The pandemic wasn’t easy on anyone; it changed the accepted way of being completely. The way people speak, interact, communicate and live together would never be the same. As something that struck like an unexpected and powerful hurricane, it also drastically affected mental health and well-being. You may feel that you have started worrying about things that you wouldn’t dwell on, or you would fret constantly.
Read on to learn what lives inside you and creates that anxiety and what you can do about that.
Survival Issues
Worrying about your survival and physical health became the number one priority as news started to speak about the virus again and again. Your brain got so many signals from every possible person and place that it began to panic. You caught yourself anxious about how to live every other day, how safe it is to interact with family members, let alone neighbors and friends.
As much as it sounds unbelievable, you may question your existential abilities. You may even worry about not having the capacity to live through the pandemic. As a result, your brain can dwell on many everyday issues and make an elephant out of a fly. Just know that this is entirely normal. Your biological survival mechanisms have been over-activated, and they try to protect you at all costs.
Employment and Financial Issues
Survival mode serves as a basis for worries regarding employment and finances to flourish. You turn on the TV or scroll down your social media feed, and news on fired employees appears one after another. You may start worrying that the same would happen to you. On the other hand, you might have already suffered from the employment crisis.
Many companies and businesses, especially those working directly with people, had to shut down their activities. The world went almost entirely online. A piece of advice here to help yourself would be to think of this as the time when you need to change something. Although it can be challenging, consider the pandemic as a chance to redefine and revisit your career plans. Maybe you should start learning something new that would not be drastically affected by any lockdown.
Continuing Mental Health Issues
While the pandemic has become an integral part of life now, and its fear can be more or less moderated, some people may still develop mental health issues. There would be two groups of people. The first group would forget considerably quickly about the pandemic as it hasn’t been taking it extremely seriously from the beginning. Their nervous system wouldn’t be over-triggered. The second group would have difficulty dealing with what goes on and would fall into depression and anxiety.
Of course, there would be people between these two groups, but the bottom line is that some people would certainly need more help than others. There have already been studies conducted by professors from the USA, China, and the Netherlands. They revealed an absolute prevalence of anxiety among the study groups. The second mental health issue was depression, again resulting from the pandemic. There were even people experiencing insomnia or post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), showing how deeply concerns and worries can impact people.
Self-Care Kit
The important thing here is two remember to take two fundamental steps. First, acknowledge that you need help and not be afraid of showing your vulnerability. No one would expect COVID-19 to escalate to such an extent, and all your feelings in this regard are acceptable.
Second, don’t let these feelings live deep down, thinking that they would disappear themselves. Make sure you take care of your mental health and apply for professional help. If you live in California, you can make an appointment with a psychologist in San Diego to hold your nervous system and emotions in check.
It may sound unbelievable, but one day you can go back to your everyday life. It would be the new normal, though. And to live in a better reality tomorrow, you need to take action to help yourself, your body, and your mental health today.
