Tag: coronavirus

Why I’m Writing about Anxiety

I recently posted about helping a loved one through a time of serious anxiety and depression.

A time that took me a way down that same road of anxiety, though not to the same degree.

And though my loved one is doing a lot better, I feel compelled to write about it, and to write about ways to reduce anxiety in a series of posts.

Why?

Because I know he’s not the only one going through these things.

A few days ago, I talked to a friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Her husband and teenage son both had Covid several months earlier, and she began telling me about the problems her son has been having …

Serious depression, the inability to focus on classes, hopelessness, anxiety.

I shared with her about the difficulties my loved one had in the months after “recovering” from Covid, that although he didn’t have official long Covid — no physical symptoms — his emotions and mental state were a wreck and he couldn’t function.

And then, just yesterday, I ran into an acquaintance whose husband had been in the hospital with a serious bout of Covid.

Although it’s been nearly a year since his “recovery” — he hasn’t returned to work. The woman told me she might have to reenter the workforce in order to support their family … because her husband is just not in a state where he can.

While you read this, you might have dealt with Covid, and perhaps you know others who have as well …

And maybe none of them have suffered post-Covid difficulties such as anxiety or depression.

But I think these after-effects of anxiety and depression are more common than some of us realize …

And than some of us may care to talk about aloud.

One post I read when researching the issue makes this statement:

Anxiety is considered one of the longer-term symptoms of Post-COVID syndrome (PCS), aka Long-COVID — a recently identified diagnosis.

Research shows that between 23% and 26% of people have mental health challenges (including anxiety) after recovering from the disease, particularly females.

Some studies place that figure higher, hovering closer to the 50% mark.

Psych Central

I spoke with two guys, months back, who both admitted to going through a weird (albeit brief) stretch of depression and anxiety just after getting hit with Covid.

So, it is happening, even if the reasons behind it are not yet known or understood.

And if you’ve been able to get by so far without coming down with Covid, please try to stay safe. Please take precautions.

This is not a political thing. It is a sickness that is affecting people the world over, regardless of political affiliation, ethnicity, religion, or anything else.

And many people are dealing with long-term side effects that are not only physical.

If you or someone you love is suffering in some way, I can’t stress enough the importance of self-care — whatever that means for you and them.

Sometimes it means meditation, and sometimes other mindfulness practices. Sometimes it means just finding a good distraction, and other times it means getting more rest or getting some exercise or spending time in nature.

Do what you need to find healing and regain your health.

And know that you’re not alone.

Sometimes it just helps to know that you’re not the only one going through it …

That it’s not “just” you.

It’s not.

So hang in there. Don’t give up.

There is hope and there is healing. When my loved one was in the middle of his struggles with anxiety and depression, like I mentioned in my last post, I didn’t see a light at the end of the tunnel.

Even after he was pulling out of it, I worried that something would bring him right back down.

I still worry about it sometimes.

But today, he’s okay. Today, there is peace.

And I hope that, today, you find your space of peace as well.

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Looking Up – Attentiveness Amidst COVID-19

What will people think when they look back on this time?

COVID-19, the coronavirus, pandemic, fear, anxiety.

What do we think, we who are in the midst of it now?

COVID-19, the coronavirus, pandemic, thinking, anxiety.

I wonder if we do think about it as we should, as we might. If we consider and contemplate it enough.

It is hard, yes, because there is just so much to reflect upon, so much to think about, to process and try to understand.

And there is so much we will never understand.

COVID-19, the coronavirus, pandemic, thinking, understanding.

And there are so many conflicting messages, each message containing perhaps some truth along with a lot of fear and tension, anxiety about the future.

Perhaps the call for us at this time is to stop, even in the middle of the chaos and the conflict, to look around us … even, if possible, to step outside – mentally if nothing else – and take stock.

COVID-19, the coronavirus, looking, thinking, understanding.

What do we see when we stop scrolling an endless news feed and look up?

Yesterday I stepped outside. I looked up and saw a bird, sitting on a ledge, a strange shimmering substance in its beak. At first I thought the bird might have been searching for material to make a nest. Then it came to me that midsummer is not generally when birds build nests.

I looked closer and realized the shimmer belonged to a dragonfly’s wings. The bird had been hunting and caught a dragonfly midflight. I delight in watching dragonflies skirting through the air, following some strange patterned flight that is theirs alone. But this one now had become food, sustenance, for a bird who had met it in that place both creatures claim – the air.

Within a few seconds, the spectacle had ended. The bird consumed the whole of the dragonfly and, an instant later, took flight once more.

