The insecure skin‐ego: Conspiracy theories as a source of containment in a pandemic

Abstract

AbstractIn analyzing the psychological reactions to the recent COVID‐19 pandemic, we have tried to show that the existing societal protective skin that gives unity to people by creating a secure containment was too thin and fragile to cope with an annihilation situation such as the pandemic. This healthy and protective societal skin acts continuously as a maternal environment, providing physical and mental security. As a modest contribution, we provide psychoanalytic, social, cultural, and political analyses of the conspiracy theories and infodemics in the mid‐COVID‐19 era. We extend Anzieu's theory of skin‐ego from a maternal‐centered conceptualization to one based on a wider range of caregivers, including politicians, health care professionals, scientists, and researchers—who act as the suppliers of containment. During the pandemic, the common protective skin showed initial flexibility as it tried to regenerate a secure common skin with the help of the health care system and other state organizations responsible for managing the COVID‐19 pandemic. However, the common protective skin is under continuous attack by various politicians around the world, like the hyper‐masculine figure of Donald Trump who attacked this common skin, increasing the insecurity and helplessness of people. Like hermit crabs, thin‐skinned people with insecure skin‐egos sought refuge inside the shell of Trump's safer and thicker skin. A shell of conspiracy theories and infodemics provided by crustacean Trump functioned as a thick, protective skin. To illustrate our ideas, we present events and reactions from the pandemic and also cite two illustrative examples—the story of Noah's Ark and the children's classic, The Three Little Pigs.