While Dr. Raper did not specifically speak on the difference between COVID19 and HIV, he talked in great details about certain approaches employed to help someone. It was refreshing to hear him emphasize the point that the person offering help to someone needs to be aware that they, as the ‘helper,’ cannot simply be dismissive of the person’s choices, even if it at first seems ‘clearly bad.’ The example he elaborated on was helping someone out of an abusive relationship. Most people would be tempted to bombard the person with questions and assumptions such as “Why are you still with them? They are so abusive! You are so stupid for choosing to stay with them.”
Dr. Raper emphasized, however, that perhaps someone who makes that decision does so out of the comfort knowing that they are familiar with that environment, and that breaking free from the relationship might put them in an unknown financial and/or social status. I thought of how this might be applied to talking to someone who identifies as ‘anti-vaxxer.’ While I’m not too sure of what the correct, best way is, I think the definitely wrong way, supported by the ideas brought up by Dr. Raper, is bashing on those people with statements such as “You don’t want to vaccinate? You’re so stupid! It’s literally going to save your life!” While I intuitively knew that this was the wrong approach even prior to the talk, Dr. Raper spoke of this approach in the broader context of psychiatry, which reassured me that it truly is undoubtedly the ‘wrong’ way to communicate with those opposing views of this pandemic.
Hi Quyen!
I really enjoyed reading your post. You brought up a great point about how we should not be quick to judge someone staying in an abusive relationship; there may be a lot of factors that we do not know of that are keeping that individual from walking away. These same principles apply to conversations with anti-vaxxers, or really any person with whom we disagree. It is necessary to have conversations, listen, and try to understand where the other person is coming from. This isn’t to say one should be submissive and subdue one’s beliefs; however, it is necessary to speak about your beliefs without judging others. Although, this may be easier said than done.
Quyen, what approach do you think would be appropriate when talking to someone who is anti-vax? Have you had to do this in your life over the last few years?