I looked up at a sight that was at once both sad and sacred. It was as if, for a moment, some parts of me also had wings – my sight or my soul – and I beheld this thing in wonder.

COVID-19, wonder, looking, thinking, understanding.

And I have no direct analogy for that thing I saw. No great and deep revelation. It was a thing that takes place a million times in a million ways. It was, that is to say, mundane and ordinary.

But at the same time, it was one in a million. Beautiful and captivating and fierce, this single sampling of nature the moment I looked up.

We surround ourselves and are surrounded by so much that brings sorrow in its fierceness, in its strangeness and the unexpected way it comes upon us.

Yet we are also surrounded by the wondrous and the beautiful.

Beauty, wonder, looking, thinking, understanding.

Perhaps a way to see ourselves through this time, to look back upon it one day with a heart that takes in all the complexity of all that we are seeing and experiencing, is by looking up.

Letting our thoughts take flight, and our hearts.

Or simply beholding some mundane yet sacred portion of nature. Looking, taking it in, and giving thanks for the moment.

The Problem with COVID, The Problem with Us

We are far more concerned about the coronavirus than we should be.

We are far less concerned about the coronavirus than we should be.

Yes, both statements are true and both at the same time.

As a society, we have grown so accustomed to politicizing issues like the coronavirus that almost before we gave ourselves a chance to understand COVID-19, we had already formed strongly opposing opinions.

If you think this is an overstatement, consider how you personally respond when you see someone wearing a mask in a public space.

“That person is clearly overreacting and is probably a liberal.”

Or …

“I’m glad that person is doing their due diligence …”

…with a nod from behind your own mask.

What about when you see a person outside without a mask?

“That must be a Republican. I know who they probably voted for in 2016.”

Or …

“I’m glad that person hasn’t bought into the nonsense of the coronavirus scare.”

When it’s simple matters such as whether or not a person is choosing to wear a mask in a public place or outdoors draws such harsh responses, something is wrong with our society.

This was brought into stark reality when I saw someone’s comment on a friend’s Facebook post. The post itself made a statement that it’s all about power … and among the politicians, perhaps it is. But 99% of us are not politicians, and we spend way too much time considering the partisan politics surrounding a worldwide pandemic (as if Americans are the only ones dealing with the coronavirus).

The comment, made by a person I don’t know, expressed that a local government official could kiss a certain part of their anatomy, along with the statement that they would not be wearing a mask. By the anger of the person’s comment, it sounded as if they thought COVID-19 and the coronavirus pandemic had been personally created by this local government official.

Sadly, many of us are allowing ourselves to take sides and oppose others when we should be reaching out a hand to help. 

It’s easier to feel anger than grief.

It’s easier to express an opinion than to express concern, especially since we’ve grown so accustomed to doing so with our use of social media. 

Social media is good for many things, but one unexpected result of seeing so many problems, browsing through so many issues, reading about so many statistics … is growing numb to all we see on social media.

Instead of grieving, we might utter a mere, “How sad,” and keep browsing. We have largely grown desensitized and instead of allowing ourselves to feel the more complex emotions of grief and empathy, we settled for a quick “like” or “dislike” or an angry comment that only deals with emotions on the surface level.

WHAT IS THE SOLUTION? 

How do we fix this? Therein lies the problem.

There is no quick-fix.

And there is no easy solution.

For someone who finds themselves growing angry and anxious every time they log into social media or browse through news headlines, the solution might be to take some time off social media. Go for a walk in nature; whether or not you wear a face mask as you take in some solar vitamin D is up to you.

For someone who drops strongly opinionated comments on every slightly political or COVID-related post, maybe take a breather. Instead of responding with a first reaction, try to consider the matter more deeply. 

Perhaps even (shocking as this idea might seem) think about this issue from the other side.

And for someone who finds themselves incapable of empathizing with anyone on “the other side” of the political and partisan spectrum, why don’t you have a civil conversation with someone who holds beliefs different from your own? Really have a mindset of listening and learning. 

The idea is not necessarily changing your mind or revamping your political ideology (although it might be). The idea is to understand that there are so many of us in this big, wide world.

So many ideologies and beliefs. So many life experiences. We are each made of what we have experienced and learned and how we have been brought into this world.

And really … really … most of us are just doing the best we can with what we have.

What we all need is a little more understanding, a lot more listening than speaking, a bit of empathy and compassion, even a bit of grieving for the darkness and the loss and the sadness of this world.

WHAT WE ALL NEED IS A BIT OF HOPE.

Why don’t we each consider how we can spread some of that hope today?