As we enter the New Year we are all hoping that it will bring the end of the pandemic, so we can return to our normal life. But this is unlikely to occur. We should prepare for the pandemic likely continuing and for more drama occurring without letting it get us down emotionally too much. In fact not only will it continue but new variants are likely to emerge. The new variants are unknown. Some people, those who are pessimistic, are alarmed whenever a variant hits, being conditioned to being anxious about the virus worsening. Whenever a new variant hit us the alarm bells go off for m any. Others may feel the new variants will be weaker and their anxiety is less.
In fact, a new variant to the coronavirus has been uncovered. Many people are panicking and our anxiety level rises. CNN says that “The Omicron variant has the world on alert”. It is natural and proper for the world to be on alert. That makes sense, but we don’t need to panic, which will likely happen, if we follow the pattern of panic, fear and anxiety that has developed as people have reacted to the virus over the past 20 months or so. It is human nature to be afraid at first exposure to an unknown. But we have been living on the edge for a long time now and many are desperately hoping for things to settle so we are tired of being afraid. The answer is to be wary but not afraid.
It is a conundrum, because it is natural to be anxious when the “unknown” hits, because the term “unknown” brings to people’s subconscious minds that it is a serious problem that we have no idea how to deal with. When something is unknown the subconscious of many people treat it as if aliens from space have landed and we have no way to deal with them. That makes us panic. But we have ideas how to deal with it. The scientists are dealing with it and have a handle on it. Otherwise the anxiety raises the emotional temperature so high that people are panicking and it is disrupting our ability to enjoy life. For some, the anxiety is so great that it can almost cause the same problem as the virus and its variants – disrupting our ability to enjoy life. It has become a pandemic of emotions. Many people are afraid to go out. It is natural to retreat when first confronted with a fear until we get a feel for what it is like and how bad it is, or if it is bad at all. This doesn’t sound bad.
With emotional contagion, the fear and anxiety can become contagious. But it is important to hold the reaction and see what comes. Ontario confirmed the first two known cases of the new Omicron COVID-19 variant in Canada occurred in Ottawa, where I live, recently. I am not scared or nervous. Likely people are over-reacting to the new variant when they panic. It’s like they fear death is around the corner. It’s not. Indeed, it’s not yet clear if the new Omicron COVID-19 variant is more transmissible or causes more severe disease than the other variants, says the World Health Organization.
In fact, ABC news says the South African doctor, Dr. Angelique Coetzee, Chair of the South African Medical Association, who initially spotted the variant, says that the symptoms from the omicron are “mild” and “there is no reason for panicking.” She says that the media has created “the hype” and it “doesn’t correlate with the clinical picture” so advises against banning travel to South Africa. It just causes fatigue, headaches and body aches. In other words, it is uncomfortable and inconvenient. Kind of like a cold. That makes sense. In other words, it is a bit of a stretch, but it is like we are scared of a cold. But when we have been fearful for almost two years now, we expect the worst. it is natural for that fear to grow since it has been at the top of our minds and emotions for that time, it doesn’t have far to go to spill over, so we fear for the worst. But that’s not what it is.
We will see what happens. We need more information. Some people, though, panic and others ignore it. These are the extremes and it is wise not to be at an extreme. It is too early to dismiss it as nothing but it looks like there is no fear of death spreading. The media spreads panic because they make money off of it through advertising which pays more if their audience is greater. Their audience grows if people are afraid. They are unethical.
It can be predicted that more new variants will occur in 2022, and our ability and the media’s ability to handle emotional contagion will be put to the test. Because what seems to happen is that fear and panic become contagious and grow without much evidence that they should grow. Although we are suggesting lowering the fear this not a guarantee that the pandemic is over. It is not either-or. We have been looking to the future hoping for the pandemic to end so we could enjoy ourselves again. That is a mistake. We need to be realistic and instead realize that it will take some time before the pandemic is over, but that is no reason to let it obstruct our ability to have fun. And so we have to prepare for the likelihood that it will continue into 2022, but not let it remove all of our fun. Besides the fear is dominating us and removing our fun. We almost have to let the pandemic co-exist with us without taking in and absorbing the fear. It would become contagious within us and provide an emotional infection that can bad. What if we are not hit by the virus directly? How could we enjoy ourselves?
Does the anxiety and fear seep into us and become chronic? Is that something you think we should do or does it just happen automatically? Does it help to be anxious? No. It helps to circulate and interact. It helps to pet your cat, smell the flowers, enjoy your food, listen to the music, discover new things. Use mindfulness to just observe, absorb and appreciate what our senses are telling us, whether hat be through colors, sounds, aroma, taste or touch. Appreciating through focusing in a non-judgmental way.
Live in the moment and let the days take care of themselves. It is not the length of life we live that counts but it is how we enjoy the moments and the experiences that we have that counts. The joy is in our choice of what to enjoy and we can enjoy the senses naturally without judging them. Appreciate the sounds, the colors, the tapping of the keys, the blush of the pink on our sticky pads, those are small ways in which we appreciate life. Don’t dismiss them by saying it is “only” the tapping, or “only” a color, that is a judgment that discounts the pleasure those things can give us. It the tapping is annoying t\use the beginner’s mind approach to appreciate it. Think of it as if you were amazed at how such tapping can transmit words across the world, on the internet. It is truly amazing.
At the same time it is important to talk about the fears and worries and not deny them or repress them. It is because things could be worse that we have to enjoy the things that are present and live around us today. If things get worse in the future we don’t want to have spent these days deep in worry and fear and despair about the future.
In my book Emotions Don’t Think: Emotional Contagion in a Time of Turmoil I talk about how fear is contagious and ramps up the next person’s fear. If we give too much attention to the feeling of fear inside us we let it dominate our thoughts, and fear will lessen our immunity. Then our own thoughts become more anxious, resulting in fear will circumvent our critical thinking abilities and our problem-solving abilities. Emotions like fear, suspicion, insecurity and worry make us jump to a conclusion that may not be true if we examine it from a position of reasoning and logic.
Drama is infectious and make us feel like the anxiety and danger levels are truly high, even if they aren’t.
When we have a lot of negative emotion inside us like fear it takes us to a place inside us where we come up with explanations for the fear or emotion inside us, and we may lie to ourselves, for example, by saying something bad is happening to us when it really isn’t. And we may do this because we take direction from the feeling inside us and come up with something that fits the feeling. So if we fear the worst, like a horrible pandemic, from the new variant, we may interpret things we hear about as fitting that prediction, when in reality it probably doesn’t. A new variant means we need to take more precautions until there is a new vaccination available, and that will be lousy, true, so we can make the best of it by finding better way to enjoy being inside where we are protected from the variant. Emotional contagion can raise fears in areas where no actual cause for fear exists. There is no reason to think that the bad things of the pandemic will automatically happen to you.