Blessed are the children!

Why do children get sick less than adults with Covid-19? What are mental viruses and how to combat them? Messages to take care of our brain in difficult times.

By: Psic. Rubén Reyes

It is a surprising fact of nature that children are not the primary victims of Covid-19. Compared to sick adults, they usually exhibit mild symptoms.

According to scientific studies, children at this stage of their lives have a very active immune system against respiratory infections and their bodies have no history of previous diseases. In infected children, the virus affects their noses, mouths and throats (the upper tract), without generally staying in the lungs. It is likely that children have a more active and intense immune display and that is why they get more fever than adults and their symptoms soon pass. One likely reason is that the virus needs a protein (ACE-2 converting enzyme) on the surface of a cell (a receptor) to enter the cell and replicate. Children may have fewer ACE-2 receptors in the lungs than in the upper respiratory tract.

Additionally, their small bodies have not developed the immune response called a “cytokine storm,” which, when faced with an external pathogen, in some adults, ends up attacking the good cells of our body in an attempt to destroy the enemy. When this is unleashed in the body, it is possible to lead to a general collapse or multiple failure of the internal organs.

https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20200330-coronavirus-are-children-immune-to-covid-19

Can you imagine what the current situation would be like if our children were the most vulnerable host to Covid-19?

But in addition to the scientific note, I want to refer in this article to another immune system, not very visible, that protects us from “mental” viruses. These mental viruses attack us all the time, they are in the environment, but they are especially lethal in times of crisis.

A mental virus is a belief, an idea, a value, a perception, a learned experience that is introduced into our personal belief system and is part of our “automatic” rules of behavior, thought or verbalization. They are transmitted through culture, within the family and throughout our long socialization process.

We all have a belief system that allows us to interpret our reality and act to achieve the two most important goals of a human being: survive and grow (transcend).

The evidence that a mental virus has penetrated our belief system is that it becomes outdated over time, varies with each stage of life and is affected by environmental circumstances.

When this happens, we usually say phrases like “I’ve realized” and make adjustments, often painful, about the way we look at the world.

Since these mental viruses are real and affect us powerfully, we must be alert and “inoculate” into our system a new set of healthier beliefs, favorable for me and those around me.

I have called this “Mental Hygiene” and it is equivalent to washing your hands, bathing every day and throwing away or giving away what is out of use, what has deteriorated.

With this pandemic, beliefs like these are unleashed:

“Everyone abroad is bad for me, they are a potential enemy” and we reach the limit of discriminating against people like medical personnel and immigrants.

“When the epidemic passes, surely we will all become better people, it is impossible for people not to change”

Beliefs sound logical, however, most of the time they are generalizations that do not withstand the filter of reason, but are harmful to adapt, build relationships and move forward.

Some steps to free ourselves from mental viruses:

1. Identify them. Pay attention to our small inconsistencies. To those moments when, as it is not natural, some area of ​​our lives is not going well.
2. Accept that there is a flaw in our system. These signs are the opportunity to put our beliefs on the table and dare to challenge them. Without awareness there is no possibility of change.
3. Question beliefs. Daring to question one’s beliefs from time to time is a very positive habit that we can carry out. It is true that…? Is there another way to…?
4. Replace them. Once a limiting belief has been identified, it is the opportunity to replace it with another that is more constructive, ecological and less draining in terms of effort and energy.
5. Reinforce them. We can reinforce our positive beliefs by acknowledging the effects of these changes and affirming (affirming or bringing to light) in a journal or to those closest to us the importance of these new beliefs to us.

In future articles I will be referring to very specific strategies to educate our brain so that our beliefs do not play tricks on us.

This unprecedented global situation of which we are exceptional witnesses, is an unparalleled opportunity to “reset” ourselves and program better human beings, ourselves and our children; and thus stop bad conceptions that we have been transmitting for generations.

The invitation is to become more innocent like children, to try to challenge limiting paradigms of the past and to follow this incessant path of learning that makes us, despite everything, worthy human beings.

Thank you very much and until the next post.