Recently in B.C., our public health officer, Dr. Bonnie Henry, said we will all probably get exposed to COVID-19 at some point, given how contagious the omicron variant is. Later that day, she clarified that she meant “exposed” rather than “infected.” Unfortunately, I think many people had already misinterpreted the first statement to mean that we will all get infected at some point. Subsequently, polls have indicated that a large proportion of Canadians believe that we will all be infected with COVID-19. I keep hearing this from friends, family members, and others. Why would people want to think that infection with a virus is inevitable, particularly when infected people (even if they don’t get too sick) could pass the virus along to vulnerable populations? Are they just being realistic, or is there something else going on here?
In a strange way, I think some people probably find it comforting to think that infection is unavoidable. If infection is unavoidable, then maybe we don’t need to be so careful anymore. Maybe we don’t need to restrict our lives or social interactions, keep our distance from others in public places, wear masks, and so forth. Maybe we can go back to the gym, spend more time in bars or dance clubs, resume singing groups/choirs, have parties at home, attend weddings, travel more, and the list goes on. Many of us, after all, have been deprived of these things in one way or another for nearly two years now. If we’re going to get COVID-19 anyway, maybe we can be free again and stop trying so hard to avoid getting it.
It’s an odd feature of the human brain that thoughts, even seemingly negative ones – thoughts about contracting diseases, leaving one’s partner, dying, and so on – can be comforting. If you’ve ever struggled with depression, you might relate to this. Getting out of the pit of depression can seem so impossibly hard that you can start to think that you’ll always be miserable, and that it’s not worth doing anything to change. If that’s the case, then maybe you don’t need to try so hard. In some strange way, hopeless thoughts (thinking that things just aren’t going to work out) might actually be comforting, as they give you permission to take a break. If I aimed to compete in the 100 metre dash against people who are 10-20 years younger than me, I might train really hard, work out every morning, go to the track, and try to get my time down as low as possible. There would be times when I’d get discouraged, demoralized, fed up, tired, and so on. The thought that I’m never going to compete against these fit whippersnappers might actually be comforting, as I would have permission to let up on my training routine. In contrast, I believed that I have a shot at being faster than the whippersnappers, I’d probably keep training hard. Maybe I’d make it, and maybe I wouldn’t, but I’d be a lot more fit than if I just decided to stay home on the couch.
My plan, therefore, is to believe and act as if I can avoid becoming infected. I plan to continue to take precautions, maintain physical distance in public, spend time with people outdoors, wear masks (nowadays, double masks or double-filters), avoid sizeable social gatherings as well as any significant traveling, and so forth. I know all of these precautions have gotten pretty stale for many of us. It’s even tempting for me to think that I should just go back to life as usual because I’m going to get infected anyway. Despite all of this, I actually find the thought that I have the ability to avoid infection even more comforting. ~Alexander L. Chapman, Ph.D., R.Psych.