April 8, 2020

Coping with COVID - The pandemic of panic

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How do we look after our mental health in this challenging time? In this episode, Psychologist Cass Dunn goes back to her area of expertise and breaks down the psychology of human behaviour when there is uncertainty and fear. She explains why we people behave differently in times of uncertainty - from panic buying to spreading conspiracy theories and shares alternative strategies for how we can manage that fear and respond in ways that are more helpful for ourselves and our wider community.Note: If you’re experiencing mental health issues, Medicare rebates are now available for online psychology appointments. Contact your GP for a referral.
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Transcript

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A listener production.

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Hey guys, you're listening to Crappy to Happy. I'm cast done.

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I'm a clinical and coaching psychologist, a mindfulness meditation teacher,

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and author of the Crappy to Happy books. In this series,

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as you know, we talk about all of the things

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that might be making you feel crappy and give you

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the tools and techniques to help you overcome them. Normally,

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in each episode, I introduce you to interesting, inspiring, intelligent

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people who are all experts in their fields, with the

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hope that the insights and experiences that they share will

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help you to feel a whole lot less crappy and

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more happy. And of course, the thing that's got us

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all feeling pretty crappy right now is the coronavirus pandemic.

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It's causing a lot of fear and uncertainty and our

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homes and our communities and around the world, and I've

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had lots of people asking me for guidance on how

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we can get through this while maintaining our own health

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and wellbeing isolation at the moment, just like you, I

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decided to record a couple of episodes from my home

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to answer some of the questions that I've been receiving

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to help us all stay sane and stay healthy until

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we come out the other side of this situation. So

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people are asking, is what I'm feeling normal? How do

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I talk to my kids about this? And why is

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everybody buying all the toilet paper? So I'm going to

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do my best to answer some of those questions and

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more over these next few episodes. In today's episode, I

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really want to talk about this pandemic of panic. So

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we're seeing a lot of fear, a lot of uncertainty.

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This is a situation that none of us has ever

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experienced before, so understandably there is confusion, there's overwhelmed, there's

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a lot of big feelings, and there's a lot of

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really strange behaviors. So I just thought we'd talk about

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this what we've been seeing with people hoarding food, We're

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seeing conspiracy theories. There's all sorts of strange things going on,

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and I think it can help us to understand why

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it is that we respond like this in a situation

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such as this, and you know what might be some

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useful strategies or some things that we can do instead

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to keep us out of that fierce state, out of

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those panic behaviors and doing things that are more likely

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to keep us happy and healthy. Let's just start with

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the big thing, the big question that's on everybody's minds,

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which is should I be stockpiling toilet paper? So obviously

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the scenes that we have seen in the supermarkets have

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been crazy, and from very very early on, even before

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there were very few cases of coronavirus here in Australia,

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the supermarket shelves were empty of toilet paper. Nobody could

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understand what was going on. And I think even now

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if you were to go to woolworks, you'd find that

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there's rations on toilet paper supplies. So what we need

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to understand is that when we humans are under threat,

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we really get into our fight or flight response, Our

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threat response sur instincts kick in, and we become very

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concerned about how we look after ourselves, and we do

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tend to fend for ourselves. But the other thing is

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that when we are in a situation that is uncertain,

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and when we don't know what to do or what

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to expect, and you can look at little children doing this,

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we look to other people to see how they're responding.

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If we don't know what to do, you will look

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around you and see what everybody else is doing, and

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take your cues from other people. So if you look

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around and you see everybody buying toilet paper, even if

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there's no rational reason for that, you will assume. Most

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people will just assume that there must be a reason,

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because there must be some reason why we somebody's heard

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something that you haven't heard about why we need toilet paper.

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And one of the reasons that I saw floating around

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was that all of the toilet paper's manufactured in China,

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and of course there's going to be a shortage of

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toilet paper coming from China. And even when that theory

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was put to rest, and even when it was well

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established that we have our own toilet paper factories, people

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continue to buy the toilet paper. So the other thing

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that's going on is that we have this scarcity factor.

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We all know what the scarcity factor is because it's

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been used in sales and marketing for as long as

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sales and marketing has existed. If you want people to

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do something, you give them the message that there is

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a limited number, or there is a limited supply, or

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that time is going to run out. It's hardwired into

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our psychology that if there is, if there's a shortage

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of something that we're going, we're likely to want it more.

