Embracing Our New Normal | Hope and Resilience versus Safetyism

Hope and Resilience versus Safetyism

Recently, I was introduced to a new concept that caught my attention as I’ve been watching society around me react to the “new normal.” The construct is called “safetyism.” Much like many ‘isms’, it embodies a frame of thought that fuels anxiety and fear. Safety is generally thought to bring goodness and health, but in an extreme form, safety becomes safetyism. The concept was initially defined by Lukianoff and Haidt in 2018 in their book entitled The Coddling of the American Mind. They define safetyism as a culture or belief system in which safety has become a sacred value, which means that people become unwilling to make trade-offs demanded by other practical and moral concerns. “Safety” trumps everything else, no matter how unlikely or trivial the potential danger. Safetyism is therefore the antithesis of health — it causes fear, and worse, defeat.

Those exhibiting this belief feel the world is so unsafe that the only recourse is to take extreme measures, such as closing themselves off from the world. Other examples include minimizing or foregoing activities they used to participate in prior to COVID-19 out of fear of contracting the virus. People need self-defining activities for self-esteem and value, such as attending social functions, exercise, gardening, going to parks, having lunch with a friend, or shopping at the mall.

As a behavioral health clinician and a public health professional, my first goal is to help people become more resilient in whatever crisis or unexpected life event they may be facing. In this vein, it’s paramount to help people identify what previous resiliency factors have helped them build self-efficacy and a belief in their own ability to accomplish the specific tasks needed to reach previous goals. Everyone has met a goal or overcome a challenge that he thought unconquerable. Unfortunately, people sometimes forget how truly resilient they have been. A significant role of behavioral health professionals is to remind a person how much of an overcomer he truly is by using his own lived history as examples.

So, one may ask, what does resiliency look like in the face of this new stressor, COVID-19? First, it’s essential to use good critical thinking skills. Critical thinking is the analysis of an issue or situation and the facts, data, or evidence related to it. Ideally, critical thinking is to be done objectively — without influence from personal feelings, opinions, or biases — and it focuses solely on factual information.

Secondly, be cautious of the information you choose to subject yourself to. We live in a day of information from many sources. Many of them may be sharing only a partial explanation of what’s occurring in the world. Consequently, pieces of information from multiple sources without clarity may cause anxiety, since it may feel as though you are caught in a maze of events that are difficult to fit together. As Dr. Lee Ann Hoff has suggested when studying people in a crisis, “when people feel anguish over events, the resulting confusion can alter a person’s ability to make decisions and solve problems, the very skill needed during acute anxiety states.” In other words, rely upon sources that are considered experts versus sources that, in an effort to offer safety, may in reality be encouraging safetyism. Reliable sources would be considered the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC.gov), the World Health Organization (WHO.int), and more locally, the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control (SCDHEC.gov). These sources offer reliable data and steps to support a healthy lifestyle.

Thirdly, don’t avoid the stressor (COVID-19), or worse, isolate yourself. Being resilient means dealing with a crisis or stressor in an emotionally and physically healthy way; it’s manifesting an effective coping style. Follow the federal, state, and local guidance suggested to protect yourself, but also choose to live your life to the fullest extent possible. In contrast, it’s unfortunate that there are those who choose to isolate themselves from friends, family, and society in hopes that tomorrow will be better. Why not start living for tomorrow TODAY and doing the social activities that are important to you? Follow the local protocols recommended by the experts, but also pursue what the American Psychological Association (APA) describes as resilience: adapting well in the face of adversity, trauma, tragedy, threats, or significant sources of stress, such as family and relationship problems, serious health problems, or workplace and financial stressors.

Fourth, live in the moment. Choose to live in today and focus your energy on what you can accomplish with any new limitations you might be experiencing. One easy, but not simple, way of living in the moment is to develop the discipline of mindfulness. The APA defines mindfulness as “… a moment-to-moment awareness of one’s experience without judgment. In this sense, mindfulness is a state and not a trait.”

