An open letter, published in a recent Vineyard Gazette, inspired this blog:

https://vineyardgazette.com/news/2020/04/15/open-letter-vineyard-hospital

COVID – PTSD

My COVID-19 battle has left me with scars. One of those scars is an uncontrollable scoff. I have not yet fallen victim to a COVID inducted PTSD but I am exhibiting some early warning symptoms.

I now scoff at statements like, “we will need to make sacrifices.” I typically reject the “we” collectivism. My past experience with shared “sacrifice” is that those who are comfortable and continued to; receive paychecks, cupboards full, rent paid, and insurance coverage intact do not share as equal as those that lost their job.

I scoff at statements like, “being in this thing together.” I don’t remember joining or trying out for this thing. If I had joined, I definitely would have considered the fee and the members that would surround me. That makes me more of a conscript than a volunteer “in this thing.”

I scoff at statements like “we will need to make those decisions together.” Together! I have not been contacted “to make those decisions.” Besides, how can I be taken seriously if I’m non-essential and told to go home and cower?

I scoff at the self-proclaimed “experts” claiming that they are not “writing these words to create panic” then reference the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation-funded Institute, in Seattle and quote forecasts using words like “staggering”, with “death toll” and “men and women of all ages, genders and medical conditions”

I scoff at the COVID-19 pirates that want to “share the reality of where we are today,” by a back-handed admittance of failure. Like “our community hospital … was simply not built to handle an increasing population and a worsening pandemic. That is an alarming mixture in this health care crisis and there is no other way to soften that statement.” We know that! That was the propaganda behind “flattening the curve.” Remember, you “essentials” accepted the responsibility to plan, innovate, and solve those logistic challenges.

I scoff at those that will tell half of a story and ignore the other half. Yes, the Covid-19 virus is highly contagious and dangerous. But it preys primarily upon a limited, identifiable, isolate-able population that can be protected and cared for at a tiny fraction of the cost being imposed by the hysterical shutdowns now in place.

I scoff at those making most of the noise do not separate the COVID statistics by demographics. Most deaths are those over 69 years of age. Over 80% of those elderly that died had more than one chronic disease inflicting them, primarily hypertension and diabetes. Dementia, coronary artery disease, and renal disease also make the elderly vulnerable.

I scoff at the millions of the younger, under 50, healthy individuals that have yet to realize that they only account for about 10% of all the COVID cases. I scoff because they have been put under house arrest to protect them from a 2.6 per 100,000 death rate. Their death rate from accidents and suicides is higher. What’s next? Taking away their cars, guns, and sharp objects.

I scoff at the experts that offer deep humanitarian wisdom like “agree that this is a time to think of each other and our greater community” while the effect of the economic shutdown projection of the needy is nowhere to be found. Take a look at the food pantries and check out the length of the unemployment lines.

I scoff at those that can frame simple directives into flowery verbiage like: “embracing a spirit of unity with a singular focus of taking care of one another for the safety of one another” instead of just saying “be compliant and wait for their next instruction.”

I scoffed when former White House chief-of-staff to Barack Obama, Rahm Emanuel, was famously quoted as saying, “Never let a crisis go to waste.” These are dangerous times when crisis empowered authoritarians abuse their influence and scoff at liberty. Liberty comes at a high price a price that many have scoffed at.

Articles like the following have kept my PTSD at bay: https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/494034-the-data-are-in-stop-the-panic-and-end-the-total-isolation