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Will We Ever Escape the Circle of Fear?
Apparently, we not only need to be aware of the effects of Covid-19 on our children; I’ve discovered that senior citizens are also trapped in a fear response, and I wonder if they will be able to free themselves from it.
I live in a 55+ community; during the past month residents who are 65+ years of age were able to get the Covid-19 vaccine, both doses. I received my shot earlier in another location. I was hopeful that this step would resolve the fears of many, but I know of three women who are still wearing masks, restricting their interactions with others, and staying home as much as possible.
One of these women is a friend. Yes, she does have co-morbidities. Recently another friend and I invited her to join us for a morning visit in a couple of weeks. She responded that if we met on the lanai, she would come, but if we met indoors, she would have to think about it. I have not talked to her myself, but I’m struggling with whether to ask her this question: “What would need to happen for you to feel you can return to a somewhat normal life?” My concern is that my question is (I believe) a fair and rational one; I anticipate, however, that she would not have a rational answer. I might be putting her on the spot, and I’m not even sure it would stimulate her thinking about how fear is dominating her decision-making process.
I was also at my manicurist (who is sane and practical) who also lives in this development, and she told me a story almost identical to my friend’s. She also told me about a woman who got the vaccine and won’t visit her grandchildren because she believes she carries the virus inside her and is afraid of infecting the children.
I’m not kidding.
* * * * *
From my own understanding, I realize that the vaccines don’t make me immune to the virus, but if I catch it, it will likely be a milder case. I also don’t know at this point how long the vaccine will be effective. Still, we are assessing when we will be going out, with whom, and how often. We only wear masks where they are required, and never outdoors. We’ve talked about taking small trips as soon as I’m fully recovered from my surgery, and I already have a trip to Baltimore on my calendar. So I’m looking at my neighbors and wondering what their thoughts are now about being vaccinated and how their lives will change. I may just do a little survey with them.
* * * * *
There are not only psychological but physiological factors that could affect our reaction to the pandemic and the follow-up period. I decided to investigate the role of the amygdala in our brain in our response to fear, and learned some intriguing facts. There are two systems that can determine our response to Covid-19: the amygdala and the pre-frontal lobes. Dr. Joseph LeDoux, a leading authority on neuroscience and fear, made the following observations:
‘The amygdala is not a fear centre,’ LeDoux said. ‘It’s a system in the brain that detects and responds to danger. But fear is our awareness that we’re in danger.’
But the fear is not the end of the process. The way we respond to the fear is determined by the pre-frontal lobes. The frontal lobes receive the fear message and try to deal with it rationally:
When the threat is mild or moderate, the frontal lobes override the amygdala, and you respond in the most rational, appropriate way. However, when the threat is strong, the amygdala acts quickly. It may overpower the frontal lobes, automatically triggering the fight-or-flight response.
The fight-or-flight response was appropriate for early humans because of threats of physical harm. Today, there are far fewer physical threats, but there are a lot of psychological threats caused by the pressures and stresses of modern life.
When stress makes you feel strong anger, aggression, or fear, the fight-or-flight response is activated. It often results in a sudden, illogical, and irrational overreaction to the situation.
There is no consensus over whether the amygdala responds in the same way if a person experiences a similar stimulus over and over again. For example, when a person is continually dealing with reminders of the virus, especially seeing others wearing masks or repeatedly having to don a mask, I wonder if the amygdala sees the mask as a danger and causes a reaction of fear. Or when a person sees Dr. Fauci, or someone from the CDC, or other “experts” on Covid-19, is it possible that people are continually being charged with fear, and therefore reluctant to “use their pre-frontal lobes” to consider whether they could respond differently?
As long as the government insists on mask-wearing; as long as businesses expect customers to wear masks when we enter the premises; as long as we repeatedly receive the mantra of wearing masks, social distancing, and hand-washing, will the average person be able to free himself from this overwhelming circle of fear?
Published in Healthcare
Until the time it gets you into trouble . . .
At least he was caring and not callous about it.
“It’s not about pointing fingers or blame, it’s that this became a political football, right?” Cuomo noted during the press conference. “Look, whether a person died in a hospital or died in a nursing home … people died. People died. … By the way, the same people are dying today.”
It wasn’t? I’m pretty sure it was here in the DFW area. What was the basis for the lockdowns in New York?
Exactly. I agree. That was my original point before we got side tracked. So my point about moving forward on Covid, let’s do carefully and thoughtfully. I don’t know when the right time to open full bore but I can see stepping into it by percent. If we allow 50% capacity in your state now I can see going to 75% this month and 100% next if hospitalizations stay down. And if hospitalizations stay down after a month of 100%, then do away with masks and all.
Perhaps he thought since nursing homes have segregated sections and floors they could accommodate Covid infected patients. Unless someone can prove the man is satanic, I cannot attribute an evil motive.
There are crimes that are crimes regardless of there being any motive at all. Hillary used an unsecured server for her email, including email that was by its nature classified. Anything that she sent from that server, or was received by that server, has to be considered compromised. It doesn’t matter if she intended for the data to be compromised or not. She could have (should have) been charged with gross negligence in handling confidential data.
“Depraved indifference” doesn’t require intent either.
Actually the whole lockdown cycle began not because of the deaths, which were few at that time, but because of the transmissibility was so high, even as far back as Italy. I remember the speeches about this during the press conferences.
Also Cuomo locked down New Rochelle on March 10. That same day, the metropolitan area saw its first single fatality: a man who worked at a harness track in Yonkers and lived in New Jersey.
I know a little bit about health care design, having done it for many years. If you and your medical advisers force highly contagious (and this is what they were understood to be) patients into facilities beyond their capacity, or that were not specifically designed for treatment of such people, the most favorable term for it is negligence. Maybe he didn’t want people dead, but that was the result.
Manny, you try so hard to give politicians the benefit of the doubt, but there is such a thing as negligent homicide. And not understanding the consequences of your decisions fits this. Also, if you don’t understand the consequences of your decisions, you shouldn’t be in charge. Since he doesn’t seem to have the urge to resign, impeachment at this point may be a good first step, because if he isn’t, there will be no consequences.
And what to do with his advisors? They are just as culpable, and yet I haven’t heard about any firings or resignations. Funny that, because that is usually the first step. Circling the wagons (if such metaphors are still allowed) around the person responsible.
Right. Their lives were not a top priority. Playing CYA is the top priority for politicians.
New York City was given a hospital ship. Did not use it. Samaritan’s Purse set up a field hospital in Central Park. Did not use it. (Worse, they were told to go away because they were guilty of wrong-think.)
Well, then I assume someone is going to bring him up on charges. Let’s see. And I don’t mean impeachment charges. Criminal charges becuase that’s what you’re saying. I wouldn’t hold my breath.
Nor will I.