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And so when you go into the supermarket and you

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see that there's no toilet paper, even if you've got

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plenty of toilet paper, there is a part of your

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brain that becomes fearful that you're going to miss out,

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and therefore, maybe just in case, you should buy some

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toilet paper. And I know lots of people who did that,

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even if they didn't necessarily need toilet paper, if they

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saw some on the shelf, because they knew that it

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might not be there the next day, they would buy

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their toilet paper. And so then you just get this

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snowball effect where it becomes this almost self reinforcing And

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so I just think it's important to understand that those responses,

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the psychology of that is very natural. These are bizarre

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but kind of normal responses to an abnormal situation. And

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so telling people to just stop it, which is what

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our Prime minister did on national television, just stop it,

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just stop buying the toilet paper, is to fail to

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understand some of that basic human psychology and some of

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what drives human behavior. But we've seen it not just

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with toilet paper now, of course, then we saw it

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with all food products and flour and basic staples. Apparently

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everybody's in isolation doing a lot of baking because there's

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a lot of products that you can't buy on the

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supermarket shelves at the moment. So some of this behavior

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that we're seeing is really what you could call the

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band and effect, which is an expression that we use

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to describe the social contagion. So we know that emotions

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are contagious, we've talked about that on this show before,

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and behaviors are contagious. When we see other people doing things,

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we all follow suit. If you want any more evidence

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of the validity of the bandwagon effect, just look at

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how many people are watching Tiger King at the moment

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on Netflix. When everybody's doing something, we all feel like

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there must be something that we need to be doing

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as well. So these responses are all very normal. It

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doesn't help to get upset with other people for their

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responses because we're all doing our own part, in our

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own way to maintain some sense of control, and that

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will be reflected in different ways in different people, but

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essentially this is what we're all seeking to do. We

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all hope that in time, some of these behaviors will

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start to settle down as we all settle into what

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is very quickly becoming the new normal, and we all

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realize that there will be no shortage of food and

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of toilet paper.

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But while we're talking about this.

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Idea of needing to seek control or to find certainty

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in uncertain situations, that plays out in lots of other

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ways as well. And that's something else that I thought

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was important to talk about. So our brains are really

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wired to prefer certainty and routine and predictability. And obviously

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we know that some people have a much lower tolerance

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for uncertainty than others. That's partly to do with just

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individual temperament. Some people very much like to be in

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control and like to be able to plan and predict

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and micromanage every aspect of their day and their life,

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and those people will particularly probably struggle in a situation

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like this, And there are others who are much more

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go with the flow kind of personalities. But regardless of

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where you are on that spectrum, we all have this

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basic need. Our brain has this basic need or preference

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to have some sense of order. We know that most

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of what we do every day is out of habit.

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And the reason for that is that when our brain

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can lock something in and say this is what we do,

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this is when we do it, and this is how

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we do it, that actually frees up our mental resources

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to be able to focus on other things. So it

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likes routine, it likes habit. When we don't have that certainty,

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and when we don't have that routine or that ability

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to predict what's going to happen when it's happening, then

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we can we start to look for all sorts of

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other ways to try to gain that control. So stocking

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the pantry is one thing, making sure our family is

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good enough food, making sure that we're not missing out

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on the toilet paper. The other things that we start

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to do are constantly scrolling our social media feeds, constantly

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watching the news, looking for the daily updates, watching the graph,

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seeing how the curve's tracking, and these are all potentially

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only going to keep us more stuck in that cycle

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of fear and of negativity. But we have to understand

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that the reason that we do it is because we're

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all looking to find some certainty.

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We're all looking to fill.

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The gaps we don't like gaps, and so often when

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our brain looks to close that gap, I don't have

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an answer.

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I don't have a resolution here.

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It will go about filling that gap itself, and sometimes

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what it fills the gap with is the worst case scenario.

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But often what it will do is we go looking

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for information, looking for evidence, going to Google, talking to friends,

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all of these things that are designed to help us

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to give us some sense of knowing what's going to

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happen and when it's going to happen.

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I think we just.

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Need to be really careful about how much of our

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time and our energy we spend on consuming media and

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consuming news, because potentially it can keep us very stuck.

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And to some degree, we all need to recognize that

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we may not have any clear answers, and we need

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to really be able to and willing to tolerate a

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bit more of that uncertainty.

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It's uncomfortable. We don't like it.

