Stress and COVID-19

One of the biggest struggles with solitude is that it forces you to deal with your issues. In solitude there are no distractions, only you with yourself. As I mentioned in a previous blog, this time of social isolation is in many ways similar to solitude.

In my work as a social worker, I have found that the COVID-19 virus brings additional struggles. Many are feeling more stress due to the uncertainty about the economy and their work, stress due to fears of contracting the virus when they go out or of inadvertently giving the virus to others if they are asymptomatic, and stress due to lack of contact with friends and family. The stress of too much contact with kids and spouses when locked in close proximity for weeks on end.

These are normal concerns and reactions to this uncertain time. What I am seeing is how the stress, along with the social isolation, is amplifying issues that people already struggle with. It is like a dam that has a small crack. In a drought the dam will be fine, but fill the reservoir with water and all that pressure will increase the size of the crack until it explodes. Like the dam, you should do something to help yourself before you reaching that breaking point.

So what to do?

That all depends on you. The first step is to figure out what you are dealing with – is it depression, anxiety, stress, loneliness, trauma, all of them? Once you have that identified work on writing out how you dealt with similar issues in the past. At this time don’t worry about the feasibility of using those skills during a time of self-quarantine. With this list, you hopefully have remembered that you are capable and able to overcome obstacles like you did in the past. Looking at your list for strategies to help you now may mean that you have to get creative. For instance if having brunch with your girlfriends was a way you de-stressed, try having brunch with them via skype or some other tool. If you dealt with anxiety by working out at the gym, check out all the home work-out apps on the phone and see what you can do in your garage or elsewhere in the house. If you are in recovery and usually go to AA meetings, good news there are AA meetings online you can attend.

There are a lot of resources out there. One of the ones that I like is from the Wellness Society (https://thewellnesssociety.org/free-coronavirus-anxiety-workbook/). It gives you a lot of ideas on activities and other ways to reduce anxiety.

The point is that we are all capable of working through this time, either with the skills and lessons learned over our life, or through the help of others. If you’re feeling overwhelmed, please reach out to ask for help. You’re not alone. Google is a wonderful resource. In California, you can call 211 which will connect you to a county resource specialist. Elsewhere in the country you can always dial “0” or “411” for the operator, who may have ideas of organizations or resources in your area.

#Journaling #Healing #Paradigm #Change