Re-opening has caused us all a bit of anxiety. Different rules in different areas, different comfort levels for people not only in the same geographical area, but even for people sharing the same home. So, I thought it would be fun to use the lens of Freudian defense mechanisms to explore how we are controlling our anxiety.
I tend to use intellectualization: I find out the facts and reassure myself that if I follow the suggestions to stay healthy, then I will stay healthy. Some people use denial: they continue their daily routines as if nothing is different. Statements that indicate the use of denial include “I don’t know anyone who got sick”, “It’s just like the flu”, and “The whole thing is a world-wide hoax.” Some use identification: repeating words spoken by political leaders as the basis of their actions. Identification is evidenced by statements such as, “I don’t know why you are over-reacting like this,” or “wearing a mask is for cowards.” Some identify with the scientific community and cite statistics about spikes in cases and statistics about first versus second wave of the pandemic.
Others use repression: they actually hear the news and then forget everything they hear. The combination of repression and denial is what I see when I witness public figures still shaking hands, touching microphones, or not wearing a mask. Some use regression: yelling, fighting, throwing tantrums at the store and in their homes. Some use reaction formation: acting the opposite of how they really feel. I imagine many front line health workers are using that defense mechanism.
Sadly, some are using displacement, diverting their anger from the source to a different target (usually a weaker one). So, they are yelling at significant others, children, strangers because they want to yell at the virus and make it stay far away from themselves and those they care about.
Whatever mechanisms you are using to ease your anxiety, try to be kind to yourself and others. We need each other right now.
Hello Diane, as usual, thanks for your kind words. Right now, I’m rolling with the punches, my niece works for the NYCDOT, she’s a supervisor with their concrete or cement repair division, not long ago she called and informed me that her section was offered unlimited O/T to remove the build-up of bodies from the area hospitals and relocate them to a “potter’s field”. For me the COVID-19 is real, anxieties are in everyone, and the majority of those “everyone” have no ideal that their anxieties has shown up. It’s surreal for me to wear a mask and see others who don’t, and continue to go about my business. What can actually cause you to risk the lives of everyone you come in contact with, jobs, arrogance, or blatant disregard for human life? Have we become so far removed for humanness, Diane?
How traumatizing for anyone to see so much death – and so much of it did not have to happen. You raised excellent questions and I wish I had an answer. It is discouraging to see so many people refusing to wear masks and suggesting that it is about personal freedom. That rationale does not withstand analysis. After all, as a society we mandated such “infringements” before. We require that people wear seatbelts, we banned smoking in public places (including outdoor spaces) and within one’s apartment if that apartment is inside an apartment building. In these situations, we considered the good of the whole society as a basis for the limiting of individual freedom. Sadly, wearing a mask has been politicized, causing a polarization that is hurting all of us.
I found your article very interesting as it has to do with what is going on nowadays. I have seen a lot of those behaviors and actually have seen several people applying the lens of Freudian defense mechanisms. It is very sad that some people use displacement and act like nothing is wrong and make us think that we are acting negatively but that is not true. Besides taking care of ourselves we have to take care of others as well and the ones who are at a higher risk to get sick with this disease. Thankfully most of people are taking safety measures to not get sick nor to get others either and are being responsible. In my case, I just try to distract myself and no to think about it too much and to take care of myself.
Covid is a topic that really catches my eye because of how people and the government react. People all around were upset when trump forced an opening especially leading up to the election, Democrats were quite upset to hear he opened up for the sole purpose of elections. Trump reopening causes and gives him an advantage over the opposite party. just like how they fought the vaccines. but going back to the lives of the others, people do try and make it seem like everything is normal but in reality, it is not. I think people do this to stay mentally stable, but people need to accept the fact that it is okay to not be normal and happy all the time. people should use covid as a way to think about different aspects.
This article says everything. As a health worker and as someone who lost a colleague at work within 3 days of he testing positive for Covid, I get angry and worried at the same time when people think this is something that is not real all because of what someone who leads political party he or she is affiliated to says it is not real. It is sad when you see people in the grocery store refusing to wear masks because wearing mask is for weak people. Meanwhile so many lives have been lost due to this pandemic. We shouldn’t to lose someone or wait for a close friend or family to get sick before we take precautions or realize this is real and it is not a joke.
Thanks for sharing Professor. Please stay safe
I personally live in a house hold with someone who doesn’t believe in the virus and constantly goes out all over New York giving handshakes like he’s the mayor of the city. Some one who then gets the virus, is hospitalized and weakened for over two weeks, and still doesn’t believe it’s a real thing. A man who’s son in law and aunt has passed away from the virus. Someone who’s in the same vicinity along with elderly people. This man has been in complete denial while having facts constantly yelled at you by your wife. While defending himself with “I don’t know anyone who got sick”(actually not true), “It’s just like the flu”, and “The whole thing is a world-wide hoax.”
While sad yes, I completely understand the reason displacement is being used. These people are stressed, tired and nervous, a recipe for disaster for both them mentally and whichever poor soul attempts to speak to them in the wrong tone accidentally. Hopefully these are all things we won’t have to worry about the entire year of 2021. For whatever reason we’re still here and that’s something to be grateful about.
