Human in the face of global pandemics: historical and psychological review

Abstract

The article attempts to analyze the historical and psychological aspects of the world pandemics of the past and present. The authors provide a detailed overview of the world's pandemics and their impact on society and the individual. Historical and psychological reviews allow us to draw a parallel between the large-scale pandemics of the past and the present, which is especially relevant in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic that has engulfed humanity. A logical and reasonable periodization of global pandemics is suggested, and the authors give a detailed description of each stage. The first stage includes the pandemics of traditional and early industrial society that raged in the ancient world, the middle ages, and early modern times. The authors highlight such features as a high mortality rate, localization in certain regions and continents, the connection of the spread of diseases with the processes of population migration, crusades, and great geographical discoveries. The second stage includes the pandemics of the industrial era, which occur in the context of globalization, urbanization and increasing crowding of the population, but become less destructive. The authors associate the third stage with modern pandemics generated by the transition to a post-industrial (information) society. The authors note the reduction in mortality from pandemics, and at the same time mutations of viruses, which forces scientists around the world to constantly search for and develop new vaccines. Historical, cultural and psychological analysis of past pandemics allows us to understand better the psychological features of human life in the context of a new coronavirus infection. The authors reveal the role of technological progress in the fight against global pandemics, the role of virus mutations in the development of medical knowledge.