Covid Mental Illness
“Of all tyrannies, a tyranny sincerely exercised for the good of its victims may be the most oppressive.” CS Lewis
We have been living with the Great Covid Disruption since early 2020. It has revealed so much about ourselves. Related to measures to combat Covid, mental illness has exploded. We are talking of anxieties, depressions and addictions. How can we regain our emotionally health? Well, mental health based on human givens methods and insights have a lot to teach us.
This is the first of a series of posts, to help us understand and deal with the mental and emotional challenges of the Great Covid Disruption.
Has Covid mental illness exploded? Is this the hidden Covid catastrophe?
Covid Mental illness’ How humans make sense of their environment?
Human beings are very efficient in what they see and how they process. What we do is filter out most of what is there on the very reasonable assumption that it will be exactly as it was last time and the time before that. And we will stick with a certain comprehension of the world in which we live. This comprehension will have evolved over our lifetime and hopefully it works for us most the time. This will protect us from mental illness, much of the time.
We will only focus closely and open ourselves to unfiltered information when the unexpected happens, such as Covid in early 2020. Moreover if this unexpected happening scares us, we will immediately downshift into black and white thinking and processing. Was this the beginning of Covid mental illness for many?
From a position of letting unfiltered information through, we shift quickly into a massive filtering out of what is there. Moreover after the unexpected fear inducing Covid happening is over, the event is likely to stay strong. It will stay strong in the limbic system, which is the flight or fight activating part of our brain. It will tend to remain fixed as part of that set of assumptions by which we view and evaluate what is happening around us. And as this fixed set of assumptions becomes less and less useful, Covid mental illness can take hold.
It will not just be the event itself but the aftermath. We will become unconsciously attached to what appeared as the solution to the Covid fear. What was it that seemed to take the fear away? What was it that appeared to return us to feeling safe and connected again? Whatever that was or more precisely how we recall it will retain a strong unconscious emotional attachment – the hidden source of Covid mental illness.
Or did that unexpected Covid event appear to have changed everything for you? And do you remain lost in Covid mental illness – without bearings and chronically anxious and vigilant?
The medical dissenters
Video evaluation of medical bias by Stanford-trained physician Dr. Zubin Damania.
An hour-long, serious attempt to evaluate , by recognising that we all have biases and that the best defence against these is to make them explicit.
Mass Formation Psychosis and how might it all end?
An hour-long interview with Belgium academic Mattias Desmet. He is attempting to understand and explain the absurdity (his words) of our response to the pandemic. He is very much using human givens concepts (even though I’m certain he’s never heard of human givens), which is perhaps why I like it so much. Desmet is authoritative and extraordinarily insightful.
Desmet’s basic thesis is summarised in this much shorter 13 minute long video -by Dr Robert Malone. Malone was one of the inventors of the mRNA vaccines and achieved notoriety by being banned by Twitter. Has this now become a recognised badge of honour?
The Covid mental illness shock of 2020
The coronavirus threat seemed real and frightening as we saw on our screens the mayhem in Italian hospitals. And there was an apparently inexhaustible avalanche of stories of death and suffering at home. More than that, it appeared that the infrastructure of our lives that we had assumed would keep us safe was creaking and crumbling. So, we naturally and automatically looked to the government and the institutions of state. And the government, the state bureaucracy and frontline operatives (doctors, nurses and teachers but also shop workers, trades people and many others) were also frightened and unsure
But, I wonder? Has the time come for us all to recall these black and white memories of 2020 and let them go? Has the time come for us all to be more balanced and less fearful and be more aware of what we are discovering around Corona and how it should be dealt with? And does this require that we no longer hide behind that original and powerful 2020 black and white response? Is it time for us to let go of the rigidity that has caused Covid mental illness?
For many that initial response will remain too powerful and overwhelming. While others may be sinking into lazy assumptions of what this new world is all about and refusing to see what might actually be there instead?
Living in an Ungodly Age
A conversation between Freddie Sayers of Unherd and a Paul Kingsnorth, who is describing his journey to lockdown scepticism. He is wonderfully eloquent, even as he struggles to make sense of it all.
On the surface, Kingsnorth says what is happening seems to be about science and reason against the anti-elites. But in reality it is much more. It is a question of spirituality. He sees the Covid crisis as a revelation. It’s not about arguing against the science and all of the technical measures to deal with the crisis, but bigger questions. For example, how do we want to live in an ungodly and non-progressive age?
Covid mental illness: Where are we now?
The strong likelihood is that we will be living with Covid for a long time. And there is complexity and ambiguity around the Covid threat and how it will evolve and how best we should be dealing with it. Covid is not simple and black-and-white or right and wrong. So far, there have been great costs to how we have confronted Covid to date, notably Covid mental illness.
We should also recognise that there is great variety amongst us all, in how we all have confronted and dealt with Covid. For, the Great Covid Disruption has crept into all crevices of our lives, both individually and collectively. Of course, not all of us have been obvious losers and victims of the Disruption as we all have adapted as best we can.
How the UK government weaponised fear – by Laura Dodsworth.
Dodsworth sets out to understand how and why the government used fear to make us comply. And sadly, having found a way to use fear so effectively, government and the mainstream media are finding it very difficult to let go.
Covid Facts
The brutal truth is that there are no facts and only judgements and observations. However this article is attempting to be as objective as possible. It does a reasonable job by reporting on the most authoritative research and opinion available. As you can imagine, the Daily Sceptic has being sceptical of the official lockdown line from the beginning and has consistently exposed the hidden costs (economic, social, psychological and educational) as well as the flagrant abuse and misuse of science to justify political decision-making.
Here is the link and the questions that the Daily Sceptic Covid Facts article attempts to answer.
How deadly is COVID-19?
How is COVID-19 spread?
What about asymptomatic and pre-symptomatic transmission?
Do lockdowns work?
Does social distancing work?
Are lockdowns harmful?
Are the vaccines effective?
Are the vaccines safe?
Do masks work?
Are masks safe?
Are effective treatments available?
What should governments have done?
How can I help you?
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