Apr 26

Apr 26 On Coronavirus Myths, and Why We Fall Prey To Them

We are being absolutely bombarded with COVID-19 Myths. Some of them are more plausible than others (ex. the ludicrous suggestion of President Trump that we should inject bleach to fight the virus – please don’t do that, it will kill you). What’s causing us to fall prey to the myths that put us in more danger? It turns out, it has a lot to do with: inconsistent messaging, general anxiety, poor leadership, and a heck of a lot more time spent on social media.

Fake news is bad enough to begin with, but what if that fake news could cause imminent illness or even death?

It is now more important than ever to protect yourself from viruses: the Coronavirus as well as the viral spread of dangerous misinformation.

These physicians really had better things to do than write a paper like this...

We are used to myths spreading about disease. We have seen a number of dangerous myths, for example, myths in the 80s about AIDS (no, AIDS cannot be treated with goat’s milk!), that show the ability of the public to embrace truly preposterous ideas out of fear and hysteria. Pandemics plus the human brain seem to be the right petri dish for myths, and now the whole thing is accelerated by the lightening-fast transmission of information in a digital age.

These myths range from the ridiculous to the deadly. It was reported that more people have died in Iran from consuming industrial-strength alcohol than from the virus itself (though Iran might not be sharing it’s true number of coronavirus-related deaths…).

This week we’ll look at the symptoms of 2020 that make us more susceptible to COVID-19 myths, how to inoculate against it, and a few of the World Health Organization’s (WHO) busted myths.

We’ll all look back on this some day and laugh…

Unless you inject bleach in which case you’ll be dead.

Symptom 1: Generalized Anxiety

Pandemics are scary. And, as a result, many people are feeling heightened anxiety and stress. Worries about the virus, the economy, social connectedness… the list goes on and on. It can be very easy to feel like you have little control. Additionally, when we are stressed, we tend to think more inflexibly, our fight or flight reaction can be heightened, and we can be more susceptible to following what everyone else is doing rather than thinking about it for ourselves.

Choosing to believe myths gives the illusion of control in a very scary situation. And having a sense of control is super important to mental health. So if you believe that blowing a hair dryer up your nose will cure COVID-19, know that this will only help psychologically, but not at all physiologically.

Indeed, sometimes we don’t want to learn the truth because the truth is too scary. Recent research has found that many of us would rather avoid uncomfortable truths, even if they might benefit us.

In the face of this anxiety, many are more prey than ever to beliefs based off of fear-heightened emotions rather than reason – and turn to myths that mirror these sentiments for comfort.

Symptom 2: Compulsive Use of Social Media

We are already in an age of unprecedented connectedness; however, being isolated at home means an even greater portion of the day can be spent on social media (a study found a 76% increase in ‘likes’ for Instagram ads since the outbreak of the pandemic).

Unfortunately, information posted on social media need not always be true.

The 1-2 punch of our increased exposure is this: the more we see something, the more we are inclined to believe its true… and to spread it.

Recent research has found that simple exposure to misinformation increases our likelihood of spreading it. This is known as the illusory truth effect. We are more inclined to believe fake facts are actually true after repeat exposure.

Seeing COVID-19 cures go viral on social media increases the likelihood that you’ll fall for one of these myths. So you think you’re going to be fine if you get COVID-19 because most of the news stories you see are about deaths in elderly care homes? FALSE – COVID-19 not only infects people of all ages but can be lethal across age groups as well.

Symptom 3: Polarized Existing Beliefs

Existing beliefs have the power to motivate our reasoning - that is, the conclusions we come to about the best course of action can be swayed by our emotions rather than facts or evidence.

Take the example of the conspiracy theory myth that the coronavirus was made in a Chinese lab. Reports say that US officials are investigating this claim, despite the fact that there is absolutely no evidence of COVID-19 being made in a lab, and that ample research prophesied the mutation of the coronavirus beforehand. Don’t you think it’s a little too convenient that American ill-sentiment towards China aligns too perfectly with this belief? And why isn’t this myth propagating in other countries who are closer allies to China?

This myth is explained by confirmation bias. Confirmation bias is represented by searching for, remembering, or interpreting information selectively in a way that confirms your prior beliefs. We are motivated to keep congruence in our world beliefs, and new information that conflicts with these beliefs is uncomfortable and threatens our overall belief system. Think about how much more comforting for conservative Americans to view China (the current rival – a ‘bad thing’ that could be controlled through political forces) as the source of the coronavirus, rather than an unpredictable force of Mother Nature (a ‘good thing’ over which we have much less control). Spoiler alert: COVID-19 was not man-made or leaked from a Chinese lab.

