We will be using this space to present diverse perspective concerning the way(s) in which the Pandemic is being addressed in different communities, states/provinces and countries.
The Perfect Storm: Virus, Violence and Dysfunction
Increasingly, in many countries the challenge of COVID-10 is exacerbated by the emergence of other societal issues. It seems that the virus has not only infected our individual lungs, it has also torn the scab off of deeply embedded issues of injustice and discrimination, as well as shaking the crumbling edifice of many governmental institutions. The Global Psychology Task Force explores the powerful interweaving of three disruptive systems: the COVID-19 virus, the race riots and accompanying police abuse, and governmental ineptitude and corruption. There is a “perfect storm” and a mighty wave bearing down on us.
The Perfect Storm: Virus, Violence and Dysfunction
Formulating COVID-19 Policies: Four Choices
Currently, there is major debate being engaged around the world regarding how to address the complex and dynamic health challenges of this virus. We offer an essay that leads to the identification of four polices, building on concepts and strategies in the domains of system dynamics, behavioral economics and polarity management.
Formulating COVID-19 Policy: A Psychological Perspective on Consideration and Compassion
A Pakistanian-American’s Perspective
Duaa Alam and Sami Alam: COVID 19: A Death of The People, A Healing Of The Race
The headlines started flashing in red, “CORONAVIRUS IN CHINA INFECTING MORE THAN THOUSANDS.” My heart dropped. First China, then Italy, then France, and now it had landed on US Soil. I felt a sense of impending doom and saw a tragic fate for American life as we had known it. Obsessively, my family began to follow what evolved from an outbreak into a worldwide Pandemic. I dove to the depths of forums, conspiracies, and baseless information to fuel a compulsive and troubling perspective on the virus. I stayed awake that night till 4 AM, and then for another 3 days. Even if there was to be an apocalypse on this planet, it was now already taking place in my mind; panic.
A 20 year-old Psychology student with a history of anxiety and OCD tendencies living in the current situation was an agonizing combination. A Pakistani American, I lived in a highly collectivistic household with a 50 year-old mother, 60 year-old father, and most vulnerably my 86 year-old grandfather who suffered from tuberculosis while he was living abroad. For those of you who do not know what tuberculosis is, it is a serious infection that can critically damage the lungs. My immigrant parents had taught me to be skeptical of almost everything from a young age, so when the cases spiked up in Seattle, my suspicions did too.
This fear was not selfish though. The thought of exposing my loved ones or a stranger was more overwhelming to me than suffering from the virus myself. I became hampered with “pre-cautions” and soon enough my OCD had taken full control of me. I had a routine that was ridden with nights of tossing and turning and waking up to recite religious verse; regular doses of vitamin C, elderberry, zinc, garlic and anything else that could possibly protect me from an “ill-fated” demise. I was either wearing a mask to my classes on campus or I was skipping the whole day out of fear. I was repeatedly cleaning my workplace throughout the day, and would only go to the gym at 5 AM when nobody else was around. I felt like I was going crazy since everyone thought it was “just the flu.” But, as the country toppled into lockdowns, quarantines, and social distancing I felt my panic became vividly validated.
Finally, I wasn’t alone; as if an alarm had been sounded for society, people frantically began to race in order to prepare for what seemed to be sheer survival.
As I strolled through the store, I had an epiphany, were these shopping aisles just as empty as our sense of communal responsibility to one another? Did this reflect our empty hearts? I guess our consideration for one another was also where the 24 packs of toilet paper used to be. On my drive back home, I looked to my right where I saw families happily walking together. I looked to my left where I witnessed children gardening for the first time. These images brought untimely tears in my eyes.
Was I living in a dystopian paradox? Where the death toll rose in one epidemic infectiously spreading across the planet and the toll of another epidemic was coming to a halt. For the first time in years, I felt hope that the epidemic of loneliness could become extinct. Mankind was healing itself. We were allowing this virus to relieve the damage of the distances and barriers we had created between one another. We never realized how interconnected and interdependent we had become in this increasingly globalized world. The butterfly effect was in full force as each action of every citizen in this world reverberated across great lengths. Ironically, I saw perfect harmony amongst a chaotic storm.
Once the normal comforts and regular gestures had been stripped from us, it was remarkable to see how truly ungrateful we once were. A hug from my mother, a handshake from a friend, or a dinner with family. Never would I have thought that I would see a day where rejecting these would be a form of care. Again we found the meaning to family. Again we found the meaning to shelter. Again we found the meaning to humanity. Here we were trying to accomplish great feats as a human race, when all along it was the small things that made life worthwhile. There one day maybe a vaccine available for COVID-19, but maybe COVID-19 itself had been the vaccine for loneliness.
Perspectives Offered on TED
We begin with the perspective of various people who are featured on a TED talk.
[To access this videocast, copy the link presented below, delete what is now in the browser (long diagonal box at top of your Internet page) and paste your new link in the browser. Then click on the address that appears just below the browser. It should take you right to the videocast which you activate by clicking on the “play” arrow.]
https://www.ted.com/about/programs-initiatives/ted-connects-community-hope
Gen X Perspectives
Here is a somewhat different perspective that comes from a younger generation — as offered in an essay:
[To access this essay, copy the link presented below, delete what is now in the browser (long diagonal box at top of your Internet page) and paste the new link in the browser. Then click on the address that appears just below the browser. It should take you right to the essay.]
https://www.cnbc.com/2020/03/18/psychological-reason-why-gen-x-is-taking-covid-19-pandemic-seriously.html
Here is another perspective from Gen X:
[To access this essay, copy the link presented below, delete what is now in the browser (long diagonal box at top of your Internet page) and paste the new link in the browser. Then click on the address that appears just below the browser. It should take you right to the essay.]
https://www.theladders.com/career-advice/generation-x-coronavirus
Finally, a third offering about the Gen X population and how they might have advice for the rest of us:
[To access this essay, copy the link presented below, delete what is now in the browser (long diagonal box at top of your Internet page) and paste the new link in the browser. Then click on the address that appears just below the browser. It should take you right to the essay.]
https://www.marketwatch.com/story/a-win-for-gen-x-boomers-gave-us-latchkey-childhoods-that-prepped-us-for-coronavirus-quarantine-2020-03-16