In Florida, police arrested and charged the father of a Florida high school student with child abuse for allegedly pushing a schoolgirl during an anti-mask protest, per NBC News. Police said a Fort Lauderdale High School student objected to Dan Bauman filming them as part of his stunt and tried to grab his phone. The 50-year-old then allegedly pushed a schoolgirl into a fence and twisted her arm "in an aggressive manner" before school officials stopped him.
In Texas, Tom Leonard, the superintendent of Eanes Independent School District, wrote in a note to parents and staff last week that the return to school has been marked by "a few sad moments." One parent in the Austin-area district allegedly assaulted a teacher by ripping off her face mask, while others yelled at another teacher, claiming they couldn't understand what she was saying due to the face covering.
In Northern California, a parent allegedly left a teacher bleeding and requiring hospital treatment after the parent tried to attack the principal over masks and the teacher jumped in, KCRA-TV reported.“The teachers have definitely been on edge. They are fearful because the last thing they want is to have an issue with a parent,” Torie Gibson, superintendent of California's Amador County Unified School District, told AP.
(Ivana Saric. “The fight over mask mandates in schools turns violent.” Axios. Aug 26, 2021.)
“We’re living, in effect, in a big anger incubator,” said Raymond Novaco, a psychology professor at the University of California at Irvine who has expertise in anger assessment and treatment.
According to psychiatrist Joshua Morganstein, the country is now dealing with “three disasters superimposed on top of one another”: the pandemic, the economic fallout, and civil unrest. Morganstein said, “Certainly, one way of responding, and a common way of responding, is anger.”
(Elizabeth Chang. “ Americans are living in a big ‘anger incubator.’ Experts have tips for regulating our rage.” The Washington Post. June 30, 2020)
Frustration has spilled into anger during the course of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows that so-called “panger” – pandemic anger – is real. You probably have felt it yourself, or, at least, you have witnessed the passion firsthand. This anger signals that people are being threatened or deprived. We all have felt this in some form or another. We understand that motions serve a purpose, and when controlled, they can even be useful.
“Anger is an emotion, not a behavior. Anger tells us that something isn’t right. Perhaps our safety is being threatened, injustice is happening, or some action is being required of us. If no one had felt anger about the pandemic, we may never have developed vaccines or instituted masking and distancing requirements, because no one would care what happened to the people around them.”
– Megan Hays, Ph.D
But, what about exhibiting rage? Rage is defined as “uncontrolled anger or fits of violent anger and fury.” It is the most extreme expression of anger. Rage can even be physically violent.
It can drive someone to physically attack another person.
It can make a person destroy property.
It can often drive people to hurt other people emotionally.
Rage can be verbally and emotionally violent.
It can drive someone to verbally abuse their friends, family, colleagues, or strangers
In the case of rage against the virus, it can have political and social implications
So, while anger is a universal human emotion that's purpose is to motivate action. Rage often results in uncontrolled actions that have negative effects on physical and mental health, and relationships. Over time, anger can become exhausting. God knows we all want a release from the pandemic, but exhibiting uncontrollable anger is fruitless.
Researchers have defined “pandemic rage” as “an emotional reaction to feelings of anger, frustration and helplessness resulting from the conviction that fundamental rules have been violated during a pandemic, which is perceived (by the person experiencing pandemic rage) as provocation, impertinence, insolence, and crossing boundaries.”
What specifically about the pandemic leads to rage?
The linkages between the occurrence of pandemic rage and the experience of spatial compression in the private and public spheres, situations of feeling “condensed” and “condemned” in the presence of others, and proxemic disturbances.
In brief, the pandemic has made us feel compressed, condensed, and condemned – whether we are alone or in the proximity of others.
Today I would like to examine just how pandemic rage occurs. A fine study does just that. It was published October 26, 2021. I hope you benefit from learning about the emotional reactions we exhibit during times of helplessness and frustration.
Please read the entire
Current Sociology study here: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/00113921211050116
(Małgorzata Kubacka, Piotr Luczys, and Ariel Modrzyk. “Pandemic rage: Everyday frustrations in times of the COVID-19 crisis.” Current Sociology. October 26, 2021.)
