Coronavirus and Mental Health
We are in the midst of a global pandemic and many of us are suffering a great deal. There are the costs to physical health and economic instability, and the emotional cost is high.
For some, the ongoing pandemic is exacerbating isolation and depression. For others, it’s not as severe, but there is a sense of ongoing loss. We are missing time with loved ones, routines are being disrupted, and special occasions don’t look like we imagined they would. There is also conflict among neighbors, family members, and friends about the right thing to do regarding safety procedures these days.
If one has been unfortunate enough to be infected, depending on the severity of the infection, it can be quite frightening to experience, and there are numerous reports of people having physical and mental health symptoms that last a long time after the coronavirus has cleared. If a hospitalization was necessary, that is especially scary and can have long-lasting effects.
Grief and COVID-19
We also know that many people have lost loved ones to COVID-19, and while it is hard to lose a loved one at any time, the circumstances around coronavirus make it especially difficult. These days grief may be complicated by being unable to say goodbye in person, as well as a feeling that their death could have been prevented if only someone had done something differently. This is quite different from an expected death after a long illness.
These are the most obvious losses and difficulties that we are seeing related to the COVID-19 pandemic. But, for some people these feelings are made worse because they are reminded of other times in their lives when they felt like their lives were in danger, they had very little control, or found it hard to protect their loved ones. In other words, for people who have survived a traumatic event, the pandemic holds special challenges.
Why Are My Trauma Symptoms Getting Worse During COVID-19?
Whenever stress is greater, mental health symptoms increase. So, if you were dealing with any kind of mental health issues before the pandemic, it makes sense they would increase because of the stress of the pandemic. This is especially true when we’re dealing with trauma.
A trauma, in the clinical sense, is anything you experience first-hand or witness in which you feel that your or someone else’s life is in immediate danger, someone is killed, or you are violated in some way.
Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) occurs when you have long-lasting symptoms related to the trauma. These symptoms fall into three categories: re-experiencing, such as in nightmares and flashbacks; avoidance, like trying not to think about or see anything related to the event; and hypervigilance, or feeling overly-alert or on edge, which is often related to irritability.
It is an established fact that trauma experiences can reactivate past traumatic memories and worsen symptoms of PTSD. That is to say, if you experienced something traumatic in the past, it is normal to be having more thoughts about that now, as we go through the COVID-19 pandemic.
Can You Get PTSD from COVID-19?
This might lead you to ask if the coronavirus pandemic is a traumatic event…
Simple answer: it depends.
Long answer: Even if you have not been exposed to COVID-19, it is objectively life-threatening, with over 286,000 deaths from it in the US as of this writing. If you belong to a group in which you have an elevated risk of death if you contracted the virus, COVID-19 likely fits the clinical criteria for a traumatic incident.
Similarly, if a loved one is in this group, it could fit the criteria for trauma. Many people have also lost loved ones as a result of COVID-19 infections, and the unexpected, sudden loss of a loved one is also considered a traumatic event.
Trauma Changes our Beliefs about the World
One of the characteristics of PTSD is that one’s beliefs about oneself or the world change in a negative way. Often people who have experienced trauma start to feel like the world isn’t safe anymore or they can’t count on themselves to cope. They might start to feel like people don’t care about them, or that they have no control in their lives.
One way beliefs change for people who have suffered trauma is that they may feel like most people are bad or out to hurt them. It’s easy to draw this conclusion when we see people who are not being careful about their choices when it comes to stopping the spread of the coronavirus. These changes in beliefs can then carry out to other areas of life, which can make day-to-day life even harder.
How to cope with COVID-19
If this is all sounding a little too close to home, there is hope. If you are noticing an increase in PTSD symptoms or beliefs about the world that remind you of previous traumas, there are several very effective kids of therapy that can help you put the past back in the past where it belongs. Prolonged Exposure therapy, EMDR therapy, and clinical hypnosis are all very effective for reducing trauma symptoms.
Regardless of whether you have experienced a trauma or consider your experience with COVID-19 traumatic, what we are going through collectively is extremely stressful. Please reach out to someone you can talk to. Remember that this will not last forever; a vaccine is on its way. In the meantime, stay connected to family and friends safely, find some things to do that you enjoy, and try to be gentle with yourself as we all make our way through this trying time.
About the Author
Erin Brandel Dykhuizen, MA, MSW, LICSW is a psychotherapist who offers counseling for adults with PTSD, trauma symptoms, and chronic pain in St. Paul, Minnesota. She also works with individuals via remote, online counseling throughout the state of Minnesota. You can learn more about Erin’s Twin Cities therapy practice at erinbdlicsw.com, or reach Erin by phone at (651) 998-8991.
