This came from a friend of mine:
"My apologies for putting on my psychology-teacher hat... but, there is a very interesting phenomenon that happens when people are in crisis... we panic, we get scared, then we react. At times, those actions, or reactions, don’t make a lot of sense. The behaviour of hoarding materials items in times of shortages, of course, goes against the greater good of humanity, but for people who are panicking, it makes them feel like they may be alright, or at least a bit better than the ones who don’t have materials, bringing about short-term reassurance and sense of control back into their psyches. The idea of ‘imposed isolations’ falls into this same psychology... its the feeling of not having control. And, for those of you and us who have a strong internal locus of control, this external force is nothing short of terrifying. And, even though we’ve all said ‘if only I can get away from it for a while’... when we now finally can, but not of our choices, it is then perceived as uncomfortable. All this loss of power and control falls into something called perception of control... if we ‘feel’ out of control of a situation, we react. If we chose to go camping in the bush away from it all for 2 weeks, with just our books and a few yummy foods, then we perceive the situation as completely our doing, of our control. But, in reality, we have little control over our lives even in calm times. If we change our perceptions of the situation and took stalk of the things in our lives we do have control over, this lessens the anxiety within. For example: “Oh, ok, I guess I can really clean out my house like I have been wanting to do” or “I have a few projects I have been dying to do, and now I can” or “Hmm, this is going to be interesting, I guess I should make a list of things to do”... this shift in perception, not situation, changes how we feel about what is happening, which then changes our behaviour, and our reactions. Nothing changes, but... it does. I have to admit, I have been watching way too much news, and reading too much about the virus, as if by reading, hearing and keeping minute-to-minute up to date, I somehow will be able to stay in control of it all. And this, of course, is a false belief... its magical thinking, as I actually have no control of the situation, beyond my own personal actions. Instead of watching things that are beyond my control, I took stock today, and saw things more clearly. I will do my part, as best I can. I will stay informed and I will be responsible. But, beyond that, I need to see that many many things are out of my control. When we see someone in grocery store, panic-shopping, let’s have a bit of mercy... they are reacting out of fear. When someone is ranting at world leaders who are doing the best they can, remember... it is out of fear. I see a lot of scared people right now, and although I want to cuff them on the side of their head and explain simple math in terms of how much toilet paper one person needs for a month, instead, I am going to try and send them mercy and love, and let’s all focus on the things we can control."
thehill.com
www.statnews.com
www.businessinsider.com