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We don't know when the kids are going back to school,

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we don't know when the restaurants are going to open,

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and we can start to get ourselves into all sorts

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of worst case scenario thinking. But as much as possible,

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if we can just allow a little bit of uncertainty

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and to just bring ourselves back into focusing on our

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day to day routines and habits and the healthy ways

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that we can support ourselves and support our family and

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find our sense of certainty in that way rather than

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looking for it outside of us, because we can potentially

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be creating more angst and more anxiety the more we

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go looking outside of us for that for that certainty

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when it doesn't necessarily exist. I think while it's really

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important to understand that this is all really normal behavior,

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it's also worth noting that as humans, we're really not

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designed to can consume as much information as we currently do.

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We are social beings. Evolution has relied upon our ability

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to communicate to know what's going on with our community

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within our tribe. The grapevine has served a very useful

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purpose for us throughout history. But when you consider that

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now that tribe with globalization, includes all of the news

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from all around the world, and it overloads us. We

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are really not designed to have all of that information,

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especially when it's all bad news coming at us, not

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only twenty four to seven, but from far far beyond

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our own local community, and we are really bombarded with

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news from all around the world, so it's important to

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take some breaks and to filter out some of that information,

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especially at a time like this, and really all of

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the news that we consume is bad news. It's typically

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skewed towards the negative anyway, but especially in a time

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like this, when we are isolated in our homes, we're

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not engaging in our normal, healthy, positive, fun activities, or

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at least those activities are quite limited, and the vast

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majority of the news we're consuming is focused on this

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one topic. So it does very much feel like this

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is the only thing happening in our lives and in

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our world at the moment. So it's just really important

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to be mindful of that and to put some limits

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around the kind of media that we're consuming and the

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amount of time we're spending doing that.

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But getting back to.

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This idea of how we go about seeking certainty and

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trying to find ways to control a situation when we

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feel out of control, other things that we see people doing,

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and you will have seen it yourself, is latching onto

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conspiracy theories. And the reason that we do this is because, again,

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our brain is designed to try to make meaning whatever

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is happening in our lives and in our worlds. It's

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trying to look for how to make sense of this.

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And when something doesn't make any sense, when something is

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so unpredictable and so massive and with so many huge

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potential devastating consequences for our health, for our economy at

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an individual level, at a global level, then our brain's

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desperately trying to just make that mean something, and so

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latching onto some idea that it was the Chinese who

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caused it, or it was some it's biological warfare, or

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I don't know what other ones I've heard floating around

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the place. These are all again typical reactions to situations

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that are unknown and unfamiliar, and I think it's just

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really important to just limit how much of that kind

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of information that we're consuming and how much we're trying

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we're maybe buying into those sorts of theories. There will

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be some people who are more likely to hook onto

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those kinds of ideas on those stories, and others will

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dismiss them outright. But we know from research that people

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who tend to believe conspiracy theories tend to on the

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whole be more negative and more anxious. So while it

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might seem like a reasonable thing to do to try

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to make meaning of this situation. At the end of

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the day, it doesn't actually improve our individual circumstances. There's

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nothing we can do about that anyway, and it only

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really potentially just makes us feel worse. And so I

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think the important thing with all of these theories floating

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around on the internet, and if you're tempted to share

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them or talk about them, or even if you just

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are thinking about them, I think it's just important to

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ask yourself, is it helping or is it actually hindering?

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And I've asked that question myself very directly to friends

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of mine who have shared things on the internet about

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it's a hoax or it's a conspiracy theory, or it's

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not as bad as everybody's making it out to be,

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and we're all over react and this is just the

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government wanting to control us all. And I've actually gone

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very directly to friends of mine and said, what is

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it that you hope to gain by sharing that information?

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And I understand that you have a point of view,

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and I understand that everybody's entitled to an opinion, and

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that's all we have is opinion, But at the end

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of the day, if people are already fearful and anxious

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and suspicious, and their jobs are on the line, or

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they're concerned about their loved ones, or there is so

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much uncertainty, is it actually helping to contribute this kind

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of information to what is already becoming a very noisy,

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crowded internet space. Or is it positive or is it supportive,

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or is it adding value or is it contributing to

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people's sense of community and solidarity and helping us to

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understand that we're all in it together, and just asking

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ourselves what we're contributing, but also asking yourself what you're consuming.

