Cuprins
Disturbing news attacks from all sides. The information space is overloaded with frightening materials about the pandemic. Our measured life suddenly turned into a scenario for a disaster movie. But is everything as terrible as we think? Or maybe we’re just panicking? A neurologist and psychotherapist Robert Arushanov will help you figure it out.
Let’s take a deep breath, then exhale slowly and try to rationally approach the question — where did the panic really come from and is it worth it to shudder with fear every time you update the news feed?
The «herd» feeling is contagious
A person tends to succumb to herd mentality, general panic is no exception. First, the instinct of self-preservation kicks in. We are safer in a group than alone. Secondly, in the crowd there is less personal responsibility for what is happening.
In physics, there is the concept of «induction»: one charged body transmits excitation to other bodies. If an uncharged particle is among the magnetized or electrified, then excitation is transferred to it.
The laws of physics also apply to society. We are in a state of «psychological induction»: those who panic «charge» others, and they in turn pass the «charge» on. Ultimately, the emotional tension spreads and captures everyone.
Contagiousness is also due to the fact that those who panic (inductors) and those who are “charged” by them (recipients) at some point change places and continue to transfer the charge of panic to each other, like a volleyball. This process is very difficult to stop.
“Everyone ran, and I ran…”
Panic is an unconscious fear of a real or perceived threat. It is he who prevents us from thinking objectively and pushes us to unconscious actions.
Now everything is being done to stop the virus: the borders of countries are being closed, quarantine is being announced in institutions, some people are in “home isolation”. For some reason, we did not observe such measures during previous epidemics.
Coronavirus: Precauții sau eclipsă mentală?
Therefore, some begin to think that the end of the world has come. People try on what they hear and read: “What will I eat if I am forbidden to leave the house?” The so-called «panic behavior» turns on the full power of the instinct of self-preservation. The crowd is trying to survive in fear. And food helps to feel relatively safe: “You can’t leave the house, so at least I won’t starve.”
As a result, products with a long shelf life disappear from stores: buckwheat and stew, rice, frozen convenience foods and, of course, toilet paper. People are stockpiling as if they are going to live in quarantine for many months, or even years. To buy a dozen eggs or bananas, you need to search all the surrounding supermarkets, and everything ordered on the Internet will be delivered no earlier than a week later.
In a state of panic, the direction and forms of behavior are determined by the crowd. Therefore, everyone is running, and I am running, everyone is buying — and I need it. Since everyone is doing it, it means that it is so right.
Why panic is dangerous
The instinct of self-preservation makes us see everyone who coughs or sneezes as a potential threat. Our fight-or-flight defense mechanism kicks in, provoking aggression or avoidance. We either attack the one who threatens us, or we hide. Panic gives rise to conflicts and clashes.
In addition, diseases that are one way or another associated with fear are exacerbated — anxiety disorders, phobias. Despair, depression, emotional instability are aggravated. And all this has a particularly strong effect on children. Adults are an example for them. Children copy their emotions. The anxiety of society, and even more so of the mother, increases the anxiety of the child. Adults should not forget this.
Hygiene, peace and positive
Stop constantly looking for confirmation of fears, inventing terrible outcomes, winding yourself up. Let’s take what we hear soberly. Often information is not presented in full, distorted and perverted.
Look for the positives in what is happening to you right now. Take a break, read, listen to music, do things you never had time for before. Follow the rules of personal hygiene.
And if severe anxiety, a tendency to panic reactions, depressed mood, despair, sleep disturbance continue for several days, contact a specialist: a psychiatrist, a psychotherapist. Take care of your mental well-being.