Background
We recently posted an article highlighting the wellness, mental and physical health and well-being problems being experienced as a result of employee’s covid experiences. (If you have yet to read Curing Malady at Work, where we talk about this and also about lost connections and lost values, go to: http://storytellinginbusiness.blogspot.com/2022/10/curing-malady-at-work.html)
As Gabor Maté proves, there is nothing 'normal' about the way we are living and the remarkably high level of stress and toxicity that we face every day. (Maté, g. 2022)
There are a growing number of research papers and articles emanating from a number of countries, about the inefficacy of and the adverse effects of covid vaccinations. That is not what this article is about. Instead, in this article we outline the impact on the health and wellness of people emanating from their covid experience as we move into what is being heralded by some as a post-covid period. (This period may turn out to be simply the lull before the next inevitable medical, financial, technological or social pandemic - which will again traumatise millions). Documentation of what people are experiencing is still sparse but deserves our full consideration.
What we can now say with certainty is that people have suffered and continue to suffer. There have been many impacts, potentially serious and lasting in terms of our health and wellness at every level: physical, intellectual emotional, social and spiritual. These traumatic impacts have been both collective and individual.
New Findings of Note
Scientists in Europe and the USA compared
levels of the five-factor model of personality traits before and after the
coronavirus pandemic, finding that personality itself has been affected by the
trauma of covid (with some differences across age groups):
Extraversion (characterised by outgoing sociability, high energy) declined (moved towards introversion)
Openness (characterised
by curiousness, insight, imaginativeness) declined
Agreeableness (Prosocial, kind, giving, helpful, accepting)
decreased
Conscientiousness (goal-directed, focused) suffered
Neuroticism
(self-blaming, tendency to focus on negative emotions) increased
(Bello, C. 2022)
On a ‘whole person’ basis, other research conducted, and our own experiences and observations have been in line with the findings that follow. (See References below).
Interlinked, negative impacts (mainly
long-lasting and not short-lived) that are being revealed:
Physical
Insomnia, digestive problems, listlessness,
curtailed movement and lack of exercise, unexpected sudden ailments of many
sorts
Intellectual
Boredom, brain fog, memory loss - ‘pandemic
amnesia’, not feeling in control
(Exacerbated for some by longer work hours)
Emotional/ Psychological
Anxiety, high stress, panic, depression,
loneliness, grieving for those who’ve died
Parents worry about their school-going kids:
schooling time lost, lowered concentration, new fears and vulnerabilities,
teacher’s inability to handle acting out, giving up, low morale
(Often triggered by change, uncertainty and
financial stress).
Social
Social isolation is abnormal for humans and can
become a self-imposed habit. Many relationships have suffered. A ‘me-first’ attitude
has become more prevalent. There is less compassion for the other. ‘Red flag
words’ spark conflict. There is a new sense of being vulnerable to harm from
others (Young and older experience this). And sometimes a phenomenon of pseudo
self-sufficiency. (‘It’s everyone for themselves’)
Attachment-style (attachment-inheritance may
be a better word) plays a big role. Where attachment style is one of relational
insecurity, the dynamic between needing to have your own space and being able
to enjoy being very close to another or others creates problematical behaviours.
These may result in major conflict within relationships)
Spiritual
Fear and being wary of others, feeling
vulnerable to others and the unknown future. Community and togetherness is
impacted.
Attending funerals where there is forced distancing
between mourners, or not being able to be with loved ones when they are dying have
scarred people. They ask, ‘Why is this being allowed to happen to me?!’
Some also exclaim: ‘The world should for us
all be charged with the grandeur of God. Humans should be blessed by the
spiritual realities of beauty, love, harmony, contentment. Not weighed down by
abuse, totalitarian behaviour by those in charge, not subject to narcissism and
a materialistic culture. Why is this happening?’
What has been imposed, and/or allowed with inadequate response, can be described as despicable.
The impacts outlined above have the potential
to render people, institutions and organisations dysfunctional if no adequate remedy
is forthcoming.
In addition, in a hybrid (at-home and on-site)
operating circumstance, where there is already potential for a single
organisation culture to come under threat, these ongoing covid impacts may
certainly exacerbate culture damage.
We advocate as a first step that leaders of
organisations and institutions learn about their specific situation by
conducting a quick, illuminating survey in order to find answers and take
action. Contact https://culturescan.biz/contact-us/
(If you wish to do a sample survey (which is
not as refined as the one that would be done for your organisation but will
give you an idea of possible survey content, go to: https://culturescan.biz/wellness-assessment/)
References
Bello, Camille (2022) Scientists believe COVID may have
altered our personalities, especially young adults Euronews November, 2022
https://www.euronews.com/next/2022/11/11/scientists-believe-covid-may-have-altered-our-personalities-especially-young-adults
Chirichella, Caroline (2022) How and Why the Coronavirus Pandemic Might Be Messing with Your Memory Shape
https://www.shape.com/lifestyle/mind-and-body/mental-health/pandemic-memory-loss
Lebow, Hilary I (2021) and Juby, Bethany, PsyD medically reviewed. How the Pandemic Affected Our relationships PsychCentral https://psychcentral.com/health/the-impact-of-the-pandemic-on-relationships#Pandemic-and-relationships:-The-big-picture
Maté, Gabor MD, with Maté, Daniel (2022) The Myth of Normal: trauma, illness and
healing in a toxic culture Avery
Nardone, G,
and Portelli, C. (2005) Knowing through changing: The evolution of
brief strategic therapy. United Kingdom: Crown House.
Pietrabissa,
Giada & Simpson, Susan G. (2020) Psychological Consequences of Social Isolation During
COVID-19 Outbreak 09 September 2020 Frontiers in Psychology https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.02201/full
Rogers, J. P,
Chesney, E., Oliver, D., Pollak, T. A., McGuire, P, Fusar-Poli, P, et al.
(2020. Psychiatric and neuropsychiatric presentations associated with severe
coronavirus infections: a systematic review and meta-analysis with comparison
to the COVID-19 pandemic Lancet Psychiatry 7, 611–627. doi:
10.1016/S2215-0366(20)30203-0
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