Is the coronavirus good for our mental health?

Last week, I reflected on the fact that the media (at least in the UK) appear to have forgotten about Brexit and have focused almost exclusively on the coronavirus pandemic. Of course, such a pandemic is worth reporting on the news. However, it appears to have given rise to panic and mass hysteria; for instance, as the coronavirus spreads to the UK, the toilet roll and hand wash demand has risen to unprecedented levels, with the supermarkets notoriously running out of supplies. I personally largely blame the media for this over-reaction. Today, as the number of UK cases of coronavirus has risen to 319 and the number of fatalities to 5, and with Italy in lockdown, I would like to go a step beyond attributing blame, and explore the reasons for this phenomenon.

A Psychiatrist’s perspective

As a Psychiatrist, I am used to seeing patients with a lot of problems. These problems may be of a psychological but not necessarily of a psychiatric nature; they are often related to their current life circumstances (i.e. social or psychosocial problems), as well as to their past experiences (deep-seated psychological problems). Many of my patients have experienced significant trauma (neglect and/or abuse) in their earlier lives (in childhood and/or adolescence). In my experience, when people experience this kind of trauma at a very young age, this later affects their personality, and often their mental health throughout their life. And this is how (why) they end up seeing me.

At this point, I would like to make it entirely clear that I do not blame my patients for the trauma they may have experienced. But, sometimes, I feel frustrated when they do not acknowledge the impact of such trauma in their mental health and their life, and refuse to do something about it (get help, which is often psychological therapy). In fact, they may not be able (rather than unwilling) to consider the impact of such trauma on their mental health and their life.

Coronavirus and defense mechanisms

Psychoanalysts call this denial, repression or suppression (it is not my intention to explain here the difference between these three concepts, but if you’re interested, you can read more here and here). Simply put, these different defense mechanisms are unconscious psychological strategies that help reduce unpleasant feelings, such as anxiety and emotional pain, by pushing unpleasant memories out of one’s conscious awareness (deep into their unconscious mind). These defense mechanisms can be helpful in the short term, but ultimately harmful in the longer term, as they act as a barrier to getting to the root of one’s problems (i.e. the traumatic event(s)). They do not allow for the trauma to be acknowledged and subsequently processed, and therefore do not allow for a permanent solution to the problem.

I believe something similar happens with the coronavirus hysteria. The media (and therefore the public) are focusing all our attention on an infectious disease originating in China, a disease that we -as individuals- cannot be effectively protected from (there is no effective prevention, no vaccine, and no treatment). Everybody talks about this global pandemic that our governments can effectively control either, and the impact on the economy. Even though our health (I’m referring to the majority of the population here) has not been seriously affected, our daily lives have: school closures, event cancellations, trip cancellations. Even the premiere of the latest James Bond film aptly named ‘No Time To Die’ has been postponed until November.

Coronavirus and Brexit

At the same time, we no longer talk about the catastrophic consequences of the Brexit disaster. For example, a few days ago, it was announced that the UK would pull out of the European Aviation Safety Agency, as well as out of the Erasmus student exchange program. These do not sound like very positive news to me, but few of us seem to even be aware, let alone worry about these latest developments. At the same time, we still have no idea about the medium to the long-term impact of Brexit to the already struggling UK economy (and subsequently to our daily lives). Yet, we no longer talk about it. This is a defense mechanism at play.

As a society (and I hold the media largely accountable for this) we have decided to ignore the consequences of our actions (voting in favor of Brexit and supporting populist politicians in favor of a decision that would ultimately cause more harm than good). We have turned a blind eye to a political issue that will affect our lives and those of our children too. Instead, we worry about a virus, which sooner or later, will be a thing of the past (for this is what usually happens with viral epidemics).

A psychological journey

As a psychoanalytically-informed Psychiatrist, I try to understand the reasons for this. When we find ourselves in a problematic situation, we often blame others for our ending up there, instead of acknowledging that we may have contributed one way or another to that situation. It is much easier and less painful to avoid responsibility for our actions and to ignore their consequences. As long as we avoid responsibility for our past actions (that may have got us into trouble), we also avoid responsibility for our future actions (that may get us out of trouble).

Once, however, we accept responsibility, we can no longer expect the others to find solutions to our problems; this responsibility now lies with us. Yet, this is not an easy or comfortable place to be. It is, however, an essential path on our journey – our journey to a better place from where we are now (our destination). When we step out of our comfort zone and into the unknown, we take a risk. We may struggle as we face challenges and obstacles, often giving rise to anxiety, fear and pain, before we reach our destination. But, if we don’t step out of our comfort zone, we will stay in a problematic situation, and we will get habituated to this problematic situation. We will never reach our destination.

So, is the coronavirus good for our mental health?

With that in mind, I believe that the coronavirus hysteria serves a purpose. It has shifted the focus (and our worries) away from the catastrophic consequences of Brexit (which we are, as a society, responsible for). We worry about a virus from China, not about the negative consequences of our own actions. It is true that either way we worry, but worrying about the coronavirus is much less threatening to our ego and much better tolerated than worrying about Brexit. For the coronavirus pandemic is not our fault, but Brexit is.

Further reading

For accurate and reliable information on the coronavirus, I would strongly recommend the World Health Organization (WHO) and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) websites.

Check out my thoughts on why the coronavirus pandemic is a new case of mass hysteria.

You can read more about the defense mechanisms here and here.

Alex

(the Traveling Psychiatrist)