The most recent event that has caused an uproar of emotions is the spreading of COVID-19. As schools move to an online format and stores lack supplies, everyone is going through their own emotions.  

“It’s not the virus that I’m scared of. It’s the economic impact that is going to be caused because of everything being shut down and bought out,” Fabian Tolan, BC student, said.  

Fear, no matter where it stems from, is something that most people suffer from, but there are some that deal with situations by expressing or showing no emotion. Those dealing with apathy don’t care about their own problems, or any of those around them, and they oftentimes feel no emotion whenever something good or bad happens according to WebMD. 

“I have some patients come in that suffer from apathy. A lot of them aren’t aware of the negative impact of not allowing emotions to surface is doing to them mentally,” Alexis Valos, local psychologist, said. “A lot of my patients also suffer from extreme fear which also isn’t healthy for their mental stability.”  

A balance of both fear and apathy ensures that not one over powers the other. Sometimes fear is uncontrollable because of the biochemical reaction in your brain of “fight or flight.” Although people can see how irrational their fear is, your emotional response will be stronger than your logical responses according to an article published on Very Well Mind.  

“Balancing fear and apathy is a learning process. You don’t just get out of bed one morning and your lack of emotions or irrational fear is gone, but there are some tactics that will help with experiencing both emotions in a healthy way,” Valos said.   

Apathy comes from having a fear of something, and overtime the fear is too strong that it gets pushed back. People can develop ways to ignore the fear by blocking out any emotion that comes to mind. Having too much fear or not allowing yourself to experience any emotion can influence one’s mental health.

Valos recommended that no try to overcome either emotion alone, it could cause a large amount of stress and depression if it becomes too much to handle on your own. It’s okay to be scared, but don’t let it over power every other emotion and don’t ignore your fear either.