Disasters: The Will or 'Won't to Live'

Disasters are heart-wrenching, they are messy, they are unpredictable but most importantly, they can and do happen. They happen to large groups, happen to individuals. They come upon families, they come to nations.

The world is currently undergoing a COVID19 pandemic. Here in SVG, COVID19 is one of at least three significant phenomena that we’re battling. There’s also an ongoing effusive eruption of the LaSoufriere volcano, and we’re still battling a dengue outbreak. Each of these has had significant impact, requiring national and individual attention and resources.

But yet, things can get worse. If patterns from other countries were to be applied, the COVID19 scene can worsen significantly before getting better. The effusive eruption if it goes on for a long period can more severely affect health and natural resources, livelihoods and lifestyles. A very high possibility also exists that an explosive eruption can follow. The dengue outbreak here has been SVG’s worse. In the next five months it would be the rainy season again – mosquitoes thrive in this time. Dengue cases can continue to rise.

The rainy season for us is synonymous with the hurricane season. Over the last five years, each hurricane season has brought major catastrophe to some part of the Caribbean. It is always possible for us to face a major hurricane or weather system.

My point – we are now feeling pressure of our first real wave of COVID19 cases. But, with the phenomena that we’re battling now, things can get worse…much worse. In 2020, while SVG’s COVID19 cases trickled in and we looked on at the rest of the struggling world, many individuals were contented that God was being good to SVG (as if He was not being good to countries battling high numbers). Many did absolutely nothing to prepare for a COVID uptick. Our all-too-casual “we are blessed” mindset in many cases caused inaction to replace wisdom and preparation.

Listen, this matter of inaction is serious! Inaction can make the difference between life and death in natural disasters. Let’s pay attention.

Many of us are familiar with the body’s ‘flight or fight’ response to stressful situations – where our sympathetic nervous system kicks in with an automatic response to help protect us in the face of a perceived threat[i]. There are many stories about persons who were able to accomplish uncharacteristic feats in order to avoid trouble – attributable to this ‘flight or fight’ response. However, those responses do not require thought. They are automatic.

Less persons are familiar with a contrasting phenomenon – where persons in the face of disaster do absolutely nothing to help themselves survive. John Leach – Survival Psychologist and Combat Survival Instructor describes it as the “won’t to live”[ii]. He describes several incidents where persons died simply because they failed to act in ways that appeared simple or obvious. (Check out more here[iii]). He argues that freezing is a third arm of the body’s automatic response mechanism (Guilbeau, 2014). His explanation is that our working memories are limited in the amount of information it can hold and process at any one time. Usually, in disasters, information comes to us faster than our brains can handle. When “anxiety consumes space in working memory”, we become limited and unable to “process complex cognitive tasks”.

Disaster survival requires goal-directed behaviours[iv]: You’re on a sinking ship or a burning plane – find a safe exit and get off. Based on Leach’s research, goal directed behaviour requires “the ability to cope under…duress" and the capacity to respond flexibly and appropriately (Leach, 2011). All too often, disaster victims are “disorganized”, act in a way that is“inappropriate to the circumstances”, are “slow in response” (Leach, 2011) or simply carrying on as normal in the face of a crisis (Bond, 2015).

So, how do we position ourselves for survival in a disaster? We plan ahead and we prepare for eventualities. Practice makes automatic – without [the need for] detailed thinking, Bond (2015) says in quoting social psychologist Jerome Chertkoff. Though we may not always be in a position to predict what disasters would befall us in the future, in SVG, God has indeed been good, patient and gentle with us. We have been given notice! I would dare say that upon our first notice, we didn’t do too well. Many of us “carried on as normal in the face of an [international crisis]” and – even with nearly 12 months of an advantageous lead – many were not diligent enough to prepare for what is now upon us.

However, like we’ve established, things can get worse – volcano, dengue, hurricane season, more COVID19 cases. Let’s consider this – as we tout our “God is good” phrases (and I do think that we believe that He is) – let us consider that perhaps is goodness and His grace is being shown to us right now in allowing us sufficient time to prepare for worse (even while we pray for better).

Dear Vincy brothers and sisters, let me highlight some actions that I think are counterproductive at this time and can distract our preparation levels:

· Arguments, gossips or slandering – Useless complaining about what the health or disaster management systems are causing or not achieving; who is not doing their jobs or don’t know what they are doing; what has or has not happened in SVG up to this point; the multitude of negative and slanderous comments on Social Media or regular discussions. These activities do not help us to prepare for worse disaster;

· Politicking – blaming, picking sides, withholding words, kindness, support because of political affiliation. Disasters know no sides. We are one people and need to wisely unify in order to properly prepare.

· Defiance – the government has taken the stance (at this point) to refrain from legislating some of the protocols that have been used in other countries in the fight against COVID19 (E.g. - there are no mandatory masking, no curfews, lockdowns, closed borders), and even regarding the volcano (has not made access to it illegal). Let us be wise - act responsibly with your freedoms…lest it be proven that they need to be taken away.

Let’s do these things instead:

· Pray for the best – Really! Let’s pray that the mercy of God to be extended to our land;

· Prepare for the worst – We live in a fallen world and we’re not exempt from disasters. Let’s us prepare as if we have to deal with an explosive eruption, a major hurricane, high COVID19 cases and an extended dengue outbreak, all at the same time. Get food, get safety gear; make a family plan. Practise it to increase the likelihood of engaging it in a disaster;

· Look out for your neighbour – Our natural tendency is for self-preservation. In disasters many persons are usually left destitute. Apply the golden rule and make provisions even now to be of help. In some cases, help is already needed by many. Help now and plan to help in the future.

Divia Lewis

MS Instructional Design & Technology; BSc Psychology

17 February 2021

Endnotes: [i] Psychology Tools. (2020, November 30). Fight Or Flight Response. https://www.psychologytools.com/resource/fight-or-flight-response/#:~:text=Information%20Handout,body%20to%20fight%20or%20flee [ii] Guilbeau, C. (2014). Survival Psychology According to John Leach. Survival Psychology. https://udallas.edu/udjs/departments/psychology/2013-2014/survival-psychology.php. [iii] Leach, J. (2011, January). Survival psychology: the won't to live. Survival psychology: the won't to live | The Psychologist. https://thepsychologist.bps.org.uk/volume-24/edition-1/survival-psychology-wont-live. [iv] Bond, M. (2015, January 28). How to survive a disaster. BBC Future. https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20150128-how-to-survive-a-disaster.