It takes a lot of energy just to corral your thoughts and fears and keep acting normally. I didn’t realise how much until the news of nuclear missile testing broke and my immediate feeling was one of relief that – imminent incineration aside – at least I could consolidate all my wandering anxieties into one giant one.

Frankly, expecting to exist alongside such threats and not have the occasional wobble is unrealistic. But crossing the street, catching a bus or slipping on a pair of trainers now and then are temporary amendments and adaptations. We all need to tuck in, put some slack back into our overstretched nervous systems and regather our mental strength now and then. I bet even the people in the Blitz cowered in the deepest, darkest recess of the nearest air raid shelter now and again and swore they wouldn’t emerge until Churchill himself came and gave the all-clear.

What’s important is that we don’t let those moments join up. What began as brief rest mustn’t become a whole new way of life. Those superficial – and really, in many ways quite sensible – adjustments to changing times can’t be allowed to run deeper. Crossing a road to walk behind a barrier is one thing. Crossing it to avoid people we have been told to fear by those keen to stoke paranoia and unrest is quite another.

We need to use the energy saved by doing the former to fight against those who urge the latter. Protect your body, of course, but protect your mind too. Because that’s all that those who seek to harm really want.

Images: Alexandre Godreau / Rex Features

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