Electing America to Become Sane Again by Psychologically Processing COVID

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PSYCHIATRIC VIEWS ON THE DAILY NEWS

“Underneath it all, so much of the rage and animosity, I believe, is unprocessed grief.”

- Rev. Amy Greene, Director of Spiritual Care at the Cleveland Clinic system during the Covid pandemic

Today is our national Election Day, which will have a major influence on our country and the world, so it might seem obvious that I should comment on some current social psychiatric challenges ranging from name-calling to unresolved international wars. But psychiatry is known for appreciating that often the past needs to be better processed so that we can move on more psychologically unencumbered to the future.

There are probably many past societal challenges that need better processing, including the intergenerational transmission of trauma, but I would vote for one that seems to be influential, but that we as a society have kept in the unconscious recesses of our collective minds as if it never happened. That is the COVID-19 pandemic. To be sure, the pandemic in its severity is no longer present, although less severe variants are. I have had it once or twice in recent months. However, really, who knows exactly when the pandemic began in various countries? And when did it end? Is there any official date? Sometime in 2023? How do you adequately mourn the harm of an event if it is still going on?

These questions left me uncertain about whether my initial draft of this column’s focus would make psychological and practical sense, that is, until my wife noticed a New York Times article yesterday titled “Behind the Election Anger May Be Something Else: Lingering Covid Anger.”¹ That is the source of the quote beginning this column. However, perhaps because those queried were not psychiatric clinicians, interventions were basically absent beyond the recognition of the problem.

Looking back, much of the damage of the pandemic is clear enough. It overlapped the end of past President Trump’s administration, and our government’s response was late, apparently causing more unnecessary deaths despite the rapid development of vaccines. However, not everybody took the vaccines in a conflict between those who did not cultishly believe in them or thought they were dangerous, and those who did not. Generally, Democrats followed the recommendations of current President Biden and more Republicans resisted, a political polarization rather than a reasonable intellectual argument. Students got behind with online learning and many have never caught up. Lingering loneliness continues. On a brief positive note, carbon emissions decreased during the pandemic but, along with methane, have drastically rebounded. However, the candidates have barely mentioned COVID.

Still during the pandemic, the insurrection of the invasion of the Capitol haunts us almost 4 years later and the National Guard has been called up for safety and security. As we see in family therapy for family traumas, there may be a repetition compulsion to relive the trauma, but find a better ending. Will we find it with our election results or repeat some of the COVID-related traumas?

What, if anything, could help us to mourn adequately and meaningfully in order to move out into the future successfully?

Consciously, consider if you have adequately mourned the COVID-19 pandemic and all that was lost. How has the financial status of the average citizen been influenced by the pandemic? As many pundits are pointing out and asking: are you better off or worse over the last 4 years? A case can be made for rebound inflation and greed after COVID stagnation that makes citizens feel in economic difficulty even if the economy has recovered. As past President Clinton successfully said during his initial presidential run: “it’s the economy, stupid?” Maybe it still is.

It appears that conflicts between loved ones, political parties, and international enemies have continued to escalate. A national Task Force may be in order. Perhaps with something like that we can help the next President address those dangerous rifts to better reunify our country, moving on through mourning.

Dr Moffic is an award-winning psychiatrist who specialized in the cultural and ethical aspects of psychiatry and is now in retirement and retirement as a private pro bono community psychiatrist. A prolific writer and speaker, he has done a weekday column titled “Psychiatric Views on the Daily News” and a weekly video, “Psychiatry & Society,” since the COVID-19 pandemic emerged. He was chosen to receive the 2024 Abraham Halpern Humanitarian Award from the American Association for Social Psychiatry. Previously, he received the Administrative Award in 2016 from the American Psychiatric Association, the one-time designation of being a Hero of Public Psychiatry from the Speaker of the Assembly of the APA in 2002, and the Exemplary Psychiatrist Award from the National Alliance for the Mentally Ill in 1991. He is an advocate and activist for mental health issues related to climate instability, physician burnout, and xenophobia. He is now editing the final book in a 4-volume series on religions and psychiatry for Springer: Islamophobia, anti-Semitism, Christianity, and now The Eastern Religions, and Spirituality. He serves on the Editorial Board of Psychiatric Times.

Reference

1. Knoll C, Diaz E, Mayorquín O, Goldstein D. Behind the election anger may be something else: lingering Covid anger. The New York Times. November 4, 2024. Accessed November 5, 2024. https://www.nytimes.com/2024/11/04/us/covid-grief-voters-election.html