How COVID Has Also Become a Mental Health Pandemic by Connor Cohen, LMSW

Living in the age of Covid-19 has been difficult! Who would have thought that a once in a lifetime pandemic could be so tough! As we’ve gone on, we’ve adjusted, we’ve adapted and we have persevered! We have adjusted to a new sense of normalcy, we have adapted to new work habits and changes, and we have persevered through times of uncertainty and loss. 

This pandemic has taught us a lot over time, we have learned to care for ourselves and our neighbors, we’ve learned to come together as a community, and we have learned to cherish the time that we have.

Another crucial lesson that this pandemic has taught us is the importance of mental health. The increase in stress from working at home while taking care of kids, the anxiety that comes with a justifiable reason to stay in more and the depressive thoughts about the pandemic lasting longer than we would like all highlight mental health struggles associated with Covid-19. The facts are, we as a people are stressed. Having a job and paying bills is stressful, taking care of our loved ones can be stressful, life is generally kinda stressful at times. 

Notice how I didn’t mention the pandemic? That is it’s own special kind of stress. Pandemic stress compounds on the everyday stress of being a human. Are you stressed about your doctor’s appointment? Well now we’re stressed about your doctor’s appointment in a pandemic. The way I like to think of it is that our stress tolerance is like a table. The stressors of life are like books stacked on top of each other on that table. One book might be about our job, another about our family and relationships, a third might be about car troubles we had recently. The idea is that the legs of the table are generally strong enough to support our stressors. Meaning we can generally handle stressors that impact our life with our learned coping skills and behaviors. The pandemic however is like if someone dropped a huge rock on our table on top of all of our books. It feels like it’s not supposed to be there. It’s hard to talk about our car troubles without dealing with or acknowledging the giant rock in the middle of our table. On top of that, problems and stressors that may not have seemed so big are now being weighed down by the weight of the rock. The truth of the matter is that mental health care was needed before the pandemic and in the age of Covid-19 it is becoming a necessity.

Here at Niyyah we understand that these are unprecedented times that we find ourselves in. If you or a loved one are struggling with stress, anxiety or feelings of despair, we are here to help. Our team of therapists can help you navigate the complexities of everyday life stress and pandemic stress. We are all in this together and together we can continue to persevere.