(skip to “The Sixth Question” below if you read prior questions already)
Having broached the topic of masks, I want to encourage dialogue between the polarities of the debate. This is challenging given the political climate of uncivil discord rather than civil discourse. With a vision of communities coming together to collectively determine truth and decide on policy, I offer a series of questions. I don’t want to give answers, but questions that re-teach all of us to engage in discourse which will lead us to that vision. Somewhere between the polar extremes, we will find the truth that we all need.
Therefore, let’s unmask the truth whether it leads to “masks or no masks”, “mandates or no mandates”, and more.
The Sixth Question…
Imagine yourself confronted by someone who expresses an opinion contrary to yours. It could be on social media, in line at the grocery store, in a town hall meeting, a family gathering, or anywhere. Your first impulse is to blast away. Throw your best at them. Pound them into submission. This happens from both sides of the debate.
Besides raw reason and data, consider the emotions behind a concrete bunker response. They may dig in and filter out any logic you offer if an emotion has them afraid. One thing that may trigger such an emotional response is that they believe they are at higher risk for COVID infection and death. For the elderly and those with chronic health conditions, this appears true. For others, they may be caring for family members with such conditions.
Repeating logical argument after logical argument will not make any headway. Maybe you should stop and ask if there are other ways you might help them. If you know of actions they can take to protect themselves, offer those ideas. If heightened emotions continue to create a tense situation for further debate, ask if you could talk to them later.
Don’t alienate a friend who is afraid. Simultaneously, examine your own fears to see if they are causing you to “not listen” to the other side. We all get caught up in this pitfall.
Sanctuary Functional Medicine, under the direction of Dr Eric Potter, IFMCP MD, provides functional medicine services to Nashville, Middle Tennessee and beyond. We frequently treat patients from Kentucky, Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Ohio, Indiana, and more... offering the hope of healthier more abundant lives to those with chronic illness.
Thank you for your insight Dr. Potter. I’ve had to learn to step back and realize how much fear there is amongst my friends and how I support them in other ways beside offering information. For some reason they trust the media Dr. in place instead of the many Drs. from all over the world I’ve come across that are actually treating this virus successfully and offering them hope through a healthy diet, sunshine, keeping vitamin D levels up and offering the 2 different protocols that many Drs are using with great success. It’s been discouraging to offer hope that has proof of working and watch them continue to live fear. I never realized how strong of a weapon fear was until this all happened.