THE PANDEMIC SPURRED MANY TO SEEK EMOTIONAL ASSISTANCE Support systems

By Marco Buscaglia

The emotional effect of working during a pandemic will be felt for years, according to mental health experts. Although COVID-19 and its aftermath created new barriers for people suffering from mental illness and substance use disorders, it also created challenges for people who previously didn’t identify or address their mental health.

The pandemic, in addition to having a temporary and permanent impact on the physical makeup of the United States, has led to a revised landscape of the country’s mental health. During the pandemic, roughly four in 10 adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, a sharp increase from one in ten adults prepandemic.

Dr. Jodi J. De Luca, a licensed clinical psychologist in Coal Creek, Colorado, says the global impact of COVID-19 resulted in a surge of stress, anxiety, depression, anger, irritability, fear and much more. “The impact on human emotion and behavior has been quite dramatic,” says De Luca. “The psychological aftermath of COVID-19 has the potential to continue for years to come. The fallout because of the COVID-19 pandemic will undoubtedly have a great impact on global mental health.”

Help is available

Kenneth Farr, Ph.D., says people should try to get assistance when needed. “There are times in our lives when we have to reach out for help, whether it’s a caring family member, a clergy member or a mental health professional,” says Farr, a clinical psychologist in Dayton, Ohio. “The tendency to believe you’re the only one who has to seek mental health care can sometimes stop you from trying to get the help you need. In reality, there are a lot of people who are experiencing these same feelings. If you seek help, know that you’ll be one of many.”

Mary Smith, a 37-year-old workplace compensation attorney and mother of two in Chicago, says she struggled while working from home. She says she was able to use her company’s Employee Assistance Program to meet with a social worker, then a psychologist, in online sessions. “Just talking about it with someone, just seeing an attentive face, it was like I could step outside of myself and listen to what I was saying,” she says. “It wasn’t this magical transformation and I still have trouble dealing with what we’re going through but I feel like I have strategies that help me work through things. I find myself stopping my thoughts for a minute, collecting myself and then moving forward.”

Smith says she continues to meet with her therapist today. “It’s just nice to have that line of communication with someone who is there—by concern and by profession—to help you out.”