If you are a doctor, lawyer, a psychologist, a member of the current President's administration, a police officer, or a legislator, please ignore this until the end...
Not much can be done about the coronavirus other than to protect yourself from stupidity. This means wearing a masking, keeping your distance, and not congregating in a roomful of strangers who you don't know the COVID-19 test status of. In very much, it's similar to the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, but much more contagious and (I think) slightly more deadly.
I have this friend who constantly is showing me articles and blaming QAnon or anti-vaxxers about the latest strain and how contagious it its. He gets furious and outraged to the point where he causes himself panic attacks. This is a waste of energy. He can do so much more with his life and do so much more if he stopped spending so much energy on it. I should mention that this friend only has 15% lung capacity, so he has to be extra-vigilant and that I live with him just for context. But the point remains: as long as he wears a mask, keeps his distance, avoids close contact with people he doesn't know, and so on, he will be fine.
I do not share in the outrage for two reasons. One is mental health self-preservation. Like him, I also have panic attacks about the latest disease or whatever. If I gave into his panic, this would create a feedback loop, so it's imperative that I don't give into his panic, which will feed my panic, and just repeat itself.
The second one is, what good does all that panic and outrage do? It doesn't make him productive. He takes the stress out on the other people (including me at times) in the room, and he has little to no situational/emotional filter due to what we think is some kind dementia onset. Consider all the things you can do: read a book, play a video game, write the next great American novel. The list goes on. For the normal person, raging against people who you can't correct is an insane waste of your energy. You get up and you do it over and over again, and to no avail. Take care of yourself and don't worry about the idiots, you can't fix stupid.
Unless you're a doctor, you can't cure those infected by those less cautious than you.
Unless you're a lawyer, you can't sue for physical or emotional damages. You could file, butt good luck finding the one individual that infected you.
Unless you're a psychologist or psychiatrist, you can't correct a malformed world view, if not a delusion.
Unless you're a member of the current Presidential administration or a health advisor, you can't pass or propose executive orders.
Unless you're a police officer, you can't arrest the roughly 12 million people for endangering the public health.
Unless you're a legislator, you can't ban deliberate misinformation.
So go out there and feel empowered that protecting yourself and your family is the most you can do, and you're doing the most you can!
Not much can be done about the coronavirus other than to protect yourself from stupidity. This means wearing a masking, keeping your distance, and not congregating in a roomful of strangers who you don't know the COVID-19 test status of. In very much, it's similar to the AIDS epidemic in the 80s, but much more contagious and (I think) slightly more deadly.
I have this friend who constantly is showing me articles and blaming QAnon or anti-vaxxers about the latest strain and how contagious it its. He gets furious and outraged to the point where he causes himself panic attacks. This is a waste of energy. He can do so much more with his life and do so much more if he stopped spending so much energy on it. I should mention that this friend only has 15% lung capacity, so he has to be extra-vigilant and that I live with him just for context. But the point remains: as long as he wears a mask, keeps his distance, avoids close contact with people he doesn't know, and so on, he will be fine.
I do not share in the outrage for two reasons. One is mental health self-preservation. Like him, I also have panic attacks about the latest disease or whatever. If I gave into his panic, this would create a feedback loop, so it's imperative that I don't give into his panic, which will feed my panic, and just repeat itself.
The second one is, what good does all that panic and outrage do? It doesn't make him productive. He takes the stress out on the other people (including me at times) in the room, and he has little to no situational/emotional filter due to what we think is some kind dementia onset. Consider all the things you can do: read a book, play a video game, write the next great American novel. The list goes on. For the normal person, raging against people who you can't correct is an insane waste of your energy. You get up and you do it over and over again, and to no avail. Take care of yourself and don't worry about the idiots, you can't fix stupid.
Unless you're a doctor, you can't cure those infected by those less cautious than you.
Unless you're a lawyer, you can't sue for physical or emotional damages. You could file, butt good luck finding the one individual that infected you.
Unless you're a psychologist or psychiatrist, you can't correct a malformed world view, if not a delusion.
Unless you're a member of the current Presidential administration or a health advisor, you can't pass or propose executive orders.
Unless you're a police officer, you can't arrest the roughly 12 million people for endangering the public health.
Unless you're a legislator, you can't ban deliberate misinformation.
So go out there and feel empowered that protecting yourself and your family is the most you can do, and you're doing the most you can!