During serious crises, all eyes are directed towards leaders and they are expected to provide guidelines, to express what everyone feels, to articulate further directions and find effective ways of overcoming fear and general uncertainty as painlessly as possible.
The world today stands face-to-face with another unknown, which can only be resisted through science and knowledge. Many of us feel additional pressure – brought on by a sense of helplessness and many new worries about the COVID-19 virus pandemic: financial fears, concern for elderly parents, care for children, disappointment due to cancelled travels etc.
Not everyone reacts the same way to the challenges that have been brought by the Coronavirus, some are more resistant and some less so, some will have a big problem accepting security measures, becoming aggressive, while some will be anxious. The majority of people will adapt easily, and a percentage will feel a need to react by negating the current situation.
It is important to keep in mind the bigger picture. “All of this is temporary. This will pass. It is perhaps difficult – there are many frightening things along the way between point A and point B, but point B exists and we get closer to that moment every day.”
Life will obviously change significantly in the future, but the happy circumstance is that people are very flexible and will forget a lot of things when all this passes
Life will obviously change significantly in the future, but the happy circumstance is that people are very flexible and will forget a lot of things when all this passes. It is important to apply behavioural immunity: to reduce the number of people with whom we communicate, to spend time in safe places, to take care of physical distancing… This is difficult because it contradicts our national culture.
The time of the pandemic has seen the start of the slight forgetting of values: humanity and solidarity; helping those who are weaker than you. Prosocial activities are good for society, but also for the individual.
It is also important to structure one’s day, to come up with activities because summer is ahead of us. Experience indicates that most depression disorders arise during the time holidays and summer breaks when people don’t have structured time.
We should limit the amount of information we adopt through social media, while messages from leaders must be accurate, timely, consistent, and empathetic. Citizens must not be blamed for the newly emerged circumstances. During serious crises, all eyes are directed towards leaders and they are expected to provide guidelines, to express what everyone feels, to articulate further directions and find effective ways of overcoming fear and general uncertainty as painlessly as possible.
In an unclear situation, in a situation of emotional and financial breakdowns, people first observe the reactions of leaders, as the most significant response, and then form their own emotional and psychological standards in accordance with that. When it comes to considering risky situations, sober thinking can help immensely – catastrophic thinking leads to panic and helplessness, while unrealistic optimism can lead to ignoring dangers.