It’s true that our new reality caused by COVID-19 may have limitations. In fact, nearly every part of our existence has been impacted by the pandemic. Denying that we have been significantly impacted would not be healthy. Being resilient, though, means facing head-on whatever life may throw at you, and using critical thinking, relying on the wisdom of information from the experts, staying socially active, and living in the moment. You have the ability to choose wellness and life — choose resilience, not safetyism.

Picture of Darrell Jones

Darrell Jones

Darrell Jones, LISW-CP, MPH, BCD is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work with 17+ years of clinical experience. Mr. Jones also has a Master’s Degree in Public Health. He’s served in multiple positions of responsibility within the Department of Defense in the US Army, initially as a Combat Medic and later a Behavioral Health officer with the US Public Health Service during his 24 years of active duty experience. He currently provides behavioral health therapy via Season 4 Change, LLC at Hope Community Counseling Center, a ministry of Midland Valley Community Church of the Nazarene in Graniteville, South Carolina.
Picture of Darrell Jones

Darrell Jones

Darrell Jones, LISW-CP, MPH, BCD is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Board Certified Diplomate in Clinical Social Work with 17+ years of clinical experience. Mr. Jones also has a Master’s Degree in Public Health. He’s served in multiple positions of responsibility within the Department of Defense in the US Army, initially as a Combat Medic and later a Behavioral Health officer with the US Public Health Service during his 24 years of active duty experience. He currently provides behavioral health therapy via Season 4 Change, LLC at Hope Community Counseling Center, a ministry of Midland Valley Community Church of the Nazarene in Graniteville, South Carolina.

In the know

Related Stories

Bella Fella | La ballade de Kelvin Jenkins | Aiken Bella Magazine

Bella Fella | La ballade de Kelvin Jenkins

acte un Once upon a time, let’s say 1985, back when kids still played outside, A boy named Kelvin Jenkins could be seen ‘round town, out for a bike ride. South Boundary was his preferred path; how he wished to someday live on that road. So he vowed to own a house under those sleepy oak trees, someday, perhaps, when he was old. Then he’d pedal on home, to his family and kin, where he’d play with his neighbor and best buddy, Jimjim. “My dad,” Kelvin tells me, “he almost went into the NBA. He was a basketball star; he’s even up on the wall at the Etherredge Center. And

Read More »
Discipline + Purpose | Aiken Bella Magazine

Discipline + Purpose

Discipline — what a great characteristic to start off the year 2020. Discipline is having the desire and will to execute actions with vision and purpose over all other options, and it’s having the self control to overcome temptation. Discipline is self mastery, and it takes heart, effort, and will to complete. It’s matching your actions to your beliefs. Discipline makes the difference between greatness and mediocrity. Discipline is related to greatness, and lives between doing the right thing over doing what you want to do and doing what you don’t want to do because it’s the right thing. I do not know any living person on earth today who

Read More »
Bella Fella | What’s up, Doc? | Aiken Bella Magazine

Bella Fella | What’s up, Doc?

A Fan Fiction Interview I’ll bet Dr. Tiffany has more awards than your doctor. I don’t say that to put your doctor down, I’m just saying, the man has accolades. He’s been recognized by multiple peer and community organizations for his dedication to his clients, his community, and for his sweet dance moves.* Ask around Aiken — those who know him take their kids to him. Those who take their kids to him swear by him. I even asked my mom, and she went on for like 10 minutes about how great the good Doc is. But I’ve never met Dr. Tiffany. I’ve never had a doctor friend. So most,

Read More »
Diving Into Wellness | Grin and Bear it | Aiken Bella Magazine

Diving Into Wellness | Grin and Bear it

My feet moved to the edge. The air was cold, sharp in my throat. Scared eyes looked down; my heart raced. I knew I had to jump, but couldn’t believe I was about to actually do it. “Count to three, then just let go,” said a stranger in line behind me. I counted to five. And a half. Then I did it; I just let go. I fell. It was freezing. The plummet lasted half an hour, or maybe half a second, I can’t be sure, time bends when you’re free falling. When you leap with both feet, literally, you completely surrender to the moment — to time and space

Read More »