The global spread of COVID-19 has caused widespread fear and anxiety, first because
of the fear of infection, the anguish of death, and then because of enduring uncertainties
about the nature of the epidemic, its modes of transmission, its degree of severity, and
the effectiveness of therapeutic intervention protocols to save those infected.
A distinction should be made between two situations that are often confused: on the one
hand, the psychological effects caused by the fear of the spread of the pandemic and
its severity – and thus revealing the threat they pose to the life instinct – and, on the other
hand, those caused by measures taken to combat the pandemic, including the lockdown.
