A Guide to COVID-19 Anxiety
By: Sean Raftery
Tags: Mindfulness, Charity, Covid 19, Stoicism, Coronavirus

For You, the Individual

I am assuming that if you are a reader of mine, you already see the value in and are practicing social distancing and personal hygiene. If you aren’t and remain skeptical, I implore you to reconsider. One thing we know for certain is that this disease is highly contagious and that it operates in stealth mode living on some surfaces for up to a week, and appearing in some people as asymptomatic of any illness at all. If you happen to be carrying the virus, avoiding even incidental transmissions could save an exponential amount of lives on the growth curve. Do your part and self-isolate.

Alright, now you’re isolated. How do you not go insane from the anxiety caused both by social disconnectedness and the uncertainty surrounding the virus itself? For that, I will go into the toolboxes of Buddhist-style mindfulness practices and Stoic philosophy.

I have been thinking a lot about what Roman philosopher and Stoic Epictetus once wrote: “Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.”[3] The voice in your head, the one that right now is probably my voice, but is typically your voice, is your ego. It is a storytelling machine, constantly taking in what your five senses perceive and weaving a tapestry that sums up to your consciousness, and then narrating it to you in a way that reassures you of your identity and relative safety in a world that, without that reassurance, would typically look more like abject chaos and meaninglessness to us than a pleasant, meaningful ride. However, that narration typically amounts to nothing more than a stream of judgments — or as Epictetus would say, “opinions,” about the nature of reality that are uniquely your own given your subjective experience up to the present moment. Your ego, those thoughts, that story you tell yourself, it is not “you”. You are the silence behind your thoughts and the thoughts are just that: thoughts.

“Men are disturbed not by the things that happen, but by their opinion of the things that happen.”

- Epictetus

What does this mean for COVID-19? Simply that there is a difference between the objective event of a pandemic and your subjective opinions, stories, and thoughts on it, and that if you have anxious thoughts for any reason, whether it’s because you miss social connection, you’re concerned for your own health or the health of a family member, or you just would flat out rather be at a music festival right now, the root is likely your own opinions and beliefs and their individual conflict with the uncertainty of the times, and not an objective and altogether impermeable state of fear. The fact of the matter is that this pandemic is unprecedented, and further, incredibly uncertain. There is a non-zero chance that literally anything may happen in the coming months. You may get sick and die, a loved one may get sick and die, you may lose a job, your bank account may dissipate, and society may crumble; all of these things seem immediately more probable than they were just three weeks ago, though it remains immensely more likely that if you’re doing your part, everything will probably turn out alright for you. But, the mere presence of both that uncertainty and the ego doesn’t mix well, because it’s the ego’s job to make you feel your subjective story about reality is certain, which is why we remain blind to the much more likely positive outcomes waiting for us in the future. While some seek to preserve their ego and play ignorance to that uncertainty, perhaps it is a healthier and more fulfilling exercise in times like this is to go inward and inspect what may be causing you distress, so that you can focus more on the much more likely positive. That is where mindfulness comes in.

Meditation is en vogue right now. I do not want this to be an introduction to meditation, but I will say that the observation of one’s thoughts and ego with the goal of detachment from that story is the hallmark of Buddhist Vipassana meditation. Meditation has done wonders for me and my anxiety even in much more certain times than these, and I believe it would do wonders for your perspective if you are struggling with the fear caused by your subjective story and opinion on these uncertain times. I highly recommend the introductory courses on Insight Timer and Sam Harris’ Waking Up course and book if this rings true to you.

“Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”

One last thought I will leave you with that may also act as an antidote to the individual anxiety of the times is a mental model known as Hanlon’s Razor. It states “Never attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by stupidity.”[4] World leaders, researchers, and doctors are making decisions that will either save or lose lives at an unprecedented rate right now on a daily basis. While I have no doubt some of these individuals may have behaved in malice towards specific individuals prior to this crisis, it’s very unlikely that they intend anything but a swift end to the crisis right now. Any mistake a decision-maker may make during this time, I would presume is much more due to their own human fallibility, myopia and “stupidity” now than any specific malice. And if that is the case, perhaps it is best to practice some lovingkindness and compassion for those individuals now, instead of trying to fight perceived malice with further malice.