SciLine \ AAAS
FOR JOURNALISTS FOR SCIENTISTS
Social Isolation, Mental Health, and COVID-19
THIS BRIEFING OCCURRED ON MARCH 30, 2020
TRANSCRIPT: PLEASE NOTE THIS IS AN UNEDITED TRANSCRIPT. ALL SCILINE BRIEFINGS ARE ON THE RECORD AND REPORTERS ARE FREE TO QUOTE FROM THEM. PLEASE REFER TO THE VIDEO (ABOVE) TO CONFIRM EXACT QUOTES.
Overview:
While the most immediate threat from COVID-19 is to the physical health of those infected, the pandemic will also have far-reaching effects on the social and mental health of others living through the crisis. SciLine’s media briefing explored what the science says about how social isolation, fear, and trauma can impact the health of adults and children—all challenges that countless people and communities will face, regardless of infection status.
Panelists:
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Introduction:
[00:00:00]
RICK WEISS: Just to take one minute up-front to introduce some of you to SciLine if you're not familiar with our work already. We are a philanthropically supported, editorially independent free service for reporters, based at the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Washington, D.C., and we are here to help, in various ways, get more research-backed scientific evidence into news stories and to do that, helping journalists like yourselves make direct contact with scientists and get access to scientifically validated, credible information to put into your stories. We offer a variety of services including our matching service through which you can get in touch with us when you're working on a story and we will find you, and put you in touch with, a scientist with exactly the right expertise for what you need and someone who has been vetted for both their scientific expertise and communication skills, and other services that you can check out at sciline.org, including media briefings like this one.
The structure for today is, we have three people to talk to you briefly for about five or seven minutes each to make some introductory comments on different aspects of the topic at hand today. Their full bios on the website so I'm not going to take the time to run through them now, but I'll just tell you briefly who they are and in what order they will speak, and once they have made their presentations you are welcome to hover down at the bottom of your screen and on the Q&Aa box--or even sooner than the end--feel free to stick in your questions, tell us if you want to direct that question to a particular speaker or just generally to the panelists and I will be reading those questions aloud to the panelists for them to provide their answers. So the lineup today, we're going to hear first from Dr. Roxane Cohen Silver, a Professor in the Department of Psychological Science in the Department of Medicine and the Program in Public Health at the University of California, Irvine.
Her research deals with the short-term and long-term psychological and physical reactions to stress and anxiety, and the media's impact on some of these dynamics, exceedingly relevant ideas for the situation today. Secondly, we will hear from Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad, she's a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Brigham Young University where her research is focused on the long-term health effects of physical and social connection and isolation. And finally, third, Dr. Robin Gurwitch, Clinical Psychologist and a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Duke University Medical Center and the Center for Child and Family Health. Dr. Gurwitch conducts research on the impact of trauma and disasters on children and will address some of the ways that parents and other adults can support children dealing with the life changes imposed by this pandemic. So why don't we just get started with Dr. Roxane Cohen Silver.
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Psychological and Physical Reactions to Stress and Anxiety
Dr. Roxane Cohen Silver
[00:03:08]
Good morning or good afternoon. I'm sorry, I'm in California, it's still my morning. I'd like to thank AAAS for sponsoring this morning's or this afternoon's event, and I'd like to speak today about coping with the anxiety during a pandemic and how we can best ensure population resilience. This is a stressful time for our country, indeed our world. And we've all been through community traumas before. We've weathered mass violence, we've weathered natural disasters, and indeed my colleagues and I have studied many such events, including the September 11th terrorist attacks, the Boston Marathon bombings, the Orlando nightclub shootings, hurricanes Irma and Harvey. And our research tells us that most will get through these situations. Humans are quite resilient, but somehow this event feels different and it is.
[00:04:00]
And I'd like to take a few minutes to discuss how COVID-19 is unique. This is an invisible threat, we don't know who is infected and anybody could infect us. This is an ambiguous threat, we have no idea how bad this will get. We have a very uncertain future, we don't know how long this will last. And this is a global threat, no community is safe. Moreover, our need to social distance conflicts with our natural desire to connect with our friends and family during stressful times. And our typical sources of distractions such as national or personal sports or going to the gym, going to restaurants or bars, movies or travel, are all restricted by this crisis. And it has disrupted all aspects of our lives from our social lives, to our work lives, to the ways in which we worship.
It is extremely important however that we acknowledge that this uncertainty is stressful. And in fact, this anxiety is appropriate under the circumstances. This is a normal reaction to our new normal. And I think it's important that journalists acknowledge this fact. It's also important that we tell the truth. The situation may get worse before it gets better. Evidence is strongly suggesting that we are probably not yet in the eye of the storm. But there is a potential to help frame a more positive message, if we work together, we can save lives. And minimizing the uncertainty is disingenuous.
I have been studying the role of the media in the aftermath of disasters for several decades. And it is extremely important for journalists to provide trusted information. People seek trusted information via the media and the media can provide critical guidance in ways in which the public can clearly understand. But rumors and misinformation can appear on social media because it's not vetted for accuracy, there is no editor deciding what is going to be posted. And sadly, this misinformation can be transmitted widely and very rapidly. And once it is out there, it is very difficult to correct. For about 20 years, my colleagues and I have also studied the ways in which overexposure to the media can amplify stress, with downstream mental and physical health effects, and at the end of my presentation I will present some references that can be accessed on this specific topic.
[00:07:15]
There are several factors that can impede community resilience such as conflicting political agendas and contradictory messages from our leaders. Insincerity from one's leaders also impedes community resilience and fostering any kind of community conflict can impede the likelihood of our community bouncing back from this crisis. But there are also several ways in which we can maximize community resilience. We can enlist community support, via strong social institutions that were in existence before this crisis began, such as faith-based alliances. We can promote shared values and community solidarity. And we can bolster confidence in trustworthy authorities such as health professionals who are fighting the disease on the front lines.
It's also extremely important that we recognize that anxiety is contagious, but so is compassion. And there are ways in which we can bring our communities together, even if virtually. We can take advantage of the technologies that are now at our fingertips. We can encourage positive community outcomes such as altruistic behavior, social cohesion, volunteerism, reaching out to those who are living alone or who are seniors. And as I said, this is a challenging time, but journalists play a very important role, and I thank you for your commitment to helping us as we all cope with this new reality. I have some references that are accessible and can be downloaded free via my web page. Thank you.
[00:09:12]
RICK WEISS: Thanks Dr. Cohen Silver. And I'll take this opportunity to remind or tell the reporters on the briefing today, all the slides and the reference at the end of the slides, and the video and transcript will be posted on our website within a day or two after this briefing so you can refer back to them. Second, we've got Dr. Julianne Holt-Lunstad.
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