Mental Health – A spike in cases, threat of lockdown: my feelings

In light of the invisible threat hanging over society, I will be discussing Covid-19 related anxiety and depression, possible antidotes (remember I am not a trained professional), what happened recently in my region, how I feel about it, and the silver lining.

I have written several articles about improving mental health on this site-feel free to check those out too.

The invisible looming threat

There can be something quite unsettling about having something unseen hovering over you, whether it be a deadline you have avoided, an upcoming test, or the idea that you may or may not be infected with a virus that has killed many, made many more sick and put many people out of work.

I often wonder about the long-term effects on a society and its mental health with such an invisible threat looming over.

Anxiety, negative thinking patterns

There is a lot of uncertainty in people’s minds at the moment-a form of anxiety that is new to many people. Add lockdowns and isolation into this and you have an easy path towards spiralling depression and anxiety.

It is easy to get carried away with thoughts of “what if…?”, speculating about whether you, your family, your friends, that person you just walked past on the street etc. has it. “What if I have already passed it on to someone else?”

“What if…?” based thinking can be particularly harmful because it is based on a future that does not exist (and probably never will). It can paralyse you from living the present and suck the joy out of life.

If you allow a negative thinking pattern such as “What if…?” to continue unchecked, it can grow into a monster dragging you at increasing speed into the depths of depression and anxiety, which can be a very dark, scary place, and very hard to escape (believe me, I have been there).

The antidotes

I believe possible antidotes for pandemic related anxiety are:

• focusing on established facts and communicating them clearly (not speculating- “What if…?”)

• taking sensible precautions (wearing a mask, limiting your time and distance around people, sanitising hands and surfaces, getting vaccinated if possible)
• living life as normally as possible (maintain your routines as much as possible)
• spending time outside if and where safe to do so (and if permitted)
• limiting exposure to the news/social media to the essential only (guidelines, rules, laws, catching up with friends)
• talking to people you trust about your feelings or speaking to a trained mental health professional

What happened?

My local region is currently experiencing a spike in cases which seems to be growing each day and has resulted in many businesses and schools shutting down for at least the next two weeks. Nowhere is at lockdown level yet, but two weeks of 100+ cases per day will trigger that. This is Day 4.

One of my schools is in the affected city, the other is in a nearby city. The school in the affected city is starting online classes soon. The other school is not in the affected area, but has chosen to dramatically reduce classes to reduce the number of students in the building at any one time.

My feelings

I have mixed feelings.

This current local situation reminds me of the beginning of the pandemic.

In March 2020 people in my office at that time were on edge and there was a lot of dark humour to get people through. We watched businesses close, coworkers and friends lose their jobs, wondering whether our school would survive.

There was a lot of uncertainty as most people had never lived through anything like this before, and the scientists and medical experts were still learning how the virus worked and how deadly it could be.

One main difference this time though is that there is a lot more knowledge and research on Covid-19, so we are able to protect ourselves better.

The atmosphere in the affected city I work in is quite different from usual-it became significantly quieter one day after the spike in cases was announced and remains so.

The atmosphere in the city where I live does not seem to have changed much probably because there are small numbers of isolated cases reported in neighbouring areas. By law everyone has