The Oxford Dictionary “defines” Trauma as a deeply distressing and disturbing experience.” In an effort to be able to think about the current “coronavirus epidemic,” I told myself to reflect on the effects that other epidemics might have had on people throughout history and especially how did people react to the period of “quarantine” that helped them move forward.
For the purpose of this essay my inquiry compares the covid-19 quarantine to the “bubonic plague” quarantine. The scale of death and social upheaval of these events not only produce devastation but also can become a source of exploration of the breakdown of society and its institutions and the way we treat one another.
In the fourteenth century, the world suffered through a horrible epidemic that lasted for about four years. They called it the” black death”. This epidemic spread throughout Asia, Europe, and Africa and it took the lives of approximately 50 million people; about 60% of the world population. The pandemic event had several outbreaks. The current covid-19 has taken approximately 1.3 million lives world-wide.
I found myself anxious and frightened but also inspired to know that Shakespeare wrote “Macbeth” and “King Lear” during the quarantine of the bubonic plague. What a phenomenal accomplishment!! Newton was able to describe his” theory of gravity” during the same period of time!! And there are many other examples of how people behaved during the quarantines. How can some people remain creative, inspired and organized? I want to make sure I follow suit. Unbelievable!!
During the current coronavirus social distancing quarantine, I became distressed at my loss of trust in journalistic sources and government officials who appeared to be involved in the unethical behavior of telling lies and hiding the truth. I experienced a sense of betrayal when reading “fake news” and paranoid theories of conspiracies, in an effort to obscure the growing racist attitudes that governments were indulging in, rather than addressing the need for strong and decisive leadership, and our societal selfishness in the face of an unknown and frightening insult such as the current coronavirus pandemic and its multiple effects in our lives.
On Memorial Day, May 24th, 2020, the NYT published on the front page the names of 100,000 people who have died due to Covid-19. We are mourning collectively the loss of loved ones and strangers.
Slavoj Zizek, a Lacanian psychoanalyst who is also a cultural philosopher and Senior Researcher at the Institute for Sociology and Philosophy at the University of Ljubljana, Global Distinguished Professor of German at New York University, International director of the Birkbeck Institute for the humanities at the University of London. He has written a book called Pandemia. I find his thinking provocative and useful. In this book, Mr. Zizek criticizes capitalism gone amok as one of the causes for the lack of preparation with which our governments responded to a long-anticipated prediction that an epidemic would occur.
We are in the midst of many different crises, the crises of racism and immigration all over the world that has incarcerated people in jails unable to respect social distancing, bringing illness and death. An economic crisis has emerged secondary to lockdowns and social distancing. Childcare is not available, education from elementary school through colleges is absent except for the internet.
South Korean born Byung-Chul Han is a Professor of Philosophy at the University of Berlin. In contrast to Michelle Foucault’s bio-power, he has discovered the productive force of the psyche. He has extensively analyzed our everyday existence under the challenges of “electronically induced hyper communication”. He warns us of the” burnout syndrome” of overworking and the experience of depression. Our relationships in general have changed due to the recommendation of social distancing, and in our intersubjectivity we are forced to rely on the “gaze” and we connect only through looking into each other’s eyes as we speak.
The practice of Psychotherapy as well as Psychoanalysis has changed. We no longer meet in our consulting rooms, we are compelled to meet through the telehealth sessions and we question the effectiveness of the new styles of intervention. We look for support from our peers through zoom sessions and zoom conferences and we hope that we can elect leaders that respect human beings, their dignity, and their health.
