{"id":21312,"date":"2020-07-12T20:01:45","date_gmt":"2020-07-12T20:01:45","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/?p=21312"},"modified":"2020-07-19T14:11:50","modified_gmt":"2020-07-19T14:11:50","slug":"how-talking-about-the-coronavirus-as-an-enemy-combatant-can-backfire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/how-talking-about-the-coronavirus-as-an-enemy-combatant-can-backfire\/","title":{"rendered":"How talking about the coronavirus as an enemy combatant can backfire"},"content":{"rendered":"

Tabitha Moses<\/a>, Wayne State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

Sometimes war involves battling other countries; other times, it\u2019s the metaphorical kind, like our current \u201cwar\u201d against the coronavirus.<\/p>\n

We see this war reflected in the language that gets used by politicians, policymakers, journalists and healthcare workers.<\/p>\n

As the \u201cinvisible enemy<\/a>\u201d rolled in, entire economies halted as populations \u201csheltered in place.\u201d We were told to \u201chunker down<\/a>\u201d for the long battle ahead and to \u201csupport our troops<\/a>,\u201d the health care workers, fighting on the \u201cfront lines<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

These military-inspired metaphors serve a purpose<\/a>. Unlike the dense linguistic landscape of science and medicine, their messages are clear: Danger. Buckle Down. Cooperate.<\/p>\n

In fact, studies have shown that sometimes military metaphors can help unite people<\/a> against a common enemy. They can convey a sense of urgency<\/a> so that people drop what they\u2019re doing and start paying attention.<\/p>\n

However, as someone who has studied the way language influences behavior<\/a>, I know that this kind of rhetoric can have long-term effects that are less positive<\/a>, particularly within health and medicine. In fact, research has shown that these metaphors can cause people to make decisions that go against sound medical advice.<\/p>\n

A linguistic war footing<\/h2>\n

Militarized rhetoric was popularized with the \u201cWar on Drugs<\/a>,\u201d a term coined by President Richard Nixon in an effort to reduce illicit drug use in the U.S. Since then, the language of war has seeped into our collective lexicon<\/a>. We\u2019re currently engaged in a war against climate change<\/a>. Some argue there\u2019s a war on Christmas<\/a>, while others say there\u2019s a war against truth<\/a>.<\/p>\n

So it\u2019s only natural that when a new, deadly virus emerges, the warspeak persists<\/a>.<\/p>\n

[Deep knowledge, daily.<\/em> Sign up for The Conversation\u2019s newsletter<\/a>.]<\/p>\n

Military metaphors aren\u2019t new to medicine<\/a>; they\u2019ve long played a role in shaping patients\u2019 relationships with illness<\/a>. Cancer<\/a> is a key example of this. The cancer is an enemy, invading the patient\u2019s body. Patients are told they must fight, that they are at war, and they must be strong while they receive treatments that target those enemy cells for destruction.<\/p>\n

The fact they are used so often indicates that these metaphors serve a purpose<\/a>. They\u2019re simple and straightforward, helping us comprehend and categorize something that\u2019s complex and unpredictable.<\/p>\n

Why war and medicine don\u2019t mesh<\/h2>\n

But this framing contains a potentially dangerous<\/a> undercurrent.<\/p>\n

Language affects cognition, and cognition affects our behaviors. Wartime language<\/a> has been shown to alter our behavior \u2013 and not always for the better.<\/p>\n

In war, opposing sides are engaged in a struggle. Whoever survives longest and fights hardest wins. Strength and confidence are commended, while fearful behaviors are viewed with contempt. The World War II poster \u201cKeep calm and carry on<\/a>\u201d exemplifies this mindset. The underlying message of the so-called \u201cWar on Terror<\/a>\u201d was to not allow fear to disrupt our lives. There was a major focus on returning to \u201clife as normal,\u201d and the return to national pastimes, like baseball<\/a>, was thought to play a huge role in helping the country heal.<\/p>\n

These approaches can appear helpful<\/a>, but in the case of the coronavirus medical advice suggests physical distancing and mask wearing<\/a>. Unfortunately, this guidance requires disruption. To stay home is to change your routine<\/a>, to wear a mask is to appear weak and afraid<\/a> and to avoid everything that makes up our daily routine is to let the enemy win<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"\"
When dealing with a virus, rhetorical bombast is meaningless \u2013 and can even backfire.<\/span>
\nArtur Nichiporenko via Getty Images<\/a><\/span><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Research shows that military metaphors lead to negative behaviors in other health situations. People may become more likely to take risks<\/a>, overtreat<\/a> themselves and be less likely to engage in preventive activities<\/a>. For example, some people may not want to appear afraid of sun exposure, and this can make them less likely to use sunscreen. Others may continue seeking treatments for terminal diseases \u2013 despite the debilitating side effects \u2013 because they don\u2019t want to be seen as having \u201cgiven up.\u201d<\/p>\n

The way war metaphors emphasize strength can also stigmatize<\/a> those who do become sick: They\u2019re now seen as weak<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The dichotomy of strength versus weakness implies choice, as though those who were infected chose to surrender<\/a>. In reality, that which makes us appear strong and confident in a war only works in the context of a battle with other humans. It goes without saying that something like a virus or an illicit drug has no grasp of human psychology, so displays of confidence are meaningless.<\/p>\n

War loosens our morals and ethics<\/h2>\n

There\u2019s also a more insidious element of war-like metaphors that frame public policy initiatives.<\/p>\n

During war, the public is generally more open to actions that aren\u2019t tolerated in peacetime<\/a>. The construction of Japanese internment camps<\/a> during World War II and the depiction of immigrants as \u201cinvaders<\/a>\u201d to lay the groundwork for their indefinite detainment<\/a> are stark illustrations of this phenomenon.<\/p>\n

In the world of research and medicine, war and war metaphors have been shown to contribute to unethical research<\/a>. The \u201cbattles\u201d against certain diseases have led researchers to violate their ethical responsibility in an effort to \u201cwin the war\u201d for the greater good. For example, in the infamous Tuskegee Syphilis experiments<\/a> researchers justified not treating almost 400 African-American men for syphilis \u2013 or even telling them they had the disease \u2013 in order to learn about natural disease progression.<\/p>\n

During the pandemic we\u2019ve seen discussions of health care rationing<\/a> and the prioritization of some lives over others in a way that wouldn\u2019t normally be acceptable<\/a>. Texas Gov. Dan Patrick openly advocated<\/a> that older people should volunteer to die to save the economy.<\/p>\n

When we describe a virus as an enemy to be defeated, it shifts our perceptions about how to respond to the virus and can cause the public to behave in illogical ways.<\/p>\n

As states across the U.S. start to reopen, only to find out the virus continues to spread unabated, these military metaphors could be causing more harm than good<\/a>. It may be time to change the way we talk about the virus.\"The<\/p>\n

Tabitha Moses<\/a>, MD\/PhD Candidate, Wayne State University<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

This article is republished from The Conversation<\/a> under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Tabitha Moses, Wayne State University Sometimes war involves battling other countries; other times, it\u2019s the metaphorical kind, like our current \u201cwar\u201d against the coronavirus. We see this war reflected in the language that gets used by politicians, policymakers, journalists and healthcare workers. As the \u201cinvisible enemy\u201d rolled in, entire economies halted as populations \u201csheltered in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":21314,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[42],"tags":[7559,7689,376,479,149,2755,133,8312,697,7110,97],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21312"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21312"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21312\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21382,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21312\/revisions\/21382"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/21314"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21312"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21312"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lifeandnews.com\/articles\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21312"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}