Three forms of temporal disorientation: A thematic analysis of subjective reports about Covid-19 restriction periods

Abstract

During the Covid-19 restrictions, people reported various surprising disruptions in their experience of time, such as time simultaneously passing slower and faster, or feeling unreal. This hints at instances of dissociative time experiences in the general public in times of crisis. We investigate the temporal experience of the pandemic through a corpus-based thematic analysis and a multiple correspondence analysis of 149 subjective reports gathered in March 2021, during a period of long lasting and ongoing restrictions in France and the UK. We argue that three forms of temporal disorientation constitute a fitting umbrella over a heterogeneous phenomenology. The loss of temporal landmarks made it harder to orient oneself and induced episodic forms of temporal disorientation. Distinctively, sustained temporal disbelief, an existential form of temporal disorientation, could occur when people’s past perspective was severely distorted. Finally, a future-oriented form of temporal disorientation whose hallmarks were feelings of anxiety and hopelessness could occur alongside inabilities to project oneself into the future. Our findings suggest that future landmarks should be provided to those most exposed to dissociative temporal experiences during crises.