“Denying the Truth Doesn’t Change the Facts”

Sigmund Freud, the granddaddy of psychoanalysis, first proposed three constructs of the psyche: the id, the superego and the ego in the late 19th century.  According to Freud, the id houses unconscious urges for comfort; the superego controls moral and social values; and the ego moderates between the two. 

When the id clashes with the superego, anxiety—one of the defining emotions of this pandemic—rears its distressing head. (If you’re not feeling any anxiety, immediately stop reading this post and return to inspecting your bunker.) Fear and anxiety create internal dis-ease or conflict.

To deal with this internal conflict, the ego steps in with some handy mechanisms to ease the discomfort. These self-deceiving tools, known as defense mechanisms, help us cope—which can be a good thing. If used excessively or inappropriately, however, they are maladaptive and harmful. 

Below is an inexhaustive list (in alphabetical order) of common defense mechanisms and how they’re being used during this pesky pandemic—which just won’t quit.

Denial

Denial, a refusal to recognize real facts, has got to be the most common, overused defense mechanisms these days. Putting one’s head in the sand works as long as you can still breathe. Here are a few examples of pandemic denial:

• I don’t need to worry about COVID-19 because I’m healthy and/or young, or because I’m not a member of a certain minority or social group.

• This whole pandemic thing is overblown.

• Corona virus is going to disappear because of the warm weather or because we’re Americans, for cryin’ out loud.

• You can’t catch the virus unless someone coughs on you.

• We’ve controlled the virus.

I could go on but denial is wearing me down.

Displacement

Redirecting negative emotions to innocent people is at the heart of displacement. When it results in blaming and scapegoating, this one of the most toxic defense mechanisms. Conspiracy theories thrive on displaced feelings of uncertainty and loss of control.

A  recent study (May 2020) conducted by Cambridge University Press found that 25% of respondents believed in a conspiracy theory as it relates to the COVID-19 virus. A sampling of these theories include:

• The Chinese manufactured the virus in their labs.

• Bill Gates is promoting the pandemic so he can vaccinate the world and control people’s thoughts.

• The roll-out of 5G mobile networks caused the pandemic.

• The pandemic is a plot to undermine Trump.

• The virus is being spread by pharmaceutical companies.

• America’s elite (“the deep state”) are responsible for promoting the pandemic and inflating death counts.

If these conspiracy theories weren’t so pervasive and dangerous, they’d be humorous.

Projection

Projection is attributing our own disturbing feelings to other people. As an example, just the other day, I mentioned to someone that I was feeling tired. He replied, “you’re probably depressed.” That may be so but a) no one likes to be diagnosed unless paying good money to a therapist, and b) very likely, the speaker was talking about himself.

Rationalization

Justifying a mistake with excuses or seemingly “logical” reasons is another common defense mechanism. Last week, a man who was one of the founders of the ReOpen Movement and a staunch opponent of wearing masks and physical distancing, contracted the COVID virus. His explanation for getting sick was not his admission of taking health risks, but rather because Satan deemed it so. This is a slight variation on “the devil made me do it.”

Reaction Formation

Reaction formation is behaving in a way that is opposite of what one is feeling. The id says: I’m feeling vulnerable; the ego responds: I will, therefore, act tough by not wearing a mask. (Please refer to Masks and Male Fragility.)

Right now, we’re caught in a struggle between the id and the superego and our egos are preventing us from making life-saving choices. What we know from previous pandemics is that many of those who perished underestimated their risks, likely by deluding themselves through any number of defense mechanisms.

Advances in medicine and technology make comparing the devastation of the 1918 influenza pandemic with the COVID pandemic problematic. What is as valid today as it was 100 years ago, however, is the propensity on the part of our leaders and some of our populace to deny the facts.