Two Minds in the Time of Coronavirus

If your life is like mine, it has probably been taken over in the past two weeks by something that you weren't giving a lot of attention just three weeks ago -- COVID-19, the coronavirus. In my part of the world it has shuttered schools, closed down workplaces, emptied restaurants, bars, and gyms, and suspended many government services. Each day I think we've seen the worst, and each day there is another unbelievable set of changes to everyday life. How might a person's two minds be expected to react in an extreme situation like this, and what can one do to keep them functioning well?

The Negative Spiral. Here's what we want to avoid: The Intuitive mind is great at detecting threats and getting us away from them. But its standard approach -- fight or flight -- doesn't work well for chronic stressors. That means we feel keyed up all the time, and spend too much energy scanning the environment for threats. What we seek, we find, whether that means spending more and more time monitoring the news and thinking about what it means, looking askance at anyone who breaches our 6-foot personal envelope, or lashing out at the other people stuck in the house with us. The more our Intuitive mind searches for threats, the more alert we become, and the closer to the surface the fight-or-flight response gets. Soon it bursts out with little provocation, in ways unrelated to the threat.

The Narrative mind isn't much help in this type of Intuitive spiral, because it's not too good at self-awareness. (It can become better with training, but this isn't an optimal time for that). The Narrative mind's main job is self-presentation, just as the Intuitive mind's job is self-preservation. Psychologist Jonathan Haidt describes the Narrative mind as our in-house public relations firm. So the Narrative mind tells us a story in which we are the hero; when the Intuitive mind is dissatisfied, the Narrative mind looks outward for the reasons. In psychology this is called "self-serving bias," the tendency to take credit for all our successes and blame others for all our failures. We tend to make the reverse error (in that case called the "fundamental attribution error") in our judgments about others: It must have been their wrong, foolish, or evil decisions that led us to this difficult place. You can see how none of this is going to be helpful in actually solving our problems.

Besides telling stories about the past, the Narrative mind also loves to make predictions about the future. When things aren't going well, those predictions won't be very rosy. And the Narrative mind makes typical errors in predicting the future as well (although again, these can be overcome with training). One of the primary mistakes is that the Narrative mind treats likely events as certain and unlikely events as impossible; statistical thinking is not its forte. All of this means that we are likely to see the world as even more threatening than it is, or else to catastrophically underestimate the risk because it's just too frightening to contemplate it realistically. On the one hand this leads to anxiety and depression; on the other it leads to unnecessary risk-taking.

Calming the Intuitive Mind. None of these reactions are helpful. Because behavior is under the Intuitive system's control, the first step in self-management will always be at the Intuitive level. Here are a few practical suggestions for calming the Intuitive mind so you can begin to tackle the problem.

Get Some Exercise. For me, physical agitation requires a physical solution. Gyms around the country are closed, but exercise is still an option. Fitness websites are broadcasting information on how to stay in shape at home. You might have an exercise machine in your basement that you can dust off. Walking, biking, or running outside is safe as long as you maintain a 6-foot distance from others. Along with its many physical benefits, exercise is an effective treatment for anxiety and depression.

Get Outside. The Intuitive mind responds to cues like day/night cycles, temperature, and weather even if we aren't consciously aware of these features of our environment. Think of it like a sensor array making continuous adjustments to your behavior based on the conditions that it finds itself in. Better alignment of biological rhythms with natural rhythms like day/night and seasons is beneficial for physical and mental health. To reset your sensor array, just step outside or open a window.

Try a Creative Activity. I read that more people than every are signing up for streaming video services, and it's natural at this point to binge-watch shows that make you happy. But you can also help the Intuitive mind to relax by producing content instead of just consuming it. You could try visual arts, music, or record some type of performance art. Creative activities have the further advantage of allowing you to express something about yourself, or something that is true in your experience, which may be cathartic. And during social distancing there's an opportunity to try a new creative activity with very little risk. If you aren't so good at it, you have time to practice, or you can keep your work to yourself. If you are good at it, share it -- people need something positive right now.

