Gilbert’s Notion of Psychological Immune System During the COVID-19 Pandemic

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Response: Psychology Immune System
Gilbert’s (141) view that a person’s future prediction is mainly inaccurate in most cases due to the present emotional disposition is highly applicable to my reflection on the COVID-19 pandemic. During the onset of the pandemic, I was sure that the world would not go back to normality. Most days, I would scour the internet or watch the news on COVID-19. My goal was to make sure I had the latest news on the pandemic so I could advise my parents on what to stock up on to avoid shortages. Each day seemed bleaker than the other did to extent that I was sure that the decision to end the lockdown was misguided. Looking back, I feel that my reactions were extreme given the situation.
In the same way, most of my family members panicked due to the pandemic. My mother insisted that we had to follow the guidelines on COVID-19 protection to a tee and was also pessimistic about the future. My brother was working from home at the time and he felt that there was no chance that he would be asked to go back to the office environment in the future. Interestingly, his company required him to report back to the office just two weeks after the lockdown was lifted.
According to Gilbert, my reaction and that of my family were not unexpected. Gilbert (148) notes that “small-scale incursions are less likely to set off the alarm bells than are large-scale assaults.” Covid-19 can be considered to have been a large-scale attack on our personal lives. The onset of the pandemic required adjustmen...