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And I am at the moment very deliberately blocking those

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people from my social media feeds. I don't mean block blocking,

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but you know, there's a mute button or there's an

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unfriend button, like there are various levels of filtering that

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we can do on our social media feeds. And I

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made the decision myself, and I know other people have

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as well, to just not allow that kind of noise

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into our personal space because at the end of the day,

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it really isn't helpful, and at the end of the day,

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it doesn't make any difference to what we're all experiencing

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on a daily basis in terms of how we're just

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managing our daily lives and getting through this situation. The

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one thing that we do know for sure is that

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it's up to us as individuals how we choose to respond.

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And if there is anything that we have control over,

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it is how we personally respond, how we manage our

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own minds and our own thoughts and feelings, and what

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we contribute to the conversation. And so I think as

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individuals it's really important. And if you are a person,

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I'm all for hearing a whole range of different opinions

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and perspectives on a whole different range of topics. But

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I think in a time of crisis, we need to

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ask ourselves what is there to be gained by doing that?

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And do we want to be the person who is

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contributing to positivity and connection and comfort and support, or

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do we want to be contributing to more fear, more suspicion,

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more divisiveness, anger, or whatever you know, negative emotions people

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are experiencing. Because I think there's enough of that swirling

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around and at the end of this we want to

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look back and say, well, did I play my part

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to keep people together or did I did I potentially

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do more to just insight fear and suspicion, And so

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I guess on that too. The other thing that I've

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seen is just this general downplaying of the threat. You know,

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we've heard everything from it's just like the flu, It's

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not that bad. The only reason Italy was so hard

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hit was because of the aging population. And again this

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is always were looking for some sort of reassurance, for

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some sort of comfort when you look out into the

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world and it's a very very scary place. And I

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think as time has gone on, some of our more

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immediate fears the will I lose my job?

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How quickly is this going to spread?

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I think we've been reassured to a degree by just

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the amount of support that the government, to their credit,

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has offered to all of us, to people who are

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00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:33.319
losing their jobs, to job seekers, to businesses, rent freezes,

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you know, mortgage freezes. There's been so much support that

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most people are no longer fearful of being able to

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pay their bills or not being able having a job

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at the end of this, but we still have this

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overall uncertainty about you know, the shape of the curve

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and whether there's any chance that we will end up

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like another Italy or another New York. And so I

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think what people do is they try to find all

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of the ways why we're different and how that won't

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happen to us. And sometimes that extends to continuing to

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go about in the community, continuing to go and have

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parties or sit on the beach together and all of

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those sorts of things. And it is just really about

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thinking about are we looking out for ourselves or are

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we looking out for the rest of the community, and

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just taking a step back and considering the impact of

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the individual choices that we're all making. Obviously, some people

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have been very badly affected by this whole situation. Some

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people are more personally affected than others. And I don't

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for a minute want to downplay the significance of what

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people are experiencing, whether in terms of their financial situation,

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health situation.

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You know, people have lost their jobs.

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There are a whole lot of Year twelve students at

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the moment who don't know if they're going to be

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able to finish school this year. Like it's really anxiety provoking,

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And I think I want to make the point that

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of course, we're all feeling a huge range of emotions.

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Some days we'll feel better than others. And I know

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lots of people talking to me are saying that they're

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going up and down, like some days they're really positive

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and they're really optimistic, and then they're just this in

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the fetal position the next day, just you know, stressing

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about every little thing, worrying about every worst case scenario.

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And I think that's really normal, and I want to

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acknowledge that. My point is, though, is to be able

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to if we can all recognize that we're going to

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move through those emotions and that different people will react

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in different ways. We're all going through this individually, but

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very much together, and so if we can have some

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understanding and some compassion for how different people may not

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be responding in the same way that you would respond,

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and that's okay. We're all different, and as much as

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we are going through it together, it will affect each

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of us in a unique way. So starting with that,

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coming from that place of kindness and can passion and

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understanding as opposed to getting angry and frustrated and upset

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with the people around us or the government or China

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or whoever. If we could just come from a place

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of compassion and understanding and acknowledging that it's going to

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be scary.

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It is scary, and we're all going to.

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Feel different levels of fear, but we all have the

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choice to not let that fear drive our decisions and

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drive our behaviors. As much as possible, we want to

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be able to manage that, like, sit with what you're feeling,

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don't try to suppress it or deny it, but also

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just be mindful of how you might your own actions

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might be exacerbating those fears or those uncomfortable feelings, and

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trying not to let those fears direct our behaviors, trying

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to pull back and make a choice about whether we

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