The Dynamics of Fear at the Time of Covid-19: A Contextual Behavioral Science Perspective

COVID-19 is the relevant disease caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) transmitted via close contact between persons. On March 12th, 2020, WHO announced COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic, in view of its worldwide escalation. As the pandemic disease explodes, a parallel outbreak of fear and worry is also spreading. We react to fear symbolically, by arbitrarily relating it to other objects and events through derived verbal relations, so language may alter the way we experience events and consequently affects how we are functionally or dysfunctionally oriented to the world around us. In this paper we will outline the different human learning processes connected to fear responding, from the simplest type to the more complex cognitive ones, approaching them from the point of view of contextual behavioral science, a modern form of behavioral thinking. We will outline a model of intervention to foster psychological flexibility and more functional value-based actions. We will argue that in a pandemic and in the post-pandemic phase it could be a key for adapting to new and changed circumstances.