In turbulent times, Canadians turn to their families

While penning this column sitting in a seventeenth floor condominium apartment overlooking the Canadian CN Tower in a temperature a little above zero, this reminds me of the tropical climate that Tanzanians enjoy and have taken for granted, a weather which Canadians would love to have particularly during the coming months when temperatures are expected to drop to below freezing point. 

Canada is experiencing the start of a recession following the September 11 attacks in the USA and already the banks have dropped interest rates to the lowest level in forty years. The Governor of the Bank of Canada last week issued probably his most pessimistic economic forecast ever when he predicted an anemic economy with no growth and shrinkage in the remaining months of this year and worse still next year. He anticipates that consumer and business confidence in North America could stay weak for some time and pointed out that in his opinion, by the end of 2002, the economy will still be operating below potential. 

According to a local survey two  thirds of Canadians fear more for their personal safety and that of their families today than before the terrorist attacks of September 11. The poll shows that one in three Canadian adults report being “anxious and irritable” and one in four say they are stressed. The apprehension is reflected in a notable rise in prescriptions for anti-anxiety drugs and sleeping pills. Local newspapers could not provide pertinent data for drug sales in Canada but to sink in the point have reported that sales of anti-anxiety pills in New York have shot up by 25 per cent while in Washington sales have gone up by 13 per cent and about 9 per cent across the United States. 

According to anecdotal information, higher than usual numbers of people are losing themselves in drinks, drugs and casual sex. But attendance at health clubs and participation in volunteer activities and religious services are also up significantly, proof that there are positive things that people can do to counter the feelings of dread and hopelessness. 

The few Canadians I talked to over the last few days have been critical of television saying that in the cut-throat competition between a spate of news channels, news broadcasts are being unduly puffed up. A director of heart research at the University Health Network in Toronto has called on Canadians not to remain riveted in front of the TV watching all-news channels and despairing about the state of the world. He has suggested that people schedule pleasurable activities, practice relaxation techniques and engage in positive self-talk rather than focusing on the negative all the time. 

Like in death or even a divorce, any crisis has a natural progression with a period of initial impact, recoil and post trauma prior to ultimate acceptance of the situation. However in the current situation many are stuck in the mid-place, the anxiety phase because almost every day new violent incidents are being reported along with news of foiled attempts. While people make attempts to get some control over their daily lives, fresh incidents of violence act like recycling loops that keep reminding them of their vulnerability.

Public hysteria, the contagion of panic spread by rumour and false alarms, is more dangerous than the real problem. For example there is this case of a factory where a worker complained of being bitten by a poisonous insect and becoming sick. Within a week, 62 other workers claimed they, too, had been bitten, and exhibited symptoms of rashes and nausea when actually it was subsequently confirmed that no such bug did exist. Similarly in the current hype, people are having a difficult time to draw a line between what is actually a threat and what is not.

Terrorism, anthrax scares and the war in Afghanistan are however not the sole factors leading to stress. Rather the leading source of worry here are financial worries while anxiety from world events follows as a closed second. Job woes are also cited as significant stressors. This is because more and more people are finding it hard to make ends meet amidst redundancies and an imminent recession.

On a positive note the number of those who have identified family demands as stressful has dropped compared to previous years. This does not necessarily reflect a change in family life but indicates that when jets are crashing into office towers and terrorism is rife, people are turning to their families for comfort at a time when world events are frightening.