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Healthy Stress Management in a Pandemic
Because the thrill of winning the toilet paper rush of 2020 only lasts for so long.
With much of the world’s attention focused on the physical complications of the current COVID pandemic, it is important to note the mental, behavioral, and emotional fallout. Several recent studies conducted by Kaiser, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and The Journal of the American Medical Association suggest that somewhere around 40% of Americans are currently experiencing some sort of mental health distress as a result of the pandemic. For comparison, this is roughly a 300% increase from pre-pandemic levels. This is an alarming finding for many reasons.
Age and Pandemic Stress
The rates were consistently highest among young adults and lowest among the oldest age group. It could be that as young adults transition into their new identities, they have yet to form their stable support systems, coping strategies, or self esteem that older adults have developed over the years. Other difficulties could be transitioning to or from college. Entering the work force. Dating in an effort to find the right partner. Adjusting their relationship with their parents. Given these challenges, this period within the lifespan is marked by significant change and growth. As one can imagine, stress management during this pandemic has been much more difficult than times past.
Duration of Pandemic Stress
Researchers had previously found the same elevations of mental health distress in surveys at the beginning of the pandemic. This suggests that these are not fleeting symptoms. The longer such symptoms last, the more prone we become to either worsening symptoms or a future reoccurrence of the same symptoms. That is why it is so important to take the time to consider your abilities and need for stress management.
A Way to Consider What it is We Actually Need
The past year has been nothing like any of us have previously experienced. We have all experienced stress and been affected in one way or another. Our jobs, social life, and finances… even down to where to find that next roll of toilet paper. These are some of the basic universal needs all humans need to feel relatively safe and comfortable. But how are we practicing stress management in the midst of a pandemic?
Maslow to the Rescue!
We can use Maslow’s hierarchy of needs to take a closer look at some of these needs as they relate to pandemic stress. Take a moment to consider how they have been affected over the past year. At the foundation of our needs are the physiological basics: food, water, shelter, (toilet paper), etc. For many of us, the pandemic has devastated even our ability to meet even these needs. According to Maslow, we cannot move on to fulfilling a higher level of need until the one below is met. This means if even one of our foundational needs are threatened, we are stuck there until it can be resolved. What happens when we get stuck?
Anxiety
How can we feel safe if our employment is in jeopardy? Or worse yet, we do not know how we will afford rent this month? Not to mention the worry about the health of ourselves and our loved ones. Even if we have the basic physiologic needs met, the pandemic has forced all of us to find new ways to meet higher level needs. No longer can we spontaneously attend a public event, hug a friend, or even walk into a gym the same way we could pre-pandemic. Avoiding these kinds of activities is one way to stay physically safe, but leaves higher level needs unmet and provides an avenue, time, and resources for worry about our problems.
Depression
As if worry and anxiety were not enough to manage, we all also have a sense of belonging, love, and self esteem needs to fulfill in order to avoid distress. A large part of fulfilling these needs includes connecting with other people. Unfortunately, this has been discouraged as a result of the pandemic. Isolation can lead to loneliness. Loneliness can increase our risk for developing further symptoms of depression. So too can a disruption of our healthy coping skills which have traditionally helped us to manage stress, i.e., going to the gym, going to concerts, meeting a group of friends at a restaurant, etc. Without these tried and true methods of coping with day to day stress, we are more vulnerable to emotional, cognitive, and physical distress.
How Can We Use This Information?
It is important to stop and take a personal inventory of how the pandemic has affected you. Sometimes it can be too easy to get caught up in our worry or loneliness to realize how bad things have become. Human beings are very resilient, even to our own detriment, and can adapt and create a new normal that is very unhealthy. Seeking an escape can provide temporary relief, but often comes with a price of its own. According to the Kaiser study referenced above, substance abuse has also been on the rise during the pandemic. We turn to blame and anger as a way of stress management. The American Journal of Emergency Medicine reports domestic violence has also been on the rise. Without attention or awareness of the symptoms or potential problem areas, it is difficult to enact any kind of change.
Healthy stress management can start even during a pandemic. Simply spending a few minutes a day checking in with yourself can help to create awareness. Taking it one step further, the hierarchy of needs can provide a visual guide as to where you stand. By creating awareness of where we might be lacking or more impacted by pandemic stress, we start to problem solve and get creative of how to fulfill that need. Considering ways in which we are fulfilling these needs can also be beneficial by breaking them up into cognitive, emotional, and behavioral components.
An Exercise in Thought Management
If you can manage your expectations and views of yourself, you may be able to make healthy changes at the self esteem level. Alternatively, you could also increase daily exercise in the behavioral realm to also increase that same area. Equally important is knowing the needs you have fulfilled. Practicing this gratitude on a regular basis can help to create a new habit. In turn, this guides your focus and energy in a healthy direction. Over time, this will offer the choice of what you should be worrying about, freeing your time for what you deem important.
Back to the Basics
A simpler approach to healthy pandemic stress management that also is very effective is just a focus on the basics. This includes sleep, diet, exercise, and breathing. Stress has a tricky way of getting us to fall into unhealthy habits. We eat comfort food, stay up late, and binge Netflix in an effort to cope. It can slowly become a cycle of stress, unhealthy behaviors, and guilt. If we can focus on just one of those components, unhealthy behaviors, we can often start to break that cycle. This means setting a regular bedtime, making a healthier meal once a day, setting time aside to go for a walk, or simply taking a few deep breaths to start our day. I believe Newton’s First Law of Motion is a good reminder – “A body at rest tends to stay at rest, and a body in motion tends to stay in motion.”
There will be a time for celebration of our courage in having faced and managed the stress of this pandemic, but first we must face and manage ourselves. We must make the distinction between managing our needs or having our needs manage us.