By Lynn Hagan, PsyD, LCSW
In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, many Americans, especially those affected first-hand, coped with the consequences; others want to respond in some way to help survivors and others affected. This tip sheet offers practical advice for dealing with this public health crisis.
Tips to cope with the stress
- Turn off the television. Constant repetition of traumatic events and reactions can increase the experience of trauma. Tune in enough to know what is happening in the world, but release yourself from the grip of repetitive traumatic presentations. Make sure children have limited and supervised exposure to the media coverage, as the repetitive pictures and stories can easily overwhelm and traumatize children.
- Talk to others. Trauma can affect us more deeply when we isolate ourselves. We may do best if we keep share our feelings and thoughts with one another. In these days of social isolation consider calling close family and friends on the telephone or using email or social media.
- Let your feelings out. There is no shame in having grief, fear, rage, and sorrow. We have reason to feel these feelings. It may be best to let ourselves feel them and to reveal them to people we trust.
- Take care of yourself. Be kind to yourself during such traumatic times. Allow time for rest, for calm, and for comfort to re-enter your life. This may be a challenge at first, but deliberate attention to self-care will help you have the energy to help others.
- Allow yourself to find a peaceful core within yourself. Take time to slow down, rest, and let your emotional reactions settle. Let your attention go within. We each have a place within from which we derive strength and where we know what is true, what is right, and what we need to do. Find that place of strength within yourself.
- Here is the challenge: The atmosphere of fear and rage. After traumas occur, many people experience the “fight or flight” instinct. On a collective level, these forces can unleash more trauma if not held in check by compassion, reason, caution, and understanding. Do not unintentionally take out your hurt and rage on others who happen to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
Transforming your emotions
Here’s how we might change the traumatic responses of fear and rage to support our lives:
- Let your fear tell you what you treasure. We fear for ourselves and our loved ones, for all of what we love, and the lives we live everyday. Give support and love to the people and things that matters most to you.
- Let your anger fuel your support of what you care about. Anger is a force that we can use to support action toward what we love.
- Let your anger, pain, and fear bring us together as a world. We may allow our pain and fear and rage to continue to tear us apart, or we may recognize that we are all in pain, in rage, and in fear, and we all want what is precious to us to survive.
Symptoms of stress
- Persistent re-experiencing of the traumatic event – for example, flashbacks, nightmares, or recurring and constant images;
- Persistent avoidance of stimulation associated with the trauma – such as avoiding people or places or images associated with the trauma. We know that we must social distance, but that does not mean isolate. Reach out.
- Numbing of general responsiveness – such as loss of feelings of love, connection, or any feelings at all; and
- Persistent symptoms of increased arousal – such as hyper-alertness, easily startled, and/or irritability.
These symptoms or stress reactions may arise just from exposure to this pandemic, or they may arise from the triggering of previous public or personal traumas you may have experienced.
If the symptoms persist, you may wish to contact a mental health professional, especially one trained in treating trauma. The American Red Cross is just one national organization coordinating emergency mental health as well as a defined national disaster response to COVID-19.
Visit redcross.org or socialworkers.org/COVID19 to find mental health and disaster response services and more information.
