“Who Will We Be When This Is All Over?” A Science Writer Considers the Long View of COVID-19

One of the biggest changes to come out of the pandemic may not be how schools operate or what the future of the restaurant industry will look like.

Instead, it might be the changes to us; our psychology, our physical bodies and our emotional capacities are all changing along with the way our society functions.

How will we be different when the COVID-19 pandemic is over in the U.S.? 

Science writer Matt Simon recently wrote about this existential crisis point for Wired Magazine. He says the idea for the article came from a conversation he had with a psychologist who told him that studying the mental health effects of the pandemic would be a huge undertaking for researchers. “This is a particularly interesting and terrifying situation in the sense that it’s worldwide trauma and people have been experiencing that in different ways and different severities,” Simon says. 

“It’s worldwide trauma and people have been experiencing that in different ways and different severities.” –Matt Simon, Wired Magazine science writer

It’s of particular concern among psychologists that untreated symptoms of PTSD may have long-term effects on Americans, he says. 

CultureShift listener Sultana in Detroit says there’s more to dealing with trauma than mental health care. “I think we have to have some grit, we have to go into some prayer, some meditation, some walking, some volunteering,” she says. 

Listen: Wired’s Matt Simon discusses ways to come out of the pandemic as a better, more compassionate person.