In a recent episode of The Tim Ferriss Show, I heard a statement that struck me as very sensible. Ferriss asked his guest, Dr. Vivek Murthy—formerly the highest-ranking public health official in the United States—what he would do if he were responsible for the country’s response to COVID-19. The answer was relatively simple and compelling. First: total transparency. Second: good storytelling.
What is needed now are strong leaders who educate people and give them courage. I particularly like Andrew Cuomo, the governor of New York State, in this regard. He is doing exactly the right thing. In his “daily briefing,” he explains to citizens what is happening and why particular decisions are being made. In this way, he gains the public’s support.
In his article “Why you must act now,” Tomas Pueyo predicted the developments that are currently unfolding before all our eyes as early as March 10. In his second article, “The hammer and the dance,” Pueyo describes a scenario that I consider realistic. After several weeks of lockdown and extensive testing of the population, we will probably gradually return to everyday life over the next one or two years.
As Dr. Hemmerich makes clear in this excellent and highly educational video, it is the principle of the viral itself that we need to understand. Of course, we must take measures. Much more important, however, is that we understand what “the viral” is in itself and how we can encounter it WITHIN OURSELVES. For the SARS-COV2 pathogen, it makes sense to take hygienic measures. The same applies to the psychological viral within us.
When contemplating Nature
Always regard one as all;
Nothing is within, nothing is without:
For what is within is also without.
So grasp without delay
The sacred public secret.
Rejoice in the true appearance,
And in the earnest game:
No living thing is one,
It is always many.
(J.W.GOETHE)
What Goethe expresses in these lines is that we cannot consider anything in the world separately if we truly want to do it justice. From physics, we have known—for decades, experimentally established and recently confirmed once again—that, as observers, we literally “co-decide” reality. We are accustomed to acting as though reality simply exists and is merely passively reproduced by us.
Each of us has the power to decide whether to passively let events wash over us, simply deny what is happening, or take action that connects us with the whole. From psychoneuroimmunology, we know that we can measurably influence the fitness of our immune system depending on whether we feel like victims in survival mode or actively shape our lives and contribute to the context that defines us as living beings.
What we are experiencing on a global scale at this moment is acute stress. Acute stress, which research also refers to as “Cannon stress” or “fight-or-flight stress,” is not inherently a bad thing. On the contrary, it could also be viewed as “eustress”—something positive that gets us moving and makes us feel wonderfully alive. The crucial question is how we deal with this acute stress.
When stress becomes chronic, we no longer speak of “Cannon stress,” but of “Selye stress” or “distress,” which undermines our immune system and gradually depletes our energy. If, on the other hand, we regain control of the situation, we return to calm after the exertion and recover. Then we learn and grow through the challenge. We cannot always influence events. But how we respond to them and what personal experiences we create within ourselves from these events—that lies in our hands.
I describe how this self-regulation can be specifically practiced in everyday life in The Mental Immune System: Learning Self-Regulation in Everyday Life and Optimism Can Be Learned. I describe how a system becomes not only robust but antifragile in How Do You Kill a Hydra? On Antifragility and Health. It was precisely this conviction that later also gave rise to Imun Guard. You can find the complete overview in our comprehensive salutogenesis overview.