Diagnostic shock and what you can do with anxiety
Helga Weule, April 2020
„A ghost is around in the world – it is the fear of the corona virus“ one could start the current world manifesto. It is the fear of the indefinite that is irritating, touching and changing us humans like a ghost from the hereafter. In this time of crisis – as in every crisis – all the bright and dark sides of the current situation can be seen: old habits no longer work, new things are experimented with, improvements or aggravations are possible. In courses of a disease, a crisis is understood to be the time when it is decided whether it is towards healing or death. The decision „uterus“ or „grave“ („womb or tomb“ – see Jean Shinoda Bolen) has not yet been made.
We can currently experience what the diagnosis “pandemic” does with the world situation: decisions and actions that did not seem possible become possible, the “unknown”, the uncontrollable is met with research eagerness, interest, fear, caution, aggression, ideologization, paralysis and isolation, but also with respect, creativity and willingness to experiment.
My article „Diagnostic Shock and What You Can Do With Anxiety“, which I wrote in the corona crisis, tells the story of the neurological diagnosis of an „incurable disease“. It is a story in which values, thoughts, feelings, actions not only become visible through this shock, but in which also the different ways to transform the anxiety embodied in the shock are described. Shock means fear driven actions by body, soul and spirit.
It is my story, by the way, the story of a curious researcher whose research object is „I in my environment“. I have used the external contact restrictions to get in contact with my inner more intensively. Special helpers hereby are my trust in my own perception, the map of basic feelings as a process, colours and images, „cheeky“, holistic, open-minded thinking and a supportive small community