NIMH: “Panic Disorder: When Fear Overwhelms”

“And he would point this out as evidence that we fear the judgment of our peers, and that we’re embarrassed about showing our ideas to people we think of as our peers, to those around us. And this fear is what causes us to be conservative in our thinking. So we might have a wild idea, but we’re afraid to share it with anybody else.”

Tim Brown, Serious Play 2008

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With an interest in leadership especially the rise of creative innovating skills, I have been observing intently the leadership during this virus wave. Not surprising, most leadership has been average and in a follower mode (ie, non-innovative). At the low end of the innovation spectrum is the governmental action with regards to shelter-in-place and face masks which replicates the strategy from 1918 for the Spanish Flu. In contrast, there has been some exemplary EQ-based responses such as in Germany, Sweden, South Korea, Taiwan, Singapore and Japan.

This led me to see if the poorer responses can be diagnosed with a leadership disability condition. I found that Panic Disorder aligns closely to what we have seen. Referring to “Panic Disorder: When Fear Overwhelms” from the National Institute of Mental Health, which lists the following symptoms:

• Sudden and repeated panic attacks of overwhelming anxiety and fear
• A feeling of being out of control, or a fear of death or impending doom during a panic attack
• Physical symptoms during a panic attack, such as a pounding or racing heart, sweating, chills, trembling, breathing problems, weakness or dizziness, tingly or numb hands, chest pain, stomach pain, and nausea
• An intense worry about when the next panic attack will happen
• A fear or avoidance of places where panic attacks have occurred in the past

There is an inability to focus and a desire to collapse. There is a tendency to interpret small (mostly) harmless sensations as threatening and to want to make everyone around them feel the same way. We also may notice the absence of positivity and gratitude, two areas that YCISL focuses on.

This virus response experience has shown the need for YCISL to nurture more resilient leadership in our youth population. To empower youth with confidence to step through risk and uncertainty, and create opportunity, purpose, and hope. We remind ourselves of Tim Brown’s points about the growth of fear in adults and the aversion to embarrassment and negative judgment.