Paranoia is on the rise, trust me
To Trafalgar Square, to witness the latest mass rally of protesters against the coronavirus pandemic restrictions, an alarming parade of campaigners against the 5G phone network, Covid vaccinations containing RNA believed to alter the human genome, Bill Gates and the Qanon “paedophile network”.
It all reminded me of a patient who once tried to recruit me to his campaign against the installation of a mobile phone mast on a block of flats near the surgery. When he showed me the aluminium foil sewn into his hat to repel harmful radiation, I diagnosed a recurrence of his paranoid psychosis and referred him to our local psychiatrist.
But paranoia has now gone mainstream. When, some 30 years ago, David Icke, the former BBC sports broadcaster, announced that Earth had been invaded by reptilians, most observers feared for his mental health. Yet he is now greeted rapturously as he comes to the platform to denounce the Covid plot to introduce a tyrannical new world order.
Allegations of conspiracy now come from all sides. Peter Hotez, the
American vaccine scientist, has identified an “anti-science triumvirate”, operating through the dark web. He believes that the US alt-right, German neo-nazis and the Russian media are at the root of current protests around the Western world.
In Britain, John Lee, the prominent lockdown sceptic and former pathology professor, blames government “psyops” for “frightening everyone into submission”. From the other side, leading sceptics have been exposed as “scamademics”. They are said to be conducting a “sustained assault” in the form of a “secretive info war” on the British public.
While the Prime Minister dismisses the anti-vaxxers as “nuts”, it is clear that the arbitrary and incoherent character of recent official directives has, in the context of a loss of confidence and trust in the Government, created a climate in which conspiracy theories can flourish. Politicians and scientists alike would be well advised to avoid alleging sinister motives to those with differing views: both the health of the nation and its democracy would benefit.
Quiet at the back
Whenever I see Matt Hancock, the Health Secretary, on television announcing the latest pandemic restriction, I think of the hapless probation officer played by Steve Coogan in the 2001 film The Parole Officer. At the climax of this comedy crime caper, Coogan disrupts a town-hall meeting insisting that he has been wrongly accused of murder. But realising he is not receiving due attention, he declares: “I can’t believe there are some people talking at the back.”
We have heard numerous such headmasterly phrases in the course of the pandemic. Another that brings us all back to school assemblies is “A small minority are not obeying the rules and are spoiling it for the rest.”
Hancock’s infantilising tone, echoed by other government ministers, stands in sharp contrast to the approach of both Prof Chris Whitty, the Chief Medical Officer, and Sir Patrick Vallance, the Chief Scientific Adviser, who have consistently treated the public in the manner of mature adults.
Buzz about manuka
While wandering around the harbour in Auckland, New Zealand – in pre-pandemic times – I was intrigued by a long queue of Chinese tourists of a certain age outside a shop catering exclusively to cruise ship passengers. They were stocking up on manuka honey, from bees that forage on the flowers of the manuka tree. It is believed to have medicinal properties.
Writing in response to my recent diary reference to the skin complications of Covid infection, Mr C T believes that a rash on his knees that he attributes to Covid has responded well to treatment with manuka honey, taken on toast. He has been successfully treating various ailments in this way for 30 years. I was delighted to hear that Mr C T is able to import manuka honey directly from his son, who keeps hives in New Zealand – not least because, at around £50 a jar, it is not cheap.
When he showed me the aluminium foil sewn into his hat, I referred him to a psychiatrist