The Psychology of Pandemics: Preparing for the Next Global Outbreak of Infectious Disease

Description

"In October 2019, a month or so before Covid-19 began to spread from the industrial Chinese city of Wuhan, Steven Taylor, an Australian psychologist at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver, published what would turn out to be a remarkably prophetic book, The Psychology of Pandemics. Even his publishers had doubts about its relevance and market potential. But in the 22 months since, the book has become like a Lonely Planet guide to the pandemic, passed around and marked up like waypoints along a new and dreadful global health journey. Taylor’s book, as its foreword points out, is a picture of “how human factors impact the spreading of disease and emotional disturbance”. The stops along the way include prejudices, the role of the media, attitudes to vaccinations, how society manages rumors, and the psychology of conspiracy theories." - The Guardian, 19 Aug 2021 Foreword Preface About the Author Acronyms used throughout this volume Chapter 1 What is a pandemic? Chapter 2 Contemporary methods for managing pandemics Chapter 3 Psychological reactions to pandemics Chapter 4 Personality traits as emotional vulnerability factors Vulnerability to Emotional Distress Chapter 5 Cognitive-behavioral models  of health anxiety What is Health Anxiety? Chapter 6 The behavioral immune system Chapter 7 Conspiracy theories Chapter 8 Social psychological factors Chapter 9 Improving risk communication Chapter 10 Improving vaccination adherence Chapter 11 Treating pandemic-related emotional distress Chapter 12 General conclusions and future directions References