I had a good conversation with a friend who recently had Covid again. I asked him why it was hard to hear information on Covid, and why he ignores it and “lives his life”.
He said that he knew what it could do to him, especially Long Covid, and he was afraid of it. So he can’t even think about it. He knows that he’s in denial and acting badly, and he got worried about telling people that he had Covid again, that he knew he was projecting feeling badly about ignoring Covid by assuming that he would be shamed for talking about catching it. And that he assumed others would also feel this shame in themselves, so he felt that he shouldn’t talk about it and make them also feel bad.
Covid has all this denial and shame wrapped up in it. My friend is very self-aware and could talk about it, but still didn’t feel able to get away from this daily denial to change his behavior. The possibility of a destroyed future life due to Covid bodily damage is too much for him to bear even thinking about, so he goes on with “normal” life because thinking about protecting himself is too much thinking about Covid. Acting in a safe way is a reminder of how unsafe we are. So he doesn’t.
I don’t know how to combat this. Masking is a reminder to him of the constant danger he’s in, and of the shame he’s received from others about catching it (both real and imagined). I don’t know how to get through to a society full of people like this, and most who are much less self-aware of their denial.
#Covid #CovidIsNotOver #LongCovid #CovidDenial npub1uw2zx53kpkrgjzav20gfrs02q83j4u45suw3gd590gmmczd6kj6skdpmne (npub1uw2…pmne)
VeeRat /
npub1tg…n6u93
2023-08-25 22:45:42
Author Public Key
npub1tg8e6elcgfudqwqljch44h9ywnv2hefffqkjlfdkn0a20cgfhc0s8n6u93Published at
2023-08-25 22:45:42Event JSON
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"content": "I had a good conversation with a friend who recently had Covid again. I asked him why it was hard to hear information on Covid, and why he ignores it and “lives his life”.\n\nHe said that he knew what it could do to him, especially Long Covid, and he was afraid of it. So he can’t even think about it. He knows that he’s in denial and acting badly, and he got worried about telling people that he had Covid again, that he knew he was projecting feeling badly about ignoring Covid by assuming that he would be shamed for talking about catching it. And that he assumed others would also feel this shame in themselves, so he felt that he shouldn’t talk about it and make them also feel bad.\n\nCovid has all this denial and shame wrapped up in it. My friend is very self-aware and could talk about it, but still didn’t feel able to get away from this daily denial to change his behavior. The possibility of a destroyed future life due to Covid bodily damage is too much for him to bear even thinking about, so he goes on with “normal” life because thinking about protecting himself is too much thinking about Covid. Acting in a safe way is a reminder of how unsafe we are. So he doesn’t.\n\nI don’t know how to combat this. Masking is a reminder to him of the constant danger he’s in, and of the shame he’s received from others about catching it (both real and imagined). I don’t know how to get through to a society full of people like this, and most who are much less self-aware of their denial.\n\n#Covid #CovidIsNotOver #LongCovid #CovidDenial nostr:npub1uw2zx53kpkrgjzav20gfrs02q83j4u45suw3gd590gmmczd6kj6skdpmne",
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