I was recently asked if I thought the pandemic is a national trauma. The answer is a simple “Yes.” By the standards of the DSM-5 (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual), the volume used by mental health professionals to guide diagnosis and treatment, the COVID-19 pandemic meets the criteria for trauma. Not all stressful events meet those criteria. The DSM-5 definition of trauma requires...[ read more ]
When COVID-19 emerged as a clear and present public health threat, most people felt the same range of emotions: somewhere along the spectrum of fear and anxiety. People are still feeling this way of course. But as initial shock wears off, people are settling into a new normal. As new studies emerge predicting longer and longer periods of social distancing,...[ read more ]
How many times have you thought, “When coronavirus ends, I will ______” — as if you’re putting off everything (or at least the things you most love) until then? They say that human civilization was built around our supposedly unique ability to plan for the future. Besides the fact that apes and birds do this too, it turns out that focusing exclusively on...[ read more ]
While our external world begins to shrink during this time of social distancing and shelter-in-place health orders, we are challenged to expand our personal, internal limits and thresholds for almost everything. It’s a little bit counterintuitive to think that while many of us are forced to stay at home, the demands on our lives go up. It seems like we...[ read more ]
For loners, recluses, and other solitary types such as myself, sheltering-in-place feels natural and normal. However scary other aspects of this pandemic might be, for us, this aspect isn’t. Working from home? Making our own meals? Amusing ourselves? Contactlessness? Not a problem. Not boring. Not weird. With stay-home orders issued worldwide and offenders arrested for attending funerals and weddings, it’s...[ read more ]
The prolonged health and safety stressors of COVID-19 has many parents reaching out to mental health professionals with concern over their teenagers’ increased levels of anxiety. In the United States, teenagers already experience higher rates of anxiety disorders than any previous generation in history. According to the National Institute of Mental Health, the prevalence of anxiety disorders among adolescents aged...[ read more ]
The kind of trauma doctors, nurses, and others in direct contact with COVID-19 patients have endured for months now — with an uncertain future posing a threat of many more months of horror in the hardest-hit areas — is the kind of exhausting and overwhelming stress that impacts the brain and the rest of the body in the worst ways....[ read more ]
During a time when the world is focused on the current COVID-19 pandemic, a physical health crisis, and all those treating the physical symptoms of this pandemic, we must not forget those who are working to treat the mental health of our nation: the mental health workers. The force of mental health workers includes nurses, counselors, social workers, physicians, and...[ read more ]
The media we consume daily has an impact on our thinking, behavior, and emotions. If you’ve fallen into a pattern of regularly watching or listening to the news, the majority of what you’re consuming is likely about the coronavirus crisis. While staying up to date on local and national news, especially as it relates to mandates and health updates, is...[ read more ]
The coronavirus is forcing us to deal with a crisis that was difficult for many of us to imagine, although scientists and others such as Bill Gates have been sounding the alarm for many years. Everyday we hear about mounting death rates, including among the most vulnerable. Unprecedented unemployment and under-employment have many of us wondering how we’ll manage our...[ read more ]
