Why do you feel indifferent when there is an apocalypse going on?

It seems logical that the more stress we experience, the more our nerves will be on edge, and our fear will intensify. However, things are not always as obvious as they seem.

Let's look at a psychological experiment:

The participants were divided into two groups: the first group was subjected to stress (public speaking, solving complex tasks), while the second group was left alone. Then the stress level was evaluated by measuring the production of the hormone cortisol (which increases during stress).

Both groups were then shown an article about a dangerous substance, and it turned out that those who had higher cortisol levels before the experiment were less responsive to the new danger than those who were not stressed beforehand.

In the situation of a pandemic, this could mean that a "stressed" person worries less about a new mutation of the coronavirus than someone who was not stressed.

And here's where everything becomes logical again: strong stress (which affects the endocrine system) suppresses fear, as someone who is strongly distressed about something has no concern for other things.

So, when you see that your loved ones are not worried about the chaos going on, think about what problems are taking up all their attention. And don't beat yourself up for being apathetic towards the problems in the world if your cortisol levels are off the charts due to your own problems - it's normal.

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