For the past several months, I've been speaking to psychologists and sociologists about what we know about mass trauma and how covid-19 compares. Colleagues on four continents contributed to this story about how some of the hardest-hit cities are faring... https://www.economist.com/international/2020/08/29/worldwide-covid-19-is-causing-a-new-form-of-collective-trauma

In Guayaquil, people are still searching for the bodies of relatives who died months ago. In Codogno, a boy begged a priest to forgive the "sin" of lowering his face mask outdoors. Never in our lifetimes have so many people in so many places been traumatised at once.

In some ways, covid is easier to deal with than past
traumas. It moves more slowly and is more dispersed than a natural disaster. Unlike a war or a terrorist attack, there is no direct human enemy to blame. Some find comfort in the fact that the whole world is going through it.

In other ways, it is harder. No one knows when it will end. Social distancing makes it difficult to reconnect with others, a step in recovering from trauma. And the economic shock of covid-19 has undermined mental-health services everywhere, but especially in poor countries.

Perhaps the single most important factor in recovery is social support. Our leader offers some thoughts on what countries and communities should do to boost it, beyond hotlines and WhatsApp groups. https://www.economist.com/leaders/2020/08/29/how-to-reduce-the-mental-trauma-of-covid-19

As countries come out of lockdown, people for whom covid-19 was a minor hassle are experiencing a sense of relief. But for millions of others it was life-changing and their lingering trauma will take much longer to overcome. That's something for all of us to think about.

Many thanks to @john_hooper @skueffner @TedPlafker @PedderSophie @Rosemarie_Ward and Caroline Carter without whose reporting this story would not exist. And to André François for the lead photo.