Seven expert recommendations for beating pandemic fatigue

Fed up, uneasy, anxious about an unsustainable uncertainty, fear of the unknown, mistrust of the authorities… These are just some of the effects of having believed that the overwhelming situation unleashed by COVID-19 had been overcome, only to find we had returned to a similar scenario not long afterwards. Because a few short weeks after the easement of restrictions and the beginning of the so-called "new normal", the number of coronavirus infections and the alarming situation in ICUs across the continent has led health authorities to start talking about the second wave of the pandemic. And the emotional fatigue caused by the situation is starting to become another epidemic: the World Health Organization estimates that this is now affecting 60% of the population of Europe.

How do we confront this reality without it taking a toll on our mental health? In an article published a few weeks ago, Richard Horton, a doctor and editor of The Lancet, suggested that, to overcome the pandemic, we need to understand it as a syndemic. As Israel Rodríguez-Giralt, professor at the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and principal investigator of the UOC's CareNet research group, explained, this means it is "a perfect storm in which health and social aspects, with dynamics linked to inequality and vulnerability, intersect to create a particularly complex situation". 

According to this perspective, in addition to attending to the health aspect, we will need to implement social strategies to enable us to coexist with this new reality, the end of which is nowhere in sight. Psychology experts have recommended a number of individual and psychosocial strategies that, combined with social policies, can help to tackle the emotional fatigue. The main recommendations are listed below:

– Face the fact that the pandemic is not a parenthesis. "We are mistaken in thinking of the pandemic as an emergency because the temporalities of the current situation go beyond the emergency, the danger of collapse of the health system," said Rodríguez-Giralt, who pointed out that the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus strain, besides killing people and driving the health system to collapse, causes more long-term effects in many of those infected: for example, persistent symptoms and sequelae, mental health crises, and problems of mistrust of the authorities. "Not all disaster situations occur in one moment of accelerated disruption; some disasters operate with a much longer and more sinuous temporality, and this pandemic looks a lot like a slow disaster in that respect," said the UOC professor. 

Hence the first individual strategy we must adopt is to "realize that it was not a parenthesis, and therefore nostalgia, if anyone was relying on it, is futile, as is passive waiting. No one is coming to save us, whether with their charisma or their technological inventions. And besides, what is lost is already irretrievable as such," said José Ramón Ubieto, a psychoanalyst and course instructor at the UOC's Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences. He added that, though this approach might seem negative, the reverse is true, since it allows us to make new plans which are adapted to the possibilities, "but are oriented more towards resonance – connecting with our desires and inclinations – than to acceleration, producing and performing without anything in our way."

– Regain control. As Ubieto explained, precisely because we confronted the pandemic as something with an imminent expiry date, most of us postponed certain projects (studies, trips, meetings, celebrations, business), "thinking that later on we would press the button again and regain control. The truth is that that 'pause' screen is no longer there and the thing now is to regain control with other perspectives, not of continuity but of a certain rupture with what went before." Accepting that something is now irretrievable therefore turns out to be a positive thing.

– Focus on the essentials. In any situation of uncertainty, prioritizing the essentials helps us to maintain a certain emotional stability. That is why it is a good idea to maintain our connections, "because from these ties we obtain guidance and support," said psychoanalyst Ubieto. But how do we do this in times of social distancing? If our face-to-face contact is restricted, one option is to optimize our digital technology, "adapt it to our style of communication, of meeting, to our satisfaction. We can use it in all its variants (chats, websites, social media, apps) on the condition that we dispense with it later," he explained. According to the UOC professor, digital technology is an excellent tool as long as it reminds us of presence, evoking presence but not replacing it. 

– Make allowances for unproductive time. All the pressures we are subjected to in a situation like the present seem to steal space from everything that is not work or caring for family. However, "it is crucial to make time for the unproductive, the otium that is not negotium, solitary moments or time spent with friends and family," said Ubieto, who believes that from unproductiveness springs childish play, which amuses, teaches, kills time and produces pleasure, despite its apparent futility. "Today, pleasure is in short supply and leisure relieves the pressure exerted by our superego, making it less tyrannical and demanding of productivity. That's why we make jokes, because humour relaxes our own mental mortgages," he said.

– Measures aimed at reducing the risk of exposure of certain individuals and groups. Among the government strategies that could be put in place to deal with this "slow disaster", Rodríguez-Giralt pointed out that it is essential to pay particular attention to key workers, "many of whom are especially exposed, since on top of being employed in care and service jobs, they cannot allow themselves the protection that those of us who work from home, for example, are able to enjoy."

– Quarantine support policies. Strict compliance with quarantines is one of the most effective measures to prevent increased infection. However, it is often not so much a question of will or commitment as of possibility. For certain groups with fewer possibilities, "it is extremely difficult, without economic support and the material conditions, to quarantine effectively," explained the CareNet researcher, asserting that support policies would reduce the vulnerability of certain groups of people.

– Improved risk communication. Diversification of the messages conveyed to citizens through different channels, making communication more inclusive and targeted at different groups, is key to tackling the problem, according to Rodríguez-Giralt. This communication, he said, must be consistent so as not to foster mistrust among the population. It is also important to avoid managing the situation with an over-focus on fear and obedience: "This has been shown to be less effective in the long term as well as have significant emotional and social costs.  Not enough attention has been paid to the ramifications of living with uncertainty for a significant length of time, and there is a whole area of work to be addressed in that respect," said Rodríguez-Giralt.