The best way to get rid of covertigo is to throw the captain off the ship
Years from now, psychologists will surely have a better name for this collective fog. In some cases, it can be serious. There are clear indications that rates of depression, anxiety, loneliness, unmanageable anger and the threat of self-harm are on the uptick.
What I am taking about — and you may be nodding your head as you read this — is not necessarily debilitating. We are still productive and able to feel joy and empathy, sorrow and grief. But there are all these unwelcome new sensations. Apprehension. Consternation. Trepidation. Agitation.
It’s not like one part of the country, or one age group, is immune. This fog seeps across Red and Blue America. All of us know people who admit to waking up with their fists balled or their stomach knotted up or their well-laid plans in ruins because 2020 keeps rolling through the calendar like a bunker bomb.
Are you yelling at the television? Do you find yourself numb to things that once might have shocked you? Are you more outwardly emotional? Are you eating your way through your feelings?
In a way, we’ve been here before. The 1918 flu outbreak — in which one-third of the world’s population and one-quarter of Americans were infected — produced a state of unrest and agitation described by British writer Caroline Playne as the accompanying “plague of nervous character.”
The world is a very different place than it was in 1918, thanks to advances in medical technology and epidemiology. And, thanks to better awareness and treatment of mental health. But many of us are being smothered under a blanket of constant contact. After months of being alone, many others yearn to share a meal with almost anyone. Some would give up treasure just for a simple hug.
As for me, I try to breathe deeply through the cacophony. I exercise and try to project calm or good humor, despite the inner roil. Cooking has become an obsession. The kitchen is a space I can control. The table is where I can serve up comfort for my family. I dive into good books and binge on TV dramas. I try to pay forward my blessings and advantages. I try to forgive others for snappish retorts. I recognize for many, their circuitry is fried.
Shaking this off won’t be easy, or quick. We can point a finger at the coronavirus because the entire world is fighting this viral scourge. But sadly, our divided politics prevent the country as a whole from acknowledging the other root of this collective malaise.
Here is how I see it. We are feeling wobbly and off balance in part because norms have been shattered and far too many lives have been lost. Even friends who are still with us are lost to us in other ways if they root for the wrong team.
Covertigo is not just an outgrowth of our politics. It’s an outgrowth of the current brand of politics practiced by the man who lives in the White House. When constant lying becomes part of the daily discourse, it’s no wonder that our sense of reality is distorted.
In the last days of campaigning to hold on to an office he does not deserve, the president is claiming that hospitals earn more money when patients die of covid-19 — a reprehensible lie. He is still claiming that the United States has rounded a corner even as infection rates are surging in nearly all 50 states. And he is continuing to hold massive rallies in defiance of common sense and best practices. Covid-19 has spiked in several townships and cities following Trump rallies.
This is a man who is not interested in stability, and his rhetoric and actions show he is not tethered to reality.
The best way to begin the long process of calming the waters — ending our collective case of covertigo — is to throw this captain off the ship. Replace him with someone who respects truth and science and wants to lead all of America, not just those who blindly pledge loyalty.
Enough with the lies. Enough with the vanity. Enough with the chaos.
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