The Post Pandemic Stress
What if the pandemic affected more than our physical health? What if the reason we are physically healthy is the same reason we are mentally unhealthy? What if taking care of our body drained our mind? A lot of us have been feeling tired recently, feeling constantly drained for seemingly no apparent reason at all, but what if there was a cause for this sudden loss of energy? These were some of the questions that plagued my mind while writing this article. After almost 2 years of online school, 2 years of being locked up in my home, a breath of fresh air seemed to instantly bring up my spirits. I was fortunate enough to go back to in-person school, go back to normalcy, but there are tons of people out there still stuck within the same four walls, suffering from mental health issues.
When the pandemic started no one expected to be where we are now, but 4 million deaths later we have realized that we are as far from ‘normal’ as we can be. In fact, according to the World Health Organization, the COVID-19 pandemic has caused ‘mass trauma’ on a larger scale than the second world war, and the mental health toll of the coronavirus pandemic will last for many years to come. The toll the pandemic has had on her mental health has been so large that medical professionals are now calling the condition, the Post Pandemic Stress Disorder, a form of COVID-induced PTSD. It’s not just the prolonging pandemic that has been bringing stress but also the fear of returning to what was once normal. The Fear of Normal or FONO has been creating unusual amounts of stress in human beings.
“Over the past year, many people have been exposed to varying degrees of trauma,” said psychotherapist Owen O’Kane, who coined the term PPSD. “The main problem is, it’s been relentless, and this is why I believe post-pandemic stress disorder will explode. At present, this won’t be recognized as a significant problem because we are normalizing the circumstances. However, like all traumas, the impact will show when the pandemic is over.”
Symptoms of PPSD include increased anxiety, low motivation, feeling hopeless or powerless, disrupted sleep, changes in appetite, feeling numb, being increasingly angry or irritated, negative or catastrophic thinking, withdrawing socially, feelings of struggling to cope, and the ‘I can’t be bothered with anything’ attitude. Personally speaking, I have recently been a victim of said attitude. The relentless obstacles, pressure, and continuous work have led me to an ‘if we are all going to die what’s the point in doing anything’ point of view.
The pandemic has seemingly affected teens and adolescents more than any other age group. We have been exposed to potentially destabilizing facets of the pandemic in such delicate transition years, the effects of which still have to be properly appreciated and discerned. The pandemic has plummeted already low economies, increased prices, and further isolated the world from each other. For a lot of youngsters, myself included, all this makes the future look bleak and adds to the amount of stress we suffer from on a daily basis. The state of matters has made us hyper-aware of the fact that we must work ourselves to the bone to succeed in life, and this awareness was not a mind-opener but instead a ‘mind-breaker’ that quite literally threw our mental health flying out the window.
So how do we deal with this trauma, with this stress? The answer to that is quite simple on paper but implementing it is harder than it seems. One of the foremost steps is to check in with yourselves, to know your limits, and to stop when you reach them. We must become aware of shifts in our physiology, emotions, thinking and behavior because these are the building blocks of good physical and emotional health. Another crucial step is to surround ourselves with people who care, people who are willing to listen, people who you feel safe with, people you can trust. A good support system is essential to emotional recovery because it assures you that someone is there to catch you if you fall.
Trauma doesn’t just change the mind, but also the brain, the nervous system, and stress hormones. It is worth knowing that there is nothing abnormal about experiencing psychological difficulties after going through a traumatic life event that has been experienced by every single person on this planet. There is help out there, you just have to be brave enough to ask for it. If you feel desperate or lost, seek the help of qualified professionals who can help get your life back on track.
