COVID and Group Psychosis

 

 

There are crazy people everywhere. It’s a fact of life. Each one of us has had to deal with crazy people. Sometimes, they’ll be seen on the street railing against unseen entities, scolding a wall or shaking their fist at the sky. Sometimes, the relationship is much closer; on the job, where a co-worker will share inner-most thoughts which should only be heard by a psychiatric counselor.

Full disclosure: I am not a mental health-care professional. I used to be, though; a Psychiatric Aide in a state mental hospital. That experience was revelatory and educational. The crazies I observed were not only the patients on the ward but the people I worked with; the supervisors and administrators I worked under. 

We all encounter crazy people as a matter of course. They may work at the local shops or deliver your Amazon packages, flip your burgers or collect your trash. These are functioning members of society; even if they go home to an inflatable doll dressed as their mother. Even if they beat their children, their spouse and their dog for inconsequential violations of their private and psychotic code of behavior, they may function fairly well in their job.  They may hold positions of responsibility such as teachers or lawyers or Congress members. Gym Jordan, MTG, Mo Brooks and a host of others may spring to mind. 

Clearly, these folks ‘aint wrapped tight’. Their cheese has slid off the cracker. Their oars don’t reach the water. They have two wheels in the sand. Their elevator doesn’t go to the top floors. The lights are on, but nobody’s home. They’re a few bricks shy a load.

See how easy that is? The euphemisms regarding those of, shall we say, an ‘occluded’ view of reality are legion. It’s a fact of life that we encounter crazy people all the time.

That leads us to anti-maskers, anti-Vaxxers, COVID deniers, COVIDiots, QAnon-ninnies and MAGA-mutts. These people have dipped into a pool of group psychosis that is filled, stirred and replenished by Fox News (sic), NewsMax, the Sinclair Network, Breitbart and too many other sources of misinformation that cloud the mind and tip the scales toward insanity for far too many.

To be clear: throwing off the basic instinct of self-preservation at the behest of a ‘talking head’ is insane. To risk the lives of your children, your friends, your family at the injunction of a political hack is criminally insane. To detached oneself from a common, shared reality is insanity in a nutshell. COVID is the reality. COVID-insanity is the new shared psychosis.

Wear your mask. Wash your hands. Keep your distance. Get your jabs. To do otherwise is insane.