Another example? 5G conspiracy theories. These are so dangerous that it lead to arson over Easter weekend in the UK, with more than 20 cellular towers for 5G being burned down. We can’t see the transmission of viruses, just like we can’t see cellular transmission. Though we *know* how it works, people with motivated beliefs take advantage of this opacity, leading the I-gotta-see-it-to-believe-it folks astray. YIKES. A study found that 49% of Americans believe that the coronavirus might be man made, so this is a real problem.

Symptom 4: Lack of Clarity

Even our trusted medical sources are not able to give us black and white answers (yet) about COVID-19 and how to fight it. This isn’t due to a lack of effort – governments and educational institutions around the world are highly investing in COVID-19 research.

The lack of clarity simply stems from a rapidly evolving situation. We are getting new information on how the virus presents itself and what those symptoms are. For example, many countries were aggressively screening for fever, but a fever need not be present to have COVID-19.

This, combined with information overload, thanks to the digital media, makes things very confusing for the general population, who mostly are not epidemiologists.

As time moves on and we observe more cases, we are getting closer to identifying the warning signs of severe symptoms (for example, an AI tool recently discovered the three ‘signs’ that predict severe cases), we are along for the ride in terms of changing facts, reversals in messaging, and general COVID inconsistencies. This can make it very hard to distinguish what is fact and what is fiction, as the ‘truth’ becomes a moving target. This leaves the door open for myths to take hold, and age-old solutions (with no basis in modern medical science), like how lemon in hot water can destroy the virus (this is not true, though a cup of hot water with lemon can certainly be soothing), to take the place of the facts.

Symptom 5: Lack of Clear Leadership

We have had a slew of incongruent messages coming from various leaders as the pandemic progressed. Inconsistent messaging makes it more difficult for individuals to converge around the most accurate ‘source’ of truth about what we should and should not be doing to protect ourselves from COVID-19. This confusion opens the door for us to fall prey to COVID-19 myths.

For example, in Canada we were originally told that masks would not help to protect us. But official advice did a 180, recommending masks, leaving many without the option of finding one as we navigate a shortage. We now have a bunch of DIY-er’s teaching tutorials on how to make a N95 facemask out of a bra (no, they don’t work).

Another example: Trump. His nonsensical messaging about COVID-19 – often flying in the face of expert advice – is confusing to the public. Falsities include COVID-19 not being as bad as the common flu (it’s 10 time more lethal, actually) and that the US is doing way better than other countries (the US is now top of the death toll leaderboard so… no). His messaging is highly confusing and highly dangerous.

Conflicting messaging with other officials can lead to cognitive dissonance – i.e., when we hold two conflicting beliefs at the same time, leading to mental discomfort, that pushes us to resolve the dissonance, usually by leaning towards one of the conflicting beliefs. So perhaps we see belief polarization in the public with some trusting Trump and some trusting the scientists at the CDC.

Additionally, we are often swayed by the Halo Effect. It is a bias in which we tend to project our positive impressions of a person in one area onto other things they are doing as well. Are you a supporter of Trump’s policies? You are more likely to look favourably at his medical advice as well (despite having no expertise in that area) just because you already feel positively about him.

We now have Trump making the outrageous and obviously false claim about the injection of bleach into the body to fight the virus. To most people, this would be a ridiculous suggestion as bleach is poisonous and doing so would cause you to… die. However, the confused public reacted immediately: in Maryland, a health hotline was flooded with questions about injecting bleach that it was forced to issue a statement about not taking any disinfectant for the coronavirus. Other states had to issue similar warnings because of the impact of Trump’s words on the general public.

This is a dangerous myth. DO NOT ingest or inject bleach or any disinfectants. They are poisonous.

Inoculation

How can you inoculate yourself against myths – from the silly to the harmful? Here is our inoculation guide:

Limit your exposure to forums or channels known for propagating Fake News.
Visit or verify statements based on trusted sources: like the WHO and local government webpages.
Always check with an authority before taking an action in your own treatment, like a medical professional.
Question your emotional reaction. What does the evidence say?

Check out the full list of the World Health Organization’s myth-busters here.