Completely irrelevant but recently there was a nurse who was a complete denier of the virus has been fired from her frontline position for posting numerous videos of herself going out with no mask saying its a hoax while taking care of the very same patients suffering from what she claims isn’t real.
The coronavirus has affected many humans in many different ways. I find myself to be apart of the repression group because I always hear the news and then I tend to forget everything I heard, not because I actually did forget – but because I wanted to forget. Many people are having a hard time adjusting to this new way of living with having to follow all these rules to keep each other safe. I agree that everyone is under pressure and some are dealing with it worse then others. It is important for everybody to stick together and be nice! Now it the time where a simple act of kindness especially wearing a mask, could save someone’s life.
This disease changed the world, I Keep thinking that this was not an accident, I believe this was meant to happen, to start a war or something.The group of persons, governor, president scientist or whoever was behind this knew this was going to happen.
The covid-19, theres such a huge enigma behind this disease , I currently work in the Environmental Service Department in a Hospital, my main duty is to clean rooms, with patients who has this desease inside, I Get to see them, talk to them, they wish no one ever gets this disease, is the worst feeling they have been through in their lifes. I believe, this is what it is, someone messed up, some people think that the US Government is trying to scare the people with a fictitious illness , some people think the people behind this are powerful entrepreneurs like Bill Gates and George Soros with the ‘world new order’. At the very beginning i thought this was not real, that the fact of wearing masks was just unnecessary, nowadays I still think the same, Its a virus you can not beat a virus without a vaccine, its in the air, I am right there going into 30 rooms a day, i have to wear proper PPE, N95 masks, gowns, gloves, etc and I still feel the different smell of whats inside the room. However, people should stop being selfish, ,maybe if they should have stayed home, and listen to what the CDC had to say about safety towards this disease, there would not have been many deaths, and a lot of people coming in and out of hospitals.
Thank you Diane, I don’t forget what I hear, but, I do make adjustments accordingly. The invisible handcuffs that we all are wearing seems to be the root causes of the anxieties that a lot of people are suffering from, especially those who haven’t come to terms with the fact that they are suffering from anxieties. Saying hello, and speaking to strangers has helped me a great deal, calling people I haven’t spoken to in awhile also helps to alleviate that unknown feeling (covid-19 syndrome) I’ll call it. Thanks again Diane.
This post points out many ways people are dealing with the side effects of corona and all of the restrictions that create anxiety in society. Many people were told to follow a new way of living .The new virus is killing a portion of people it infects daily this creates large amounts of anxiety many people are on high alert, now they have to find ways to deal with issues that they have never had faced before. It is important that we recognize that this is hostile times and we need healthy outlets to maintain relationships.
It is disappointing to see some people refusing to wear masks, and I find it ridiculous the idea of no wearing a mask due to “personal freedom” when occupying public spaces. I can understand no masks in an open public space, example, like a park where people can maintain distance from each other and breath different atmospheres. But inside a enclose space such as a public building or while going into an elevator it is personal responsibility to wear the mask for the common well-being.
Thinking about the examples you provided about the requirement to wear seatbelts, and no smoking in public places, they do make a lot of sense now, however, I am willing to bet that there was push back from a small group of people about it when first implemented. In the same way now with the masks, I believe the bast majority of people are very aware and respectful about it, I do not see it as a systematic issue, I believe it has been politicized and is the result of contradicting ideals of small group of people.
Thank you for sharing the intellectualization technique that you applied and explaining it, it seems a good process to deal with the big picture and avoid getting stock with irrational suggestions such as “it’s just like the flu”. Finding out the facts and following the suggestions of medical professionals is the best way to stay healthy.
Apart from all the tragedy that the virus is causing to the world, and separately from all the social restrictions, I believe there are good things to learn about humanity and our behavior, one of them is the respect for our planet, earth’s air has been cleaned up in the past year, as a result, the air is purer than a year ago. We also have become more consciences about our mental, spiritual, and physical health, I find many people exercising that did not exercise before the pandemic, others eating healthier and meditating, all these are positive changes in behavior that help cultivate tolerance and harmony, that is what we all need the most. Ultimately, mind, body and spirit are connected, and if we take care of them correctly, we become healthier as a society, that will build a group mechanism to handle anxiety.
Anything covid related usually catches my attention.
Working in a hospital has definitely changed my out look on life. Death had become normalized in the height of the pandemic and my anxiety was through the roof. I speak for myself and majority of my coworkers, our defense mechanism collectively has been reaction formation. Over a year later, we all still suffer from anxiety. Imagine going to work, getting sick there then being on the brink of death. My mental health hasn’t been the same since. I struggle and use different coping mechanisms everyday, down to using a weighted blanket at night.
Everyone seems to just be coping to get by. Many people are just angry at this point. It took this pandemic for me to pay closer attention to mental health.
I really do hope as a society we get through this and return to normal. The question still remains are we ever going to return to the society we knew pre covid? What will the new norm be?