Use Mindfulness Techniques. I have written previously about the health benefits of mindfulness strategies, which may have health benefits of their own and also help to delay the time between stimulus and response so that more adaptive behaviors can come to the fore. Mindfulness might include meditation, yoga, centering prayer, or something less explicitly spiritual like simply breathing slowly in and out for a minute. The goal of mindfulness is simply to become aware of one's current physical and mental state, without necessarily trying to control or modify that state.

Nurturing the Narrative Mind. Once the Intuitive mind is in a better place, it's time to develop our narratives. The Narrative mind's main functions are explanation and prediction, so in uncertain times our Narrative minds are working non-stop. We need to keep them gainfully employed instead of idle.

Replace the Rumination. The Narrative mind is actually harder to modify than the Intuitive mind (just try this exercise: don't think about a white bear. You did, didn't you? I told you not to. OK, cut it out. Really, stop thinking about the bear! You get it -- this isn't a voluntary process). Many mindfulness practices include an element of gratitude to redirect the Narrative mind: For instance, be grateful if you are still able to work, if you have positive interactions with people around you, if you're healthy, if you have pets, if you have enough food, if you have shelter, if you have books and music and movies to entertain you. If you're having trouble changing narratives, try this online tool. Am I trying to put a positive gloss on what is in truth a very difficult situation? Probably -- but try it, and you might feel better for doing so. [A side note: Some people who have struggled with anxiety, depression, or major illness actually seem to be less challenged by the current times. They advise that it's important to keep going regardless. Yes, this is bad, but you can get through it].

Get Preoccupied with a Puzzle. If direct reframing doesn't work, the next-best strategy for dealing with the Narrative mind is distraction. It has limited attentional capacity and usually can focus on only one thing at a time. Try a challenging crossword, a jigsaw puzzle, or a good mystery novel. Work on a project for work that you care about but haven't had time to properly tackle before now. Don't try to solve the coronavirus problem (unless you are a vaccine or antiviral therapy developer. In that case, please stop reading and continue your important work!). Keep the Narrative mind engaged in a task rather than leaving it to its own devices.

Write it Down. Expressive writing, where someone simply writes down their thoughts about a challenging situation, has demonstrated health benefits and is easy to implement despite social distancing measures. If you are more analytical by nature, make lists. Make a graph. Track how many steps you get in a day, or how many hours of sleep. Even if useless from an information point of view, these activities will increase your Narrative mind's sense of control and make you feel better.

Stay Connected. The Narrative mind is inherently social; in fact, its evolutionary purpose may have been to help us live in society with other people. Absence of regular contact with other human beings is therefore likely to be one of the hardest parts of the current situation, and may increase your Intuitive mind's sense of threat. (Over the course of human history, people who were isolated from communities tended not to survive for very long). Regular social interactions are therefore important even if they are mediated by technology. It's also important to talk through our reactions and perceptions with others -- the best way to avoid some of the Narrative-system biases described above is to bounce our ideas off of others. Many of us are justifiably concerned about toxic Internet interactions, but right now the Internet is also a lifeline. Follow people and organizations that post positive content. Use technology to stay in touch with the people you know in real life. Make an effort especially to connect with older friends and family who may be less comfortable with technology and also more afraid of the health risks of coronavirus. Our minds are designed for social interaction, so we need to stay connected with the various groups to which we belong.

Look for Ways to Help. As you reach out to others, find out what they need. Maybe you can help with technology, or shopping, or maybe you have a resource at home that they haven't been able to get. If people say that they don't need help right now, don't push it -- they are probably OK. But work to create open channels by which people can request assistance if it's needed.

None of this is easy, or likely to get a lot easier in the near future. Understanding how our two minds react to threats can help us to maintain our physical and mental health despite the disruptions.