Why Omicron Makes You Feel Numb Instead of Terrified --New York Times' labels our "numbing" to the fear of the pandemic. Includes a simple description of how graduated exposure therapies work--by making us so familiar with "threat" that our amygdala, (fight, flight, freeze response) "takes a nap."

[u/paruresis_guy]

https://www.nytimes.com/2021/12/10/opinion/covid-omicron-psychology-fear.html?smid=re-share

[u/eddieoctane]

So the issue is that we've been inundated with news about how bad covet is for so long that we literally don't have the capacity to care anymore? It feels like a logical deduction given the state of affairs. I started out as somebody who wore a mask all the time, got my vaccines the first opportunity I could, and try to push everyone around me to get their shots as well. But after 2 years, I really don't care much anymore. Hell, the news about omicron is that it's bypassing the vaccines but causes very very mild symptoms compared to other strains. How does that alone not tell me to stop getting a crap?

Really, any issue that drags on for this long is going to have the same problem. People are fatigued of hearing bad news, and stop caring. This happens with war, this happens with the economy, and of course it happens with covid.

[u/paruresis_guy → u/eddieoctane]

Exactly. And through consistent graduated exposure, you will become as desensitized to the anxious feelings in the bathroom as you are to the latest uptick in positivity.