In light of the current global situation, I was asked my thoughts on shoppers who went out panic buying at the supermarket. "It's not their fault" was my reply, because it isn't, it's in our DNA to survive in times of uncertainty.
All of us have an inbuilt survival system that stems back since the beginning of time, to do all that we can to survive. Hence the reason that we all, to a lesser or greater degree; talk to ourselves, worry, have an inner critic, look for the worst that could happen, and so the list goes.
Our default setting is anger, adrenaline and cortisol enable us to attack the threat as the first option, to run away is the second option. Fight or flight.
The more information that we have about a situation then the less the likelihood of us going into the attack (panic) mode. Panic is a natural response to fear. If we don't panic, we will back away and then begin to worry, another negative option.
At the time of the initial notification of the coronavirus, lately termed COVID-19, there wasn't a lot of information available about the consequences therefore it is, for some of us, our natural reaction to fill any void with a slant towards the 'worst that could happen' instinct, another of our self-defence mechanism.
Negativity bias affects the majority of us unless we work to turn it around. Here's a quick guide to see if you have a negativity bias. Ever noticed how it is much easier to; focus on the negative rather than the positive, frown than to smile, find what's wrong rather than what's right, identify differences compared to similarities, recall sad times over happy ones, criticise than to compliment, hate than to love, fear change instead of getting excited about it.
To over-rule our instinctive panic mode in situations such as we currently find ourselves, where information is either underestimating or overestimating the severity, refer to validated sources of information as most qualified experts have been consistent in their messaging.
If looking to the usual media sources, listen to the words spoken by the direct source rather than only the reporter's interpretation. If looking to social mediums, ensure that the original source is quoted in the post and then check with that original source.
I guess that also goes for this post, don't believe what I have just said, find out for yourself by undertaking your own research and comparisons.
Panic is normal if we don't have any information, panic is worse if we have unsubstantiated or exaggerated information that has a negative slant to it. I might suggest that it is better to worry than it is to panic, at least with worry we have had time to gather more information.
We can work at panicking, we can work at worrying, or we can work at finding out validated information. Our mind doesn't care which we choose, it will work regardless.
Let's talk!