The ABC’s of psychology: why is this getting so hard?
By Rachel Dundas, R Psych, CPT Times Contributor
Maybe at first, you were happy to have a break from the hustle and bustle of your everyday life. Maybe your children’s extracurricular were cancelled, allowing for just a little more downtime, or maybe you started working from home. Many people welcomed the break and settled in to watch Netflix and recharge. But now, several weeks later, people are singing a much different tune. Motivation is low. Fatigue takes over. Something simple can cause you to break down in tears. Why is this?
The current pandemic is considered a collective traumatic experience. What we are going through as a society, both locally and globally, will have long-term impacts on mental health.
For experiences to be considered traumatic, two criteria must be met: there must be a personal experience of both helplessness and fear. Currently, we are helpless to the spread of the virus, and we are helpless to the orders enacted by our local, provincial and federal governments. Fear is prominent. We are laid off from our jobs, afraid to lose our businesses, homes and livelihood. We fear for the health and safety of our loved ones, especially the seniors we care for and those of us who are immune compromised.
Trauma reactions activate our nervous systems; when overwhelmed with fear and helplessness, our bodies and our brains respond in the same way as when we are faced with physical danger. While our eyes know the difference, our brains do not. Cortisol, the stress hormone, increases in the body, causing changes to appetite, inflammation and weakening our immune systems. Difficulties with emotional regulation, concentration and focus are expected. Individuals lose motivation and become much more susceptible to anxiety and depression. Changes in our abilities to emotionally regulate will also lead to increases in domestic violence and child abuse, in families who, under normal circumstances, are considered to be healthy.
In addition to the traumatizing impact of COVID-19, our society tends to preach what is called “toxic positivity”. Toxic positivity is an emphasis on staying positive, even to the detriment of oneself. Articles about using this time wisely, developing a new skill and settling in to enjoy quiet time with loved ones are prevalent. This can lead people to suffer in silence on their own, afraid to speak up for fear of being ostracized and feeling a sense of shame for their inability to emotionally cope. As a society, our obsession with positivity and the general discomfort experienced by others when individuals express raw, real, negative emotions does not create space for people to feel safe to share their truth, express their negative feelings and receive support from their social network. The subsequent internalization of feelings leads to poor mental health outcomes.
In addition to trauma responses, many people will experience emotional distress due to underlying issues they may not even realize they had. Our society prides achievement and involvement. There is a focus on doing, rather than being. We rush from place to place, from activity to activity; avoiding deeper pain we may carry from childhood, most often related to connection (more specifically, lack of connection). This period of social distancing, and our inability to cope through usual means of distraction and busyness, will lead many individuals to grapple with issues relative to human connection they may not have realized they had. Mental health crisis, resurfacing of childhood trauma, depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, domestic violence and child abuse are all expected to increase as a result of this pandemic when viewed through the lens of psychology.
Support is available
As people pick up the pieces of lost jobs, lost businesses and lost loved ones, and struggle to find a new normal during what is expected to be the biggest economic depression since the 1930s, people are going to need help rebuilding their lives, both emotionally and literally. Many free supports are available for Albertans during this time. Kids help phone at 1-800-668-6868 offers access to a counsellor for children. The mental health helpline provides support for Albertans at 1-877-303-2642. Access mental health will connect Albertans with the mental health supports offered for free by Alberta Health Services at 403-943-1500. Finally, Wheatland County Counselling offers subsidized counselling programs in both Strathmore and Drumheller, at 403-901-3761.
(Rachel Dundas, R Psych, CPT is a Registered Psychologist, Certified Play Therapist and the Executive Director of Wheatland County Counselling Inc. in Strathmore, wheatlandcountycounselling.com.)