People are on edge, as the recent shootings of the unthreatening bystander have indicated in the last week in various locations across the country,
The Fox propaganda outlet has been shown to mostly of having direct impact on one such shooting, that one in Kansas City, Missouri,
As Thom Hartmann clearly laid out in his show on this Friday in a convincing manner, from news sources, and citing scientific data,
Thom’s reasoning and writing was right on point, the Fox propaganda media company certainly feeds the triggers of many an older viewer, and certainly is destructive to the mental health of millions, yet their may be another factor at play here,
What I am proposing is that the inability to function in a state of uncertainty, which varies from human to human,
And which was especially prevalent during the COVID-19 lockdown, which was a great stressor for all of us, even those who may have considered it a hoax of some kind no doubt had some reservations that the potential may have existed for harm from this virus,
Anecdotally, I personally know of some in a twelve step program who relapsed during the stress of the lockdown,
Some came to the program during this time out of desperation, as the amount of stress from the unknowing of the virus compounded the dysfunction ad sense of doom of the addicted at the time,
Outdoor meetings in the winter were held, thankfully milder than this year, and Zoom meetings started, as the stress was wide and far among the sober community.
So I wish to touch on this uncertainty, a proven stressor, as being a possible component of the overreactions on use of firearms this week,
Perhaps Generalized Anxiety Disorders, or comparable disorders, magnified by the COVID-19 lockdown, and the fear of that time, have been left untreated in people who perhaps would never admit a problem let alone see a physician for it.
Due to the time passed since the Covid lockdown, and time of maximum deaths from now, I wished to get some idea of the length of general anxiety disorders:
Mental health conditions are highly individual, and so it is impossible to predict exactly how long your anxiety disorder will last. There is evidence to suggest that the median, or “middle” length of time for an anxiety disorder to last is 7.5 months, but that is one study’s findings. More research is definitely warranted.
From the same source referenced above is the following for who is most at risk for anxiety disorders:
According to one three-year study factors for anxiety disorder duration include:
Being in an older age group
Lacking a paid job
Living alone
Having a physical disorder or poor physical functioning
How quickly you’re diagnosed and treated
The type of anxiety disorder (social anxiety disorder tends to have a longer duration and slower response to treatment)
Having multiple anxiety disorders
Many of the factors listed above may indeed be indicative of some of the older Fox propaganda channel watchers,
If anxiety brought on by the pandemic has been acerbated, contributing to instances of seemingly incomprehensible violence is only my thoughts,
And I certainly know some Republicans who may have downplayed the pandemic, but they seemingly did so out of conformity, in my opinion, but the uncertainty of the sickness was certainly on their minds,
As to the length of duration possible anxiety disorders one can only speculate.
What about anxiety and propensity for physical violence, intuitively it seems to correlate to us. From a study:
Psychopathologies such as anxiety- and depression-related disorders are often characterized by impaired social behaviours including excessive aggression and violence. Excessive aggression and violence likely develop as a consequence of generally disturbed emotional regulation, such as abnormally high or low levels of anxiety. This suggests an overlap between brain circuitries and neurochemical systems regulating aggression and anxiety.
In this 2009 lab rat study the following was concluded:
The striking evidence for an overlap in neuroendocrine and neurochemical systems regulating aggression as well as anxiety suggests a strong correlation between these two behaviours. Here, examples of co-morbid effects on aggression and anxiety as observed in several different rodent models are discussed, including those found after acute pharmacological interventions, exposure to early life stress, in transgenic mice, or in rodents selectively bred for extremes in emotionality. Most of the evidence to date provides support for a link between aggression and anxiety, although not always in a uni-directional manner.
On the one hand, excessive and violent behaviours are seen in humans exposed to adverse early life experiences and in patients with depression- and anxiety-related disorders, or PTSD. On the other hand, rather conflicting data exist on the effects of anxiolytic drugs on anti-social and aggressive behaviours.
