5 Ways the Pandemic Continues to Impact our Mental Health.
You would think, masks coming off and people going back to school and work in person, would signal a decrease in those struggling with mental health or at least to pre pandemic numbers. By the end of this blog, you’ll be able to understand how this world wide event continues to impact us despite the masks being tucked away in that glove box.
Stressing Our Nervous System
Before we get into the 5 ways it continues to impact our mental health, let's discuss how stress, especially long term stress impacts our nervous system. The pandemic kept our nervous symptoms in a state of stress for over 2 years, and it is that prolonged state of stress that has altered our physiological states. When we are stressed, our bodies release cortisol, the stress hormone. It is a survival mechanism aimed at helping us fight, flight, and freeze to survive whatever threat we are experiencing. In other words we went into a survival mode during the pandemic and it will take time and healing to recover.
5 ways that the pandemic impacted and continues to impact our mental health
Our social lives. We are social beings and we were asked to stay away from one another to stop the spread. Many of us went several holidays away from friends and family, going without hugs and kisses. We had zoom and FaceTime to help with curbing loneliness, but we are social beings and get a ton of feel good hormones just from physical contact with others.
Unrealistic work and school expectations. Many people found themselves juggling school, work, and family life all under one roof and all online. Many people still struggle with feeling “on call” or feeling the need to be extra productive worrying about what others think.
Loss of a loved one. People experienced loved ones getting ill and needing to quarantine. For some they could not be with their loved ones while in the hospital, heightening feelings of complicated grief.
Continue as normal. Many people have returned to their pre-pandemic routines and still find themselves “off.” Whether they feel socially awkward or they find themselves “on edge” many report that things are not back to how they felt pre covid. Again, our nervous symptoms endured a ton of stress. It will take time to heal and recover from this pandemic. We need to treat ourselves with gentleness as we reintegrate and navigate post pandemic life.
Shift in identity. It can take life altering events to impact how we view ourselves and the world around us. Who am I? What am I doing with my time? The pandemic caused many to look in the mirror and ask ourselves these hard questions. People left their jobs in huge numbers, something called the great resignation. People moved to different states or back to their home states. It was an awakening for many and doing this deep identity work is exhausting.
The pandemic has impacted our lives and especially our mental health. People's levels of anxiety and depression have grown. I have noticed more and more people in my care sharing the effects of the pandemic despite things slowly getting back to normal.
How to Recover
My words to you is be kind and compassionate to yourself. You went through a lot. And don’t compare it to someone else who you think may have had it worse. No. You went through a lot too. Comparing will only invalidate your experience and will make you feel terrible. Instead honor your mind, body, and spirit for getting you here. Be gentle on yourself as you heal and reintegrate in this post Covid way of life.