The Psychology of a Pandemic
If you are a person living in India with access to television, internet or even good old radio, I don’t have to explain how bad the situation is. As a millennial, I have been comfortably immune most national disasters until now. Many of us have not been through a war or a revolution, but this how it must have felt during those times. There are people waiting, people suffering, desperate for medical aid or help that would be too late, and those sitting at home, watching helpless and anxious if they would be next. Those who have been impacted first-hand would not know how to channel their anger and grief towards an invisible enemy. It’s not like the virus has feelings, ethics or is vengeful to destroy selectively. It is a pest without discrimination and without a heart, literally and figuratively. Simple biology. Maybe that’s why it’s so powerful.
How can humans, delicate and vulnerable, survive such a ruthless terrorist. A terrorist who doesn’t negotiate? How is this impacting even the survivors amidst the wreckage?
I am not giving tips to prevent or cure Covid here, there are plenty of resources available in multiple avenues. What is worth pointing to is this particular determination of humans in an unfavourable situation.
If survival of the fittest is followed to the dot, people would quickly distance themselves to those who were affected to try to protect themselves. There might be fewer primary and secondary contacts, as everyone would disperse. We might see lesser instances of whole families and clusters getting infected and admitted. Resources could be used more effectively. Medical staff might focus their energies to treat milder and curable cases, in turn, reducing their risk. Indian Medical Association claimed that 734 doctors lost their lives in the second week of April 2021 alone due to Covid (courtesy: scroll.in). Then we’d probably see lesser deaths and infections, right?
Maybe not.
The recovery rate might fall. Those affected might get sicker. Those already in a worser condition may not even make it. Love and warmth are the not-so-obvious cures working in favour of a higher recovery rate.
I have read first-hand accounts of people who were determined to spread this hope directly or indirectly, by their sheer determination. People who consoled, fed, waited, transported, healed or encouraged their loved ones or even strangers, remotely or in person. This social bonding, although counterintuitive, might just be the miracle one could hope. Recently, a picture of an ICU patient in a Brazilian hospital went viral. The patient’s hand was held in between latex gloves filled with warm water to simulate a human touch. The nurse, who understands the science, also understood the role of empathy in healing.
This does not mean that everybody throws caution to the wind and volunteers in a hospital. Feeling loved can make things better whether you’re 6 feet apart or 600 miles apart, whether you’re on the giving end or on the receiving end. This is not a revelation but it’s something that often passes unobserved.
You might question, does it even matter? Love doesn’t save lives. It’s barely a droplet in the ocean. Is it smart to fight a war that you know you have already lost? Isn’t that Survival 101 since the time of our cave ancestors? Leave the collateral and run for shelter? Does it matter?
Absolutely, it matters.
Maya Angelou expressed it right: “People will never forget how you made them feel”. Again, something that everyone knows but barely takes time to acknowledge. I have seen many instances of people feeling guilty, helpless or small because they were not able to save the ones they were hoping to save. Call it a milder form of survivor’s guilt. A lot of people have endured so much. There is no need to endure guilt as well.
I do not mean those people who complain about the negativity on some days and then attend a gathering or walk around without their mask. I also do not mean those involving in wilful exploitation of the affected, while claiming to help with the oxygen, crematorium or other elements in the covid supply chain. Or even those who carry the responsibility for controlling the epidemic but turned a blind eye. These are the other extremes psyches: make profit out of those suffering. Even Darwin might have to coin a new phrase “ Greed of the Ugliest”. Those parasites will get their due.
But, this is about rest of us. This is about you. If you have cared for someone, done as much as you could and felt helpless that you couldn’t do more, know that it made a tremendous impact in ways that a thermometer or oximeter cannot capture. And not just caring directly. If you had shown empathy by expressing gratitude to a frontline worker, made arrangements and enquiries to help someone, contributed to reliefs, created content that lifted someone’s spirits, asked a Covidiot to wear a mask correctly, or even thwarted Covid by staying at home, you have made a tiny impact. Whether it is acknowledged or not. If you feel that a close friend, co-worker, neighbour, relative or anyone else are silently going through the survivor’s guilt, talk to them. Share this with them. Tell this to whoever needs to hear it.
We are still fighting a war. We don’t need a psychological war, especially within. We will get through this, together.