What is Covanger? (and how to avoid it)
By: Kieron James
Tags: Anger, Covid 19, Lockdown, Change, Support

There is a lot of anger out there.

From Americans protesting at the lockdowns, Italians feeling angry at being overlooked for help from the EU, through to the British at the government handling of the crisis.

Oh, I mustn’t forget the hoarders and the covidiots who think rules does not apply to them.

I thought the anger around Brexit was bad yet trawling through social media the anger that is coming through now makes Brexit look like a playground tiff.

Why is that though?

What is making people so angry?

This current situation has been a bolt out of the blue and has caught most people off guard.

People who once had the belief that their basic needs would be met by the elected representatives, have had their beliefs fundamentally shaken by this crisis.

They were living in a false sense of security, now that their fundamental beliefs have been shaken by the evidence and now, they have a case of cognitive dissonance.

Why is that though?

Did they have a false sense of belief that their safety and psychological needs would be met by the government?

Did they hand over too much power to authorities?

Looking at Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs there has been a crisis in the first two needs at the base of the pyramid.

Before this crisis became a major issue, people were confident that the government were in control of their safety, also they were looking to the government for their psychological needs (Food, Water and Shelter).

Yet, as this crisis has unfolded, we have seen people panic, we have seen people worry about the basics. We have seen how underprepared humans have become and how they lack the basic survival skills.

Is it the case that the more technologically advanced we have become, the less we rely on the basic survival skills that are naturally built in us?

Has the anger come from the fact we have been over reliant on those who promise to look after us? Or could it be said we are angry at ourselves at the fact we were not prepared enough personally?

The blame game has already started.

People always look to blame someone for the situation they find themselves in and do not look inwards to find the answers.

Do we need to spend money on the materialistic things that are advertised everywhere? Do we have to constantly have up-to-date stuff?

Or do we need to start investing in ourselves and how we react to situations? Do we need to relearn basic survival skills again?

As little as 40 years ago during the Cold War the governments were wanting us to be prepared for the worst-case scenario, a nuclear attack.

They were wanting us to have provisions for at least 14 days, a shelter (if we could afford one) a plan for keeping in touch with the world (via short-wave radio).

Then by the end of the 1980’s the threat of nuclear war had diminished with the collapse of communism in Russia. People could start to live in more freedom, people could start to put the past behind them.

In the 40 years since we have made great technological advances, we have lived a standard of living that has been unprecedented.

Yet in the technological advances we have made, have we forgotten how to handle ourselves in a crisis?

In a word, YES.

We have become more reliant on technology to help us through our day and lost the basic skills on how to survive.

The fact that we rely on people to make sure we are fed and watered, we have got used to everything there for us instantly.

We are having less and less free time as our lives have gotten busier.

The one thing we have forgotten is to build some back-up plan just in case of emergencies. In the modern world, it wasn’t seen as a necessity, complacency set in.

Then one virus changed that.

Credit: Unsplash

People started to lose their heads as they started to buy up essentials, shelves emptied.

There were even fights over essentials, panic ensued because people didn’t believe that the people who they handed power over to, could meet their basic needs.

People became insular, thinking of them and their family only and tough luck to other humans.

There were outcries as pictures emerged of elderly people looking at empty shelves, couldn’t even get basics to survive.

People started then to mobilise to help those who are vulnerable. They turned the anger into a positive.

Now some are turning their anger to those who promised to look after us. We now are asking questions about why this could happen in the first place.

Do we naturally look to others for our own failings?

Yes.

The bitterest pill to swallow is the fact that sometimes we fail as humans to look after our own needs.

We presume because there are people who claim to have our best interests at heart, that all our needs will be met, we falsely hand over our power to them.

This also applies to our beliefs and values.

When this crisis first came about, people were not to alarmed by it, due to assurances by the authorities that everything was going to be ok.

Yet the moment it started hitting hard, people went into panic mode.

Fear of the future took hold, not knowing whether this is a temporary thing or is it here to stay for a while.

Anger took hold, anger at those who we gave our power to, anger at those who were buying up everything, anger at those ‘flouting the law’.

Do we need to live in constant fear and anger?

No.

It has been scientifically proven that living in fear and anger can LOWER the immune system for a good 4–5 hours, which could help with the onset of any infection and lowers the mental health.

With the constant news cycle being 24 hours of this virus, it is easy to be constantly living in fear and anger.

Do we need to be angry at those who ‘flout the law’? Or do we need to take personal responsibility for our own protection? We do not know the circumstances that the person finds themselves in.

As humans we are sociable creatures and this isolation has been a shock to the system for us all. Some will adapt (the introverts) to it all and others will find it difficult to adapt (the extroverts).

Before we cast our anger at others we need to understand, this virus caught us off-guard and we became complacent that nothing could happen to us.

The whole situation is a fluid one and can change in a moment. By focussing on the anger, we take our eyes off other more important stuff that could help us during this time.

During this unnatural pause we could take stock of our lives and work on stuff to improve our lives once this lockdown is lifted.

We CAN change stuff that was not working for us and causing the anger in our lives pre lockdown.

Also we can prepare for the future and make sure that we can navigate any unexpected incidents without the need to get angry or live in fear.

(The original article ends here, this next part is updated for the present time we see ourselves in)

As things are opening up we need to be wary of letting fears get in the way of returning to normal.

There will be a great fear amongst people that as things start returning to a ‘new kind of normal’. Fear of possible contracting the virus, fear of others not self isolating when they should be, fears that things are moving too fast.

Here in the UK we had a slogan ‘Stay at home, Protect the NHS, Save lives’ this was so effective with the public, that there is anger at the government trying to open places up.

Some of the public believe it is too early to open up, others see the need to get industry up and running to get money back into the economy.

In amongst this all we still have the curse of racism looming over us.

After the death of George Floyd there has been protests against institutional racism too.

There have been people who have criticised it saying that because of the pandemic it should not have happened.

Others are in support of it, saying that it needs to be addressed now once and for all.

Emotions are running high on both sides and it can be a tinderbox if it isn’t handled in the right way.

Communication is key in this situation.

By effective communication there can be a win-win on both sides of the argument. Any misunderstandings could lead to an explosive situation and a lot of anger on both sides.

There is a fine line that needs to be tread in order to appease the emotions of all.

Begs the question….who would like to be in the government’s shoes right now?