Phew, I feel much better tonight after that quick rant. Sometimes you just need to let the pressure out, a pressure relief valve can be important. I have seen several friends hitting the wall this week. They have kept it together for a while, but it is getting hard. Trump said today that the suicide help lines are being overwhelmed. As I write this the BBC has posted an article on the effect of the response to the virus on mental health.
Even though I have been concerned about the potential for an increase in suicides in the USA (the suicide rate has been growing steadily over the last few years, suicide accounts for two thirds of gun deaths, gun ownership has been growing since the virus started) it is hard to know whether to believe the Trump claim. Quite simply, like the boy who cried wolf, even if he it looks like he might be telling the truth you have doubts about the veracity of his statements.
The tabloid headlines are often characterized by the phrase “Shock-Horror-Probe”, and there have been plenty of them recently, sometimes sensationalizing trivia. There are numerous lies and conspiracy theories going around that can be debunked sometimes by the simplest research (or even just by common sense). All of this helps to add pressure to people that are feeling the strain.
People feel like they are sinking and all of this is adding weight to them.
One of the ways they deal with anxiety in race horses is to put blinkers on. They help the horse to focus on what is ahead. Several countries seem to be using announcements of future relaxations as a tool to keep people looking forward. It can help.
When I go wilderness hiking in Greenland I walk in places where there are a lot of magnetic rocks and a compass can be next to useless, so the trick is to pick a point in the distance and walk toward it. I must admit that distances can be really hard to judge there, and you can end up walking longer or shorter distances than you expect, so picking an interim point can help.
I guess I am applying the same principles to the lockdown. On Day 21 I said that I had picked a date in early May as something to plan for (actually May bank holiday). Just like with wilderness hiking I am trying not to second guess the decisions made behind me but try to keep the focus on where to go. The final destination might seem a long way off at times, but I am focusing on that date for now.
I remember a Sean Connery film (Rising Sun) which explored Japanese culture and suggested that when things go wrong the Western idea is to look at what went wrong, but the Japanese idea is to look at making things right. I have found that concept beneficial in life. We can’t save the lives of the people that have died, we can only save the lives of the living.
I understand we are due to have some announcements on where we are to go in the future soon. I hope the UK government takes a lead from others and sets up a goal for people to head toward (personally I am hoping for garden centers to open in early May). But if they don’t I will continue to pick a point on the horizon that I am comfortable walking to (for me 4th May for a number of reasons).
To get there I will try to ignore distractions like finding somebody to blame, whether it was our government, the Chinese government, the WHO or the USA government because that does not help me get to 4th May. But if I do get distracted I may have to avoid a pressure build up by letting off steam. It can be a healthy way to refocus.
Okay, I may as well come clean, 4th May is toilet paper arrival day. Just realised I forgot to add 3000 gallons of hand sanitizer to my order, must go in and amend it.