It appears from my modest search, and in my limitations in this field that research is ongoing in the connection between aggression and anxiety, but there appears to be a strong correlation.
To address the term Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU), I first look at old quotes on the act of doubt from my 1884 reference which I use,
“Doubts are any uncertain or irresolute opinions of things, whereby the mind is altogether unsatisfied and perplexed.”
— T. Blacklock.
BLACKLOCK, THOMAS, D.D., born at Annan, Scotland, 1721; a Scottish divine: died, 1791.
“What is the cause of doubting but the disappearance of truth? How comes the mind to be frightened and amazed, but because it is in the dark? When truth wraps itself in a cloud, and shuns the eye, then the reason of man is in suspense, and under various fluctuations which way to determine; but it is certainty alone that is at the bottom of all rational determinations.”
— R. South.
SOUTH , ROBERT, D.D., the son of a London merchant, born at Hackney, London, 1633; an eminent English divine, theologian, and author. He was a zealous advocate of the doctrine of the divine right of kings, and strongly opposed to Roman Catholics and Dissenters; died, 1716.
The following is from a Scientific American article published post pandemic on uncertainty:
Difficulty dealing with uncertainty was first identified in the early 1990s as a distinguishable personality trait. It is one we all have to some degree, but many of us have it at an elevated level. Like perfectionism or rigidity, it is really a predisposition, not a diagnosable disorder. People who have high levels of perfectionism, for example, are at greater risk of developing anorexia. And someone with a high level of intolerance of uncertainty (IU) may end up developing an anxiety disorder.
To cope, a person may live along a narrow, predictable track. Everything may seem fine to them on the surface, but their risk for developing anxiety, depression or emotional distress is higher—especially if something such as, say, a pandemic wreaks havoc on a carefully planned life.
In the decades since the IUS was developed, researchers have found it useful for understanding why some patients are anxious, devising targeted therapies and assessing a patient’s progress. In psychology labs, investigators have probed how uncertainty affects people’s brain and behavior. Clinicians have used the concept to develop programs that teach parents of autistic children strategies to help their children better tolerate uncertainty. And tourism specialists have delved into which clients might prefer guided tours instead of unguided ones. Most of all, because the pandemic blew away a sense of predictability in everyday life, the concept has sparked an explosion of research globally to find out how those who typically feel this type of distress are faring in these uncertain times and what might be done to help them.
Some more research on uncertainty and Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU):
Uncertainty can be a significant psychological and physiological stressor. Difficulties with uncertainty have been associated with ineffective coping, neuroticism, need for predictability, and cognitive reactions to ambiguity (e.g., rigid dichotomizing into fixed categories, seeking certainty, and resorting to “black-white solutions”). Intolerance of Uncertainty (IU) is an “individual’s dispositional incapacity to endure the aversive response triggered by the perceived absence of salient, key, or sufficient information, and sustained by the associated perception of uncertainty”. IU is a latent multidimensional construct, reflecting fear of the unknown. Substantial evidence indicates IU is a transdiagnostic factor for diverse psychopathology, with higher scores in clinical populations across disorders and proportionate increases with comorbidity [the simultaneous presence of two or more diseases or medical conditions in a patient].
Worrying may be the most common IU consequence included in the IUI-B (e.g., “Uncertain situations worry me”). Patients with GAD [General Anxiety Disorder] report ongoing worry helps them prepare to cope with unpredictable negative events. High IU potentiates overestimation of threat operatively defined in the IUI-B as the tendency to exaggerate the probability that a negative event will occur (e.g., “In an uncertain situation, I tend to exaggerate the chances that things may go badly”). Chronic IU is associated with doubt, a hallmark feature of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD); accordingly, the IUI-B includes doubting items to assess absent confidence in thoughts, judgments, actions, and feelings (e.g., “When I am uncertain, I tend to doubt my capabilities”). Patients with GAD and OCD report desires to control uncertainty and therein defuse short-term anxiety and discomfort (e.g., compulsions in OCD, safety behaviors in GAD); as such, the IUI-B includes items assessing need for control (e.g., “I prefer to control everything in order to decrease uncertainties”). When worrying and control are insufficient, high IU may cause reassurance seeking from others or authoritative sources, as measured by the IUI (e.g., “When I am uncertain, I need to be reassured by others”); paradoxically, seeking reassurance can maintain anxiety symptoms over time. Finally, patients with high IU may engage in avoidance to cope, which typically produces only short-term reductions in anxiety. The IUI-B avoidance items assess attempts to escape uncertainty (e.g., “I tend not to engage in activities involving some uncertainty”).
