Just wondering what motivates that driver zipping through freeway traffic? I’m traveling at the speed limit. The speedy scofflaw weaves through traffic with reckless disregard for life, going so fast it is problematic to identify if the person driving is man or woman. Is the driver suicidal? The car, a blue BMW, zips by me at close to 100 MPH as it changes lanes again and again. I’m told that the pandemic has seen fewer cars on the road, but the incidents of reckless driving and lethal car crashes have become a major cause for concern over the last two years. Judging from the morning newspaper accounts, someone dies on the roads here in Pierce County nearly every day. Why, then, has the death toll on our roadways increased to levels not seen since the 2007?
Let me guess. The causes of rash driving behavior are hard to unravel, but the COVID pandemic has produced considerable isolation. That must have something to do with the frightening trend of reckless driving. Allow a confined creature out of its cage and it will haul ass as a gesture of liberation and disobedience to those powers that have held it captive. Emotional burdens from the pandemic over the last few years have weighed heavily on people. According to Lifeworks, our nation’s mental health index since the pandemic plummeted, producing ominous results. Risk of depression is 71% higher than before COVID-19. Risk of PTSD is 33% higher than before COVID-19. Sustained attention is 27% worse than before COVID-19. Now, where was I? Ah, yes, in addition, increased alcohol and drug use rose dramatically during the pandemic resulting in increased danger for everyone on the roads. Whatever the reasons, people are crashing through the normal guardrails of a safe and orderly society. People are speeding and increasingly taking risks on our freeways and side streets. Because of political discords, COVID concerns, universal health mandates, growing economic ambiguities, and amplified tribalism, most everyone is anxious as well as angry.
Insert the stressed out, angry person behind the wheel for an errand to buy a bottle of Johnnie Walker at the liquor store, and the odds go way up that something bad will happen. Our death-defying driver can’t stand people who drive too slowly. Worse, this fuming motorist can’t stand fools who drive too fast because our featured driver will now show just how fast is fast. Katy bar the door. And there you have it. Someone please call 911. Could be you in that smashed-to-smithereens car. Could be anyone. Anger personified chauffeurs too many vehicles on our highways.
I’m angry because everyone else is angry. It is the latest thing. Let anger glow and spray like a Roman candle.
I’m angry at Trump for attempting to sabotage democracy with his self-dealing and giant-like witlessness. I’m angry at Putin for attempting to destroy everything in his path for the sake of a Mother Russia only he envisions. I’m angry at people who don’t wear masks and stand too close at the grocery store. I’m angry at people who wear masks and tell everyone else that they must wear masks. I’m angry at people who drive too fast. I’m angry at people who drive too slowly. I’m angry at people who make laws that restrict other people’s rights. I’m angry at people who whine and complain about their rights being violated but do nothing to improve their lot. I’m angry at racists, a category that especially includes everyone who says, “I’m not a racist.” I’m angry at lawmakers who pass legislation to suppress marginal groups, LGBTQ+ people, for instance. I’m angry at those same marginal groups for too often turning their backs and hiding from their struggles for equality. I’m angry that people are fighting and cursing on airplanes to the degree that pilots must abort their flights. I’m angry at airlines because they overbook flights and mismanaged operations, which in turn triggers disappointment and stress. I want to speak to the manager because I’m angry that my meal is taking so long to arrive. I’m angry at the butcher because I was next in line to order, but he served that pushy woman who crowded in front of me. I’m angry at the city engineers because the traffic lights are not timed efficiently, so I must stop at every red light on my way to the butcher who will make be wait behind that unpleasant woman who crowded in front of me. I’m angry at the neighbor who makes so much noise when he mows his lawn and blows his clippings into the street every other day. I’m angry at everyone who doesn’t return my calls immediately. Just like everyone else, I’m angry at the cable company for being who they are, the cable company. I’m angry at the major religions because they continue to stir up sectarian discord. But mostly, of course, I am angry because I am afraid, because I feel threatened, and because I am impatient.
Fear is usually where anger starts for me. When vexed and angry, I am usually beset by angst, beyond which lies fear. I might be afraid of COVID, so that unmasked fellow standing behind me, the one sniffling and clearing his throat, in the grocery checkout line makes me angry, or should I admit that I make myself angry? I might be afraid of getting into a car crash, so I get angry and blast my horn at that stupid pickup truck in front of me that squeezes into my lane. I am afraid that I might lose my bet that I have placed on the home team when some weasel on the visiting team hits a homerun, so I scream at the television and throw my shoe in the general direction of the dog. Because calmness and quiet are good for health, I get angry when that guy behind me at the stoplight has his stereo subwoofer cranked up so high that the ground shakes and the vibrations from his racket shiver right up my backbone. Don’t get me started on all those cheats and grifters who pitch their scams and frauds. They are everywhere: on television, on radio, on your phone, in your newspaper, and online.
I realize that I am a martyr to every disappointment and fumble, every injustice and loss of respect.
Finally, anger is my mistress, and I’m thinking of breaking off our relationship.
A Mental Stress Change score (MStressChg), which measures the level of reported mental stress, compared to the prior month.