’T N ES ” O D L S A I E H “T EM R SE
“I FEEL TR APPED”
“I HA T H I N V E TO T H GS IN THIN I’VE NEV K ABOUT K AB E OUT R HAD T O BEFO RE”
“I’M
O
IT VER
Managing your mental health By Sarah R. Coates, LCMHC, NCC
When asked to write about navigating your mental health in the COVID pandemic, I found myself confronting my own fears, doubts and uncertainties. It’s all we’ve been talking about since March. It’s on the news, in our social media platforms, in our conversations with family members and colleagues. You’re either tired of hearing the word
“pandemic” by now, or you’re still grappling with how it’s affected you personally. The reality is that it’s still here, we are still talking about it, and it is certainly affecting our mental health. In my profession as a licensed clinical mental health counselor, I’m hearing many themes and statements about the pandemic. You may recognize some of these sentiments as your own:
“This doesn’t seem real,” “I feel trapped,” “I feel I’m being squeezed at all angles,” “I feel unmotivated; it’s hard for me to keep going,” “I have to think about things I’ve never had to think about before,” “I am very scared” or “ I’m over it!” No one is exempt from the ramifications of the pandemic. Even the “experts” in the mental health field are feeling the grip of it. I find myself feeling like the rug got pulled out from underneath me, and I’m still trying to catch my breath. I personally find myself six months in still on a roller coaster of emotion that changes daily or weekly, including feelings of anxiety, fear, worry, sadness and grief. What we are experiencing in this pandemic is a collective trauma. A trauma is an unhealed wound or an adverse life experience.
22 | JOHNSTON NOW
!”
i
