

#DEFCON 5 MEANING HOW TO#
So, now that we have defined Alert Fatigue and how to recognize it in yourself or others, how do we deal with it? It should be made clear that no one is suggesting people should not be experiencing this or that they are weak if they are.

Complete denial that the crisis even exists or the belief that “it can’t happen to me”.Refusal to prepare for the possible “worst-case scenario”.Reluctance to watch news reports regarding the crisis.Lack of interest in normally enjoyable activities.Anger and hostility, or a sudden lack of any emotion whatsoever.Emotional overreaction to common, everyday incidents.Increased feelings of anxiety, depression, or hopelessness.This is “Alert Fatigue.”Īlert Fatigue can be identified by the following symptoms: As a result, after several weeks at DEFCON 3, people might not react appropriately to DEFCON 2 if it gets to that point. This will get worse the longer the crisis lasts. They tend to ignore information that could help them prepare for such a disaster and possibly survive it. When confronted with even the remote possibility of experiencing a nuclear conflict, a lot of people shut down mentally and emotionally because the imagined level of death and destruction is so completely beyond their comprehension. Now, instead of a global pandemic, the threat is nuclear war, and that possibility is even more horrifying than any pandemic could be. The war in Ukraine is no different, other than the threat vector has changed. A common refrain heard these days is, “I’m done with Covid,” which signals that the person has become completely overwhelmed by the long, drawn-out state of emergency and is no longer interested in any further information regarding the pandemic, even if that information might be vital to their health and well-being. In contrast, every person on the planet has just spent the past two years dealing with a global pandemic, and the Alert Fatigue from that is obvious to those who know what to watch for. However, those occurrences do not last long enough to induce Alert Fatigue. Most people experience a similar heightened level of awareness in much shorter time frames due to adrenaline, such as during a tornado or being the victim of a robbery. So, let’s start with the obvious question: What, exactly, is “Alert Fatigue?” Essentially, it is a dulled state of mind that results from experiencing an extended period of time at a heightened level of readiness due to a potential threat. We want to address this phenomenon, define it, make people aware of it so they can recognize it, and offer some tips for dealing with it, because it can lead to impaired decision-making abilities in people experiencing it. This has raised the concern of “Alert Fatigue” among the civilian population. DEFCON staff currently agree there is no indication that level will be reduced to DEFCON 4 – Blue anytime soon. On February 27, the DEFCON Warning System elevated its alert level to DEFCON 3 – Yellow, meaning that while a nuclear incident is not imminent, the situation is fluid and can change with little to no warning.

This has been going on for a month as of the writing of this article, and there are indications that the situation will continue to deteriorate further. With the recent rise in global tensions over Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, everyday people have been inundated with news, pictures, videos, and concerns of escalation to the use of chemical, biological, or even nuclear weapons.
