What can be done about corona fears?
Author
Peter Suchla
How to practically implement Viktor Frankl's advice that one doesn't have to accept everything from oneself these days – a self-experiment
Yes, I freely admit it, there's a part of me that's currently experiencing recurring bouts of genuine fear. To be clear, when this part of me surfaces, it's literally fearful for my life and the lives of my loved ones.
Fortunately, there are other sides to me. For example, there's my rational side, which studies all the factual information about the coronavirus crisis and guides me to follow sensible rules of conduct to contain the dangers. Then there's my experiential side, which reminds me that I do indeed have a good immune system. Furthermore, there's my helpful side, which tells me that now is the time to help those who urgently need it. And then there's my joy of life side, which tells me that I should do all the things that make my life meaningful, that increase the beauty and goodness in this world—and there are other sides to me that I don't need to list right now.
But what overwhelms me most right now is the first side, the one that generates existential anxiety, especially when I read the newspaper, listen to the news, or see horrific TV images of COVID-19 deaths worldwide. Then this anxious side completely blocks all other sides of me, pushing itself so intensely to the forefront that I believe there are no other sides left, that I believe this one side is me, body and soul. And the existential anxiety it generates has an incredibly powerful pull, dragging me down inside, into a kind of fear tunnel where I lose energy and hope by the minute.
But I must be careful not to speak ill of this fearful part of me; it only wants what's best for me, it wants to protect me! Unfortunately, it overshoots the mark by blocking all other parts of me in one fell swoop. But I don't have to allow that; it would be unfair to the other parts of me that belong to me just as much as the fearful part—all the other parts that are just as important, right, good, and meaningful, and that also have a right to be within me.
Therefore, I've now made it a habit to speak to my fear side whenever it blocks the other parts of me and tries to pull me into the fear tunnel: "Thank you, dear fear side," I say to it, "I thank you for your worries and anxieties about my well-being. I appreciate your efforts and admire the power with which you create this tremendous pull within me. It's good that you have so much power, because your work is important. And I ask you to optimize your powerful work in the future so that instead of a blanket approach, you can act with precision and pinpoint accuracy. And you will act with precision and pinpoint accuracy when, from now on, you work in partnership with my rational side and only trigger a fear alarm in me in genuine emergencies—that is, only when I am about to act recklessly and neglect precautions. Then, and only in this reckless-serious situation, do I ask for your powerful intervention. Until then, you may completely... "Relaid back and keep your powers ready in the background."“
Unfortunately, my anxious side is very forgetful, which is why I often have to talk to it like this. And it doesn't always work immediately when I talk to it like this – but it does work.
