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As people around the world mobilize to cope with the stress of hoping to survive the new coronavirus pandemic and its economic and social consequences, it helps to remember the ways in which stress is universal, those related to groups to which we may belong, and those unique to each person.
All other people—the universals
1. What affects us. Everyone feels stress as their bodies mobilize to cope with perceived threats. We are hard-wired to respond to that which signals danger, both intuitively, like a loud, sudden, unexpected noise, and analytically, like an awareness that a pandemic poses a real danger to our lung functions and is highly contagious.
2. How we are affected. We humans react with a flood of hormones that can help us fight, flee, or freeze when faced with an emergency. Psychologist Shelley Taylor has demonstrated that an additional response can kick in, especially in women who are protecting children. She labeled it "tend and befriend," translated as offering care to those who need it and joining with others to be sure needed help is provided.
The new coronavirus, the source of the illness COVID-19 (see Johns Hopkins site for prevalence), does not seem to discriminate among people, although it is not inconceivable that some people might carry an as-yet-unidentified and unexplained immunity. Even though people who are older or have pre-existing conditions may be more likely to develop complications of the illness, others may show lighter or even no symptoms.
The virus seems to affect people of all ages, backgrounds, climates, locations, beliefs. The only thing that seems to dramatically influence its distribution is the density of exposure to others who carry the virus. Because of its potentially long incubation period, before symptoms appear, we may have no idea that we—or someone else—is infected, rendering a sense of danger chronic. Chronic stress can deplete our reserves of cortisol or adrenaline, negatively affecting our immune system.
Some other people—group differences
1. What affects us. Although the new coronavirus appears to be able to attack the body of any human (even an infant has died from it), people tend to vary in the likelihood of complications from COVID-19 and the potential seriousness of those complications. As noted above, older adults and those with pre-existing conditions are at higher risk. In addition, there is some evidence that family or community clusters can become "hot spots."
2. How we are affected. People who live in less dense areas are likely to have less exposure to others who carry the new coronavirus and thus fewer opportunities to become infected themselves. Similarly, those who depend upon others for basic care will necessarily be exposed more to potentially infected others than will people who have greater options in caring for themselves.
Once infected, people vary in their resources for managing the infection. A large group difference is between those who have access to adequate medical resources and those who do not. These differences become accentuated if the health care system is overwhelmed, as happened in Italy, Spain, and Iran and is now threatening to happen in parts of America.
As in most health conditions, education and financial resources are likely to be protective; those with more education may have skills to research their illness and more strategies available for following measures protective of themselves and others and those prescribed should they themselves become ill. People with more financial resources may find it easier to self-quarantine, having more space available, offering more options for isolation, comfort, activities, and distraction.
Some may even move to remote locations. Those locations can bring them the physical and mental benefits of living amid nature, although they may simultaneously limit access to health care should it be needed. Few people have a helipad adjacent to their country home that could airlift them to a large hospital that might have needed equipment and personnel.
In summary, dependence, geographical location, density, education, and wealth are among the greatest group differences that face people as they experience the disaster-related stress of the pandemic.
No other people—our uniqueness
1. What affects us. People vary genetically, temperamentally, and in their histories. Even though the vast majority of our biology is universally human, each person has a tiny bit of genetic code that distinguishes one from another. Embedded in that code can be differences that support or undermine exposure to external biological threats and the resilience to face them.
Everyone is also born with a unique temperament, a set of nine innate inclinations that determine everything from natural responses to a situation to difficulty in overriding or following those natural impulses. I have previously written about the impact of temperament: for example, here and here. Temperament (especially the dimensions of adaptability, distractibility or frustration tolerance, and persistence) is relevant to our reactions and responses to the existence of the new coronavirus, our roles in preventing or promoting its spread, and ways in which we respond to becoming ill.
Further, personal experiences mold our expectations of situations and our responses to them. As one example, about half the population suffers extended grief when a loved one dies, while others are more resilient in the face of loss. As another, the effect of an experience as being traumatic or not can vary depending on the age of a person when it happens, previous exposure to traumatic experiences, the conditions surrounding the event, support available at the time, and that which is available during and after the experience. Our social networks can be profoundly important. Our close relationships can be even more critical to our well-being.
2. How we are affected. Our life lessons mold our emotional responses, beliefs, attitudes, behaviors, and expectations. Highly stressful (even traumatic) situations, especially at younger ages, impact patterns of response, priming our impulses to react to current demands, whether urgent or less so, in ways that we responded before. Experiences can also help us develop patterns that slow us down, allowing conscious awareness and rational thinking to direct choices of behavior. They can impact our appreciation of what we can and cannot control and our comfort in seizing responsibility for the former and not becoming sidetracked by the latter.
In what ways do you respond as a human being, as a member of various groups, and out of your own temperament and history? How easily can you respond to threat with observation and compassion, allowing yourself to consciously choose behaviors that are deliberate?
Copyright 2020 Roni Beth Tower
References
Taylor, S.E. (2006). Tend and befriend: Biobehavioral bases of affiliation under stress. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 273-277.
