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The restaurants here have all set up their patios and there is a sense of jubilation about the warmer weather. A little French bistro with tables no more than a foot away from each other was packed when I walked by it the other day. I walked home from the office while on a video chat with my parents who are in isolation in Richmond Hill, Ont., and seeing me out in public certainly raised their anxiety levels.

I felt like I was on another planet, phoning back to Earth. I joked with my mother that if she wants to get her hair or nails done, she should come to Stockholm. I playfully told them in the middle of last week that Sweden was finally taking things seriously and my parents were relieved, but what I was referring to was the most significant measure in a number of days — restaurants were being asked to only allow table service, so people can no longer order beer at the bar.

It’s incredible how a crisis such as this distills culture in such a remarkably specific way. Searching for answers as to why Sweden is taking such a relaxed approach, I think about how the human nervous system responds to fear and trauma. Often the most difficult achievement for a patient who has been rendered helpless by a traumatic incident is to trust the world again.

Photo by Courtesy Mitchell Smolkin

Walking into Starbucks and ordering a coffee can often be an ordeal for them, as their brains are scanning the environment for threats and the sound of the door closing can cause them to cower in fear. Yet for an individual who has had no comparable adversity, this presents absolutely no danger. Furthermore, as we have seen in images of young people around the world flooding beaches, governments have to instill a sense of anxiety and put hard restrictions in place, so they get the message and stay home.

Does Sweden need more anxiety? Has the culture been lulled into a state of complacency since generations have been spared the trauma of even their closest neighbours in Scandinavia, who were harmed in much more significant ways in the last world war and are taking much more serious precautions during the current pandemic? Time will tell, but for the time being, planet Sweden is going its way, and this Canadian is watching from the sidelines.

National Post

Mitchell Smolkin is a registered psychotherapist and certified couples and family therapist.