Deployment Psychology Blog

The other night, I was talking with a neighbor about my irritation with loved ones whom I viewed as having an extreme reaction to the current pandemic. When I talk with others and hear about how worried and anxious they are -- and what I view as over-the-top rituals they perform to sanitize their world -- I have found myself getting frustrated with them and trying to convince them that they don’t have to be so worried. At the same time, I am worried about my own reaction, or perceived lack thereof. Is there something wrong with them… or me?

For all its power to terrify, Covid-19 can’t keep us from marveling at the courage of frontline human service workers all over the world. They are braving not only the physical dangers of repeated exposure to the deadly virus, but also the emotional dangers of empathically sharing so much suffering with so many, and the moral dangers of possibly being unable to save every savable life, such as when intensive care services become overwhelmed. Their courage seems all the more remarkable given that all three of these dangers are invisible, operating mostly outside of anyone’s immediate awareness.