government responses.
In recent days, several other friends have expressed a lot of anxiety to us about this pandemic coronavirus, but then mentioned almost in passing that they were taking a trip to Florida next week to visit grandchildren, or going into New York City by train for a dinner date, or excited about a planned week in Hawaii, or attending a business meeting in Michigan. They mostly dropped these trips into the conversation without connecting them to the COVID-19 discussion.
We think their anxiety about COVID-19 was in one place and their cognitive understanding of COVID-19 was in another.
So we want to talk about these strange COVID-19 bedfellows: gnawing anxiety and under-reaction...