‘Why Can't You Take This Seriously?!’
BECAUSE EVERYONE PERCEIVES THREAT DIFFERENTLY
Dr. Shari Beecher, PhD.
I have heard many ask why it seems you have people who take the COVID threat with ease and others seem to be more serious about it. You have people who have no problem venturing out to the local Walmart, while others are buying groceries online for pick-up or delivery. Everyone seems to have their own perception of the COVID threat and there are a few reasons for that.
As social psychologist Dr. Kurt Lewin stated, behavior is a function of the person in the environment. On a macro level, our environments are the same, as we are all dealing with the COVID crisis. That said, due to the differences in the ‘person’ variable, we are seeing a wide range of responses
All of us are made up of different personalities and past events that impact our perception of the events in the world. Take someone who grew up in a home with a swimming pool. They learned to swim and don’t think negatively about water. Someone who didn’t have the exposure to a pool or water may have fear of it.
The lack of fear first comes from gaining knowledge and information on the threat. By gaining knowledge about the water and being around the water, including interaction with water, you can minimize the threat.
We do know that many COVID transmissions occur in crowded indoor spaces, when people are talking, singing, or coughing. This knowledge can be used so we can implement behavioral change (cover our mouth). This is why we masks are recommended in populous buildings to lower transmission.
Often information is not useful to guide behavioral change. We need to be mindful of information that has no outlet for behavioral change to lower fear (statistics).
The other tool to lower fear is exposure to the threat. Just like wearing a life jacket in the water, the more sensible exposure we have, our fear will diminish. Habituation is a way our mind diminishes fear. The more something becomes a habit, the less it is a threat.
With sensible exposure, we have become desensitized from the fear. To take the exposure step takes courage and courage is a mastery of fear. It requires us to focus on something other than the fear to reach a higher goal. Just like a firefighter must focus on saving lives and not on the fire.
Some people take COVID seriously and other’s take it with ease. Don’t mistake some individual’s lack of fear as irresponsible or selfish. Everyone has their own learning curve, even to master fear.
It takes a lot of practice and courage to master your own fear. Approach every event or encounter with compassion and an openness to understanding. All of us are at a different level of learning.