Last year, as summer approached, I wrote about the emotion sometimes referred to as cave syndrome. It’s the feeling one gets, upon nearing the end of a troubling time, of reluctance to emerge from behind all the protective measures that have made survival possible. Though the metaphorical storm has passed, and the sun is coming out, people experiencing cave syndrome stay huddled inside, in the dark, as if the storm is still raging on. They distrust the appearance of safety and refuse to relax.
I wrote about cave syndrome in relation to what appeared at the time to be the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. “The COVID-19 pandemic is waning,” I said. “Restrictions on social contact are being lifted. Soon, people will be able to emerge from their homes, and meet others, up close, without masks.”
Looking back at the optimism I felt back then, I cringe. I didn’t know that in a matter of weeks, the delta variant of the coronavirus would appear, and then omicron, resulting in a return to mandatory mask wearing in many places, and a sudden skyrocketing of hospitalizations and deaths. The pandemic was not anywhere close to being over. Now, in the darkness of February 2022, no one has any idea when the end will come.
Cave syndrome is a luxury that seems beyond our grasp. In its place, people are now experiencing a darker emotion known as resilience fatigue. Resilience fatigue is the feeling people get after they have endured the expectation of the maintenance of a positive outlook in spite of the suffering of trauma over a long period of time. After a while, they just can’t wear a happy face to cover their anxiety and pain anymore. The exhaustion they feel from holding up the facade of doing okay causes them to collapse into a feeling of thorough helplessness. They lose the ability to take keep up with the basic tasks of everyday life, and their thoughts blur into a confused, stumbling purposelessness. In a terrible cycle, resilience fatigue makes social interactions exhausting, and the lack of social contact makes resilience fatigue even more severe.
Is there a way out of resilience fatigue? Authenticity is key. Putting on a brave face won’t work. People suffering from resilience fatigue need to be given the space and time to heal in peace, with the compassionate understanding of people who are willing to pick up the slack for them.
Given the way that the COVID-19 pandemic has pushed huge numbers of people into resilience fatigue while simultaneously weakening supportive social bonds, it’s going to be a long, slow process for many to recover. Many people never will.
