As physical risks are best managed with vaccines, however, what is likely to remain is the indelible impact of the pandemic on collective psyche.
“The physical aspects of the pandemic are really visible,” said Lisa Carlson, former president of the American Public Health Association and executive administrator at Emory University School of Medicine in Atlanta. “We have shortages of supplies and economic stress, fear of disease, all of our routines are interrupted, but there is real sadness in all of this.”
“We don’t have a vaccine for our mental health as we do for our physical health,” added Carlson. “So, it will take longer to get out of these challenges.”
Based on the mental struggles faced by so many this year, these are the questions that mental health professionals expect to surface in 2021.
Burnout and sedentary lifestyle
Life was stressful before the pandemic, but new challenges added an additional toll. Virtual home schooling, security, financial difficulties, teleworking, keeping up to date with new information and dealing with illness and death can make life feel like an endless game of Whac-a-Mole.
Isolation, which can lead to loneliness, has reached people of all ages. Many children and adolescents have missed important opportunities for social development.
How you deal with stress is crucial to finding a pandemic truce, Carlson said, and it all goes back to basics. Being safe outdoors and around trees, what Carlson considers “as part of the public health team”, can improve your overall health. When you can, take the time to calm down and disconnect from the news.
Focusing “on the basics for sleeping, eating healthy meals, moving around throughout the day, spending time with pets and loved ones” will be extremely important, she added. “Taking care of ourselves and each other should be everyone’s focus as we enter 2021.”
When the pandemic sabotages sleep
Stress, trauma and new challenges are other factors that have led to sleep disorders and disorders. People on the frontline of healthcare, those who witnessed death and individuals who were stranded on cruise ships can experience post-traumatic stress that can lead to insomnia and nightmares. “There are things that you see that are just etched in your mind,” said Dasgupta.
The lack of separation between work and home can mean irregular sleep patterns. The pandemic “really launched a curved ball at our circadian rhythm,” he added.
Some disorders thrive in isolation
Without support and responsibility, some people’s recovery from eating disorders and substance use disorders has hit an obstacle.
The “collective trauma” that people are experiencing “contributes to increased anxiety, depression and other mental health factors commonly associated with eating disorders,” Chelsea Kronengold, communications manager for the National Eating Disorders Association, said in an email.
For those who are not ready to recover or are still active in their disorders, isolation has been an opportunity to maintain disorderly behavior – a chance for which some may be grateful, while others are disturbed.
“Eating disorders not only thrive in isolation,” said Kronengold, “but it also increases anxiety and guilt about being left without food and / or having too much food available all the time.”
‘We are not facing these risks equally’
For many, work is another source of mental challenge.
People who cannot shelter and work from home, cannot avoid public transport or are unable to stock up on food may be impairing their mental stability. Some of the fundamentals needed to support mental health are associated with employment, said Carlson – so the loss of a job can also mean the loss of health insurance, day care or paid sick leave.
Native American people’s access to mental health services in the reserves has further decreased and things may not improve by the end of 2021, Jacque Gray said by email. Gray is an associate director at the University of North Dakota’s Rural Health Center, where she is also an associate professor of research.
“I know a tribe where they had multiple suicides between the ages of 20-40,” added Gray, “leaving children raised by grandparents without support for child counseling or help for grandparents.”
Some studies “found a huge increase in depression, especially among Asians,” said Dr. Tina Cheng, chairman of the pediatric department at the University of Cincinnati and director of the Cincinnati Children’s Research Foundation. Asian Americans and Chinese Americans have reported negative mental health symptoms due to pandemic-related racism.
The specific impacts of a pandemic on a person’s livelihood and well-being “should amplify mental health already declining in US society,” said Jasmine Mena, assistant professor of psychology at Bucknell University in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania.
“To overcome mental health challenges, we will need to work together to do this,” said Carlson.
“The simple fact is that inequality kills,” said Carlson. “We see these uneven things affecting health directly in the pandemic and really shedding light on the problems that we knew existed, but they are much more difficult to ignore now.”
No longer infected, but still sick
“People expect you to be sick for a while and then you get better,” said Carlson. “These long-haul trucks that have been sick for months are far beyond their own expectations or the expectations of others about them.
“There is a real mental health challenge in this,” she added. “It will really cause a lot of struggle for them and their loved ones, and for how they feel what other people feel for them.”
Silver pandemic liners
The mental burden of the pandemic has facilitated more honesty and empathy towards mental health, which is the key to dismantling the stigma that prevents some individuals from seeking help.
Another positive point is that more people are asking for help or serving others – whether by donating to an important cause, shopping for neighbors or cheering on those who serve the public. Being kind has its own mental health benefits.
Some people found solace in telehealth services, a growing trend in receiving care which can be easier and more accessible. And many are pursuing hobbies and endeavors – including meditation, gardening, adopting pets and baking bread – that can help you feel better at times.
“There are definitely things here that will exacerbate each other,” said Carlson. “I really hope that above all, this is really the moment when we break down the barriers to talk about mental health, because I think the most important thing we can do – as professionals and in our families and in our communities – is to talk about it .
“Every time we talk about public health, we must talk about mental health. And every time we talk about Covid-19, we must talk about mental health ”.