Covid 19 dealing with stress, depression, and isolation?

Covid 19, stress, isolation and mental health

During this time of social isolation, social distancing, and avoiding groups of people, there is the suffering of loneliness.

As human beings, we are wired for connections, physical and mental connections.

If you think about it, this needs to have people in our lives those physical connections go back to our caveman days as part of survival.

 

From a distance (computer, phone, texts), I’ve watched people that I love and care about suffer

from isolation and depression. The separation doesn’t necessarily have to be in distance but just the ‘virtual’ reality of social distancing.

Then I started to think about those vulnerable people in our society.

What about women living with violence, the LGBTQ community, the poor, homeless, and other minorities?

If their community space is gone because of COVID-19, where do they go to feel connected, to feel safe, and feel loved? Something that is a deep concern for the vulnerable citizens of our society.
I started to think about after COVID-19, what will their communities look like? Where there were safe spaces, are those safe community spaces still going to be accessible?  Or is this an opportunity to remove them completely?
These questions and the fear of a new reality create intense apprehension, depression, and fear. We have to be aware of to speak up for the vulnerable.

During a time of loss, illness, accidents, domestic violence we can’t even get together to grieve and hug people. That isolation intensifies the loss the loneliness and suffering.
It’s really important for you, me and the people you care about to be aware of our mental health. To be aware of how depression can sneak up on us especially during social isolation and distancing.

Being empathetic. Speak up for those who cannot.

The simple act of having a cup of coffee with a friend who is grieving can ease the pain. Reaching across the table and holding someone’s hand, reassuring them, a hug of yes they will get through this difficult time, yes they are not alone, and yes they are much loved.    Because of this lack of human physical connections, people are suffering from depression, and many may not even be aware. For some folks, it can feel like you are just not yourself.

This was something I recently experienced. Feeling inner ‘off-balance’.

To best describe that sense of being ‘off-balance’, it was like driving on snow-packed roads, sliding slightly off the road so you are driving a little on the road and a little in the ditch, waiting for an opportunity to get back onto the highway. In other words, you’re moving forward, doing things that you normally do in social isolation, yet you don’t feel your complete sense of inner calm and inner peace.

What do you do if you are feeling depressed?

Use that self-care tool kit!  Seek out positive supports online, professional help, crisis centers, have a safety plan and personal contacts to call for help, government mental health networks, local crisis centers, domestic violence centers, and police if needed for safety. We are all in this together.

This is where it’s so important for each of us to have our self-care tool kit and be aware of that sense of ‘feeling off-balance’, those feelings of depression, and seeking out the right supports.

Sometimes we need to sit in our emotions, peel back the layers of those feelings to find the truth of our thoughts, experiences, and seek a greater understanding of ourselves. Self-compassion and self patience is truly a gift we give ourselves. Only you know when it’s time to drive back onto the emotional/self ‘highway’ and continue forward with that sense of inner peace. Never give up.