Reality vs. Propaganda. PTSD among Civilian Healthcare Staff and Patients and the Rhetorical Invention of the War on Coronavirus""

Reality vs. Propaganda. PTSD among Civilian Healthcare Staff and Patients and the Rhetorical Invention of the War on Coronavirus""

Patrizia Piredda

As the coronavirus pandemic broke out in March of 2020, many countries’ healthcare systems were overwhelmed by the sudden increase in the number of hospitalised patients and deaths. Not only hospitals but the healthcare staff struggled too, who faced unprecedented stressful work conditions for which they often had no training. Politicians and the media addressed the sanitary crisis using the metaphor of ‚war on coronavirus‛, calling the national and international communities to an emotional ‚call to arms‛. However, the article argues that the use of war metaphors was misleading and incorrect because PTSD triggered in civilian healthcare staff by the harsh work conditions during the crisis was not entirely comparable with PTSD in military medical staff deployed in combat zones. The ethical burden and the exposure to risks of physical injury and death made the conditions of these two groups comparable. However, the technical and professional preparation of the military and the civilian healthcare staff diverge and make their operational contexts incomparable. The author thus argues that the ‚war on coronavirus‛ was a wrong metaphor used to divert public attention from the actual state of the inefficiency of the national health systems in such countries as Italy and the UK.

2020

coronavirus, Metaphor, ptsd in civilian healthcare staff, rhetorical manipulation and propaganda

Epidemiology and Health

Korean Society of Epidemiology

Social sciences (General), History (General)