Mental Health during COVID-19 Pandemic

 

Since COVID-19 arrived, have you been feeling an increase in anxiousness? Have you been feeling overwhelmed or tired? What about un-motivated? Angry? Sad? Even Lonely? If you agreed to any of the mentioned above, WELCOME TO MY WORLD. From the quarantine, not having enough toilet paper, and no movie theaters or concerts, COVID has definitely stirred up many unwanted emotions. As a grad student and future social worker, please join and follow along as I express some areas of concern with Mental Health and COVID-19.

Mental Health Meter

As someone who is able to openly talk about their own depression and anxiety, I noticed a change in myself and others around me. My mental health “meter” went down drastically since we went into quarantine. A lot has changed since COVID-19 was announced in March. Should we recap?

Schools were closed down. An enormous amount of stores, restaurants, and bars were immediately closed. Online shopping went up. We all had to adjust wearing masks in public. Major events and gatherings were completely off limits. Everyone’s hometowns turned into ghost towns. All over the world people had to adjust to the new norms and regulations that COVID-19 brought along.

The automatic change that I noticed between my myself and my immediate family was their reflections and interpretations on intimacy, isolation, and self-care. Intimacy was a huge set-back for us, since we are huge individuals that value hugging others when happy, sad, or just to say hello. Hugs are a norm for my family and I, but COVID-19 changed that. We had to stop hugging others when the virus came. According to Dr. Beth Rush’s podcast on coping with mental health, intimacy was a huge loss for people during this pandemic. “Social distancing was meant as a health guideline, but instead was a loss of intimacy with others in the time of need.” This quote stuck out to me, as I thrive off of my hugging, and had to re-adjust my affection towards others.

Isolation 

Isolation was also a huge factor that my family and I felt. Since we spend so much time with our family, we had to stop our usual visits. We had to stay home, and only go out to the stores if absolutely necessary. I spent a lot of time in my room. I thrive off of exploring and traveling, but was cut off once the virus arrived. “So loneliness is a very interesting topic because I'm seeing people that are feeling lonely despite the fact that they're at home with people that they love,” says Dr. Amy Sullivan in discussing protecting your mental health podcast. Even though I was quarantined with my family, I seriously felt alone. I was so used to traveling and leaving to explore the world. My family and I felt such a disconnect from not being with our extended families. I also decided to continue my education in July 2020, so that I could get the hang of being in school again after taking a 2-year break. I was so excited in starting school again, but COVID made my anxiety act up. I decided to take online courses (in which I have a past in not doing so well) and opt out of in-person instruction.

 In Hamza’s article “When social isolation is nothing new: A longitudinal study psychological distress during COVID-19 among university students with and without preexisting mental health concerns,” the study discovered that students without preexisting mental health concerns were more likely to show declining mental health, which coincided with increased social isolation among these students. Their findings underscore that colleges and universities will not only need to continue to support students with preexisting mental health needs but also prioritize early prevention and intervention programming to mitigate the impacts of COVID-19 on students with increasing psychological distress, potentially stemming from increasing social isolation in response to the pandemic. Reading and confirming this made me feel validated, but also sad that others feel the same way I do.

I Hit Pause On Self-Care

Self-care has been a huge factor that I have not been using properly since the pandemic hit. I thrive off of self-care, but most of my self-care coping skills were in the world. Traveling, getting my nails done, concerts, family gatherings, and plans were all canceled. I am sure everyone knows exactly what I mean. People’s coping skills were stripped away from one day to another.

Why does all of this matter? Why does mental health matter? In Furnham’s article “Mental health literacy: A review of what it is and why it matters,” the idea is that mental health needs more recognition and focus in understanding so that stigma to mental health illnesses is reduced to the general public. Many individuals around the world are affected my mental illnesses, and now during COVID these numbers have increased. As I mentioned above, some areas where my mental health was affected was through intimacy, isolation, and self-care.

My journey is different with mental health and COVID-19, but I am sure that there are people out there who could also relate to my adjustments with my own depression and anxiety. I thank you for allowing me to be vulnerable in this topic. Here are some tips that I took from Dr. Beth Rush and Dr. Amy Sullivan’s podcasts to assist in improving out mental health during this pandemic as well as resources to reach out to through the Illinois Department of Health:

When addressing uncertainty, focus on having a routine or structure: this can be a schedule for what you want to accomplish in your day, having set times for things

Eating well: not just eating what is available to us, decreasing our intake in fast food

Limiting how much time we are spending watching the news and staying connected to social media: sometimes not everything we see on either platform is true, too much false information can have an impact on the way that we think, are we in the know or just obsessing?

Being kind to yourself: managing your coping skills, eating well, self-reflecting on your stress, being around positive people

It is normal to have mixed emotions: communicating your needs to others so that they can also assist, self-reflecting on what to do to bring yourself up from negative emotions

Be present: be actively present in the moment, actively listen, and actively communicate

Resources for Mental Health Support

Illinois Call4Calm Text Line

If you or a loved one are struggling with stress related to the COVID-19 pandemic and need emotional support, text TALK to 552020 for English or HABLAR for Spanish (Message and Data Rates May Apply. See Terms & Conditions of Use (Links to an external site.)). This service is free and available 24 hours a day, seven days a week. People seeking assistance will remain anonymous and will provide only their first name and zip code, which enables the service to link you to a counselor in your area who is knowledgeable about available local resources.

Illinois Warm Line

If you or one of you family members has mental health and/or substance use challenges and would like to receive support by phone, call the Illinois Warm Line at 866-359-7953. Wellness Support Specialists are professionals who have experienced mental health and/or substance use recovery in their own lives. They are trained in recovery support, mentoring, and advocacy and are ready to listen and support you. The Warm Line is not a crisis hotline, but is a source of support as you recover or help a family member to recover.

• Hours of Operation: Monday through Friday, 8am-5pm except holidays

Crisis Text Line

The Crisis Text Line (Links to an external site.) serves anyone, in any type of crisis, 24-hours a day. Text HELLO to: 741741. Trained crisis counselors will respond and help you.

CARES Line (24 hour)

If your child is a risk to themselves or others, having a mental health crisis, or if you would like a referral to services for children, youth, and families, call the 24 hour Crisis and Referral Entry Services (CARES) line to talk to a mental health professional. Call: 1 (800) 345-9049 TTY: 1 (773) 523-4504

~ Clarrisa Trujillo