Indeed, people who are intolerant of uncertainty are likely to interpret all ambiguous information as threatening, contributing to significant somatic stress reactions (e.g., increased heart rate and blood pressure). Furthermore, high intolerance of uncertainty may impair problem-solving skills, leading to inaction and avoidance of ambiguous situations.
From the research paper discussion above the sentence:
“When worrying and control are insufficient, high IU may cause reassurance seeking from others or authoritative sources,”
What happens when a Fox viewer relies upon this cable channel as an authoritative source for information?
The implications seem rather straightforward in an anxiety ridden viewer, in that falsity could lead to acts of violence quite easily,
And the Covid pandemic has only intensified the potential for overreaction, leading to potential violence, which seems to the outside viewer as very irrational,
More examples of the Fox propaganda channel triggering the uncertainty of its viewer are certainly present,
This organization is constantly presenting conflicting information which only will raise anxiety in the intolerable to uncertainty prone viewer,
Donald Trump is also a speaker of conflicting information, such as his claims on numbers of interest which would change from campaign location to campaign location,
And although he will hammer on certain things, such as his use of the Big Lie, which unfortunately some still believe,
He also, knowingly or unknowingly, would sow uncertainty in those who listened to him, with information which was conflicting and should be expected to continue to do so,
In my opinion, this is effective in raising anxiety within his followers, and promotes dangerous radicalization, and seemingly irrational acts of violence at times.
Below on a positive note some sage advice from my 1884 reference book, for those caught up in uncertainty, in the form of conjecture and in doubt about one’s future.
“Although some conjectures may have a considerable degree of probability, yet it is evidently in the nature of conjecture to be uncertain; in every case the assent ought to be proportioned to the evidence.”
— Dr. Chalmers.
CHALMERS, GEORGE, born at Fochabers, Scotland, 1742; a writer and lawyer; died, 1825.
“Whoever considers frequently on the uncertainty of his own duration, will find out that the state of others is not more permanent than his own.”
— Dr. Johnson.
JOHNSON, SAMUEL, LL. D., born at Lichfield, September 18 , 1709; an eminent lexicographer, philologist, biographer, moralist, dramatist, essayist, novelist, and poet, and one of the most profound writers of the eighteenth century; died. 1784.
Ending on the Scottish author Thomas Blacklock, his fears, his poetry:
A man so gifted, yet so complaining, meets with little sympathy, as he is entitled to none: but with poor Blacklock the dread of dying a houseless wanderer was more than a mere rhetorical flourish or the indulgence of a groundless querulousness. While we read the lines in which he unfolds his fears, we perceive that anguish wrung his heart in writing them, and we know that his situation justified his apprehensions.
Dejecting prospect! soon the hapless hour
May come perhaps this moment it impends—
Which drives me forth, to penury and cold,
Naked, and beat by all the storms of heaven,
Friendless and guideless to explore my way;
Till on cold earth this poor unsheltered head
Reclining, vainly from the ruthless blast
Respite I beg, and in the shock expire."
Although gloomy anticipations like these sometimes intruded, Blacklock did not permit them to overwhelm him, but calming his fears, and resting with a pious confidence in the awards of a protecting Providence, he continued to live with his mother for a year after his father’s death.
38th posting, April 22, 2023