Temporal Unpredictability and Probabilistic Uncertainty: The Probable Contributing Factors to Anxiety during COVID19 Pandemic

Disasters, natural like earthquakes, tsunamis, and pandemics or man-made wars and terrorism, always affect the psychological well-being of human beings. Apart from socio-economic losses, individuals also suffer from stress, anxiety and depression in times of disasters. The current coronavirus pandemic also has seen an increase in the incidence and prevalence of stress, anxiety and depression among the general public and also among medical professionals. Social isolation, quarantine, lack of preventive and treatment options, fear of contracting the infection have all contributed to the stress and anxiety among the public. Human beings prefer order and avoid chaos in everyday life. Humans prefer to live in a predictable and certain environment over an unpredictable and uncertain environment. The current coronavirus pandemic is characterized by unpredictability and uncertainty around several events. For instance, initially, the virus was predicted to affect only the respiratory system but later it was found that the virus also affects the brain, kidneys and blood vessels causing panic among the public. Similarly, in the early stages of the pandemic, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine were touted as effective therapeutic agents against the virus but the later studies proved that these drugs are not effective causing further confusion. The sudden institution of lockdowns by governments and when the lockdowns will be lifted was unpredictable and uncertain. All these unpredictable and uncertain events related to organs affected by the virus, chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine and lockdowns might have contributed to the stress, anxiety and depression among the public. Many human and animal studies have proven that unpredictable and uncertain events heighten the level of stress compared to predictable and certain events. In this paper, we review the effect of unpredictability and uncertainty of the current coronavirus pandemic in incidence and prevalence of stress, anxiety, depression and suicide among the people