Pandemic Rage
From the research …
Spatial Compression
The experience of social compression creates great changes in everyday life. Both spatial and emotional dimensions are intertwined. Changes in the spatial order cause specific emotional reactions, which in turn make it even more dynamic. During COVID-19, the category that links these two dimensions is known as pandemic rage.
Pandemic rage is analogous
to already-existing terms referring to the emotion of anger present
in various situations of everyday life, such as “road rage,”
“computer rage”
or “work rage.” It results from the
tensions caused by functioning in a pandemic, with an awareness of
its possible consequences, accompanying restrictions, prohibitions
and orders, as well as a general atmosphere comprising fear, anxiety
and uncertainty resulting from, among other things, emotionally
charged media messages.
During times such as these, we experience unforeseen consequences, and these unexpected realities provide an ample opportunity for ad hoc explanations based on impressions, feelings, and interpretations of facts, rather than the facts themselves.
Although pandemic rage is different in public and private places, experiencing it in each sphere is mutually dependent. While we may be able to stop aggressive behavior when the initiating circumstances appear in one of these spheres, we (often) lack the strength and patience to stop the outburst when it moves into another one (e.g. private to public).
Pandemic rage occurs at various intensity levels and may be directed outward (towards the milieu, manifesting itself in an outburst of aggression, malice or violence) or inward (comprising a form of self-aggression).
Contrary to the perception of escalating anger only in the lower classes, research indicates that middle-class households experience frustration and argue in their homes as well. The association between place and pandemic frustration is much closer and universal, and does not only concern the lower social strata.
Condensed and Condemned
Excessive proximity or intensification of contact leads to an increase in pandemic rage.
As we cope with the virus and all it entails, the condensed presence of others in the home and increasingly restrictive norms in public spaces cause growing tensions that we transfer back and forth between the home and non-home spheres.
According to the research, a wave of anger is aroused from being “condemned to certain people,” the saturation of mutual presence resulting from a lack of possibility of leaving the house to fulfill assumed duties or shared routines. Reseach shows the disruption of the rhythm of daily life and the impossibility of pursuing goals are causes of high levels of stress (e.g. from the presence of underage children or a partner who carries on loud conversations at home as part of his work duties). Feelings of condemnation and interruption also cause feelings of helplessness and frustration and, not infrequently, the trigger for anger.
Spatial compression increases with the length of time spent in a given space and the amount of interaction, eliciting a need for a cyclical change in environment, if only for a moment. However, the need to ‘break out’ often is hampered by lockdown-related restrictions, recommendations and personal convictions as to the validity of keeping one’s distance (always and everywhere, only in certain circumstances, only towards certain people, etc.).
The frustration resulting from inevitable (in this case) contradictions between varying sanitary advice (e.g. try to avoid other people/isolate yourself vs try to use outdoor spaces/go for walks) only increases feelings of powerlessness.
(Małgorzata Kubacka, Piotr Luczys, and Ariel Modrzyk. “Pandemic rage: Everyday frustrations in times of the COVID-19 crisis.” Current Sociology. October 26, 2021.)
Triggers
Ostentatious Disregard For the Rules
Based on the research above, one of the main triggers of pandemic rage is others’ attitudes towards the epidemiological situation. Anger is caused both by behaviors associated with ostentatious disregard for the rules under sanitary regimes, as well as by the extremely restrictive application of these rules.
However, it should be noted that pandemic rage more often refers to people who do not follow the rules for functioning in public spaces during an epidemiological crisis. Respondents are irritated by the lack of safety measures, i.e. special care for hygiene during a pandemic, manifested, for example, by insufficient frequent washing of hands or failure to maintain an appropriate physical distance. This particular behavior is viewed as dangerous and irresponsible.
Behavior associated with disregard for the rules of conduct during a pandemic is particularly striking because it can be perceived as a manifestation of a lack of solidarity, abandoning the community and refusing to act for the good and safety of others.
In addition, good health and human life are highly regarded values, so the risk associated with the possibility of contracting a new, dangerous virus evokes intense emotions and leads to an uncensored reaction, rather than a well-thought-out response.
People who deny that the pandemic exists or who disregard it are unwilling to abide by newly created norms, so they view any attempts to enforce conformist behavior as a sign of oppression or restriction of their freedom.
