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Collected Item: ““I just feel rage”: 6 stories from around the world of surviving Covid-19”

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“I just feel rage”: 6 stories from around the world of surviving Covid-19

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Article, Screenshot

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From the article: "To help combat the numbing, here are a few people’s stories of surviving Covid-19, in their own words. These patients live in Nigeria, Spain, Iran, England, Italy, and New Jersey, and they each had different experiences with their medical systems. Some health institutions have clearly responded better than others." Because COVID-19 is a global pandemic, it is important to include resources in this archive that compare and contrast different experiences with COVID-19 across the globe.

This article is also important because it argues for a shift in how we describe the trauma of COVID. Author Lois Parshley argues that we are currently facing a crisis with "psychic numbing", a process in which our brains struggle to comprehend the sheer amount of sickness, death, and trauma. Parshley argues that while people struggle to understand the tangible impact of a statistic like "125,000 deaths", they are more likely to be receptive and compassionate when presented with individual stories. In other words, whether it be callous politicians or skeptical family and friends, people are more likely to take COVID seriously when they are presented with individual accounts of suffering rather than statistics.

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https://www.vox.com/2020/7/1/21308420/coronavirus-symptoms-spain-italy-new-jersey-england-iran-nigeria

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Lois Parshley, Vox News

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2020-07-01
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