Sense of Contrast
Pandemic rage also is triggered by a sense of contrast. A comparative perspective and a sense of injustice emerge, caused by both deficits (inability to partake in one’s favorite activities, such as travel, etc.) and excesses (more information, extra contact with cohabitants, new obligations resulting from working remotely, etc.).
The return to a more traditional order – e.g. traditional gender roles, a patriarchal family model, conservative morality took place during the pandemic. The study found it was mainly women who were affected by the excessive burden of responsibilities resulting from the social expectation that they should put increased effort into reproducing everyday life in this crisis situation.
How To Deal With Pandemic Rage
COVID-19 is diabolical in emotional terms for the conditions it breeds – stress, anxiety and a general sense of social threat – and for the safety systems that it robs us of. Normally, when we feel stressed, we might turn to our close family or friends for support, but a major source of threat at the moment is our fellow humans. Social safety nets have taken an enormous hit. Right now many people are angry – angry with their neighbors, angry with their communities, and angry with the government.
Can the anger be managed to limit disruption to our well-being, or harnessed for a positive outcome? Dr. Hans Steiner, Professor Emeritus at Stanford’s Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, says “yes.” He believes our anger should be one of our adaptive tools to deal with the most difficult circumstances.
Steiner says …
“Empathy (putting ourselves into someone else’s shoes) is one of the great teaching tools in shaping anger and aggression. Empathy induction is a healer of anger, fury, rage and feeling at the mercy of overpowering forces …
“In such conflicts we need to remind ourselves that diatribes, lies and accusations will not move us forward; compassion empathy and the reminder that we are all in this horrible situation together will inspire us. Because in the end all of us can contribute to finding solutions to the problem.
“Such an attitude is also helpful in our homes, as we live in proximity to our loved ones which can weigh heavily on our familial bonds.
“Carving out our own space and time as much as possible reduces the load.
“Distraction, celebrating and savoring the life we do have help in this process.
“But in the end, all of us need a reminder that all animals, humans included, are vulnerable to crowding and competitive, irresolvable demands. In the face of these, anger increasingly loses its value as a signal to act on our behalf. We must control it to get us through this thicket in reasonable shape.”
(Dr. Hans Steiner. “COVID-19 Q&A: Dr. Hans Steiner on Anger and Aggression.” Stanford Medicine. Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. 2022.)
David H. Rosmarin, PhD and assistant professor of psychology in Harvard Medical School’s Department of Psychiatry, says …
“Clinically I recommend that people first acknowledge their vulnerability to others in their lives. The reality is that we do need other people …
“The best clinical approach I’ve seen for this is called Emotionally Focused Therapy, or EFT. In EFT, we teach the pursuer — the aggressor — to express a sense of needing or longing for the withdrawer. Why is the withdrawer moving back as opposed to moving forward? It’s because they’re scared out of their mind that they’re going to be torn to shreds and hurt by the aggression.
“It’s very hard to stop that withdrawal pattern in the context of anger. So, we help the pursuer to acknowledge to themselves and to their partner, 'I need you. When you don’t call me, it makes me wonder whether you care about me and that makes me feel alone,' instead of saying, 'Why don’t you call me, you jerk?!'”
(Alvin Powell. “Soothing advice for mad America.” The Harvard Gazette. August 14, 2020.)
So, if you really want to deal with that COVID anxiety, anger, and rage, I suggest the following:
Remember, we are all in this together and give yourself permission to say, ‘I’m tired and I’m having a hard time dealing with this again.”
Accept some anger over being in the situation, but refuse to rage.
When you do become angry, pause and put yourself in the other guy's shoes.
Try to develop more empathy for others.
Understand you need others and accept the social supports around you.
Use distraction tactics – engage in a creative activity, reading something interesting or inspiring, or listening to music that moves you.
Create a daily routine to increase feelings of control – eat right, sleep right, and exercise
And, above all, remember “This too shall pass.”
The Truth About Monsters
by Nikita Gill
The truth
is this:
every monster
you have met
or will ever meet
was
once a human being
with a soul
that was as soft
and light
as silk
Someone stole
that silk from their soul
and
turned them
into this
So when you see
a monster next
always remember
do not fear
the thing before you
fear
the thing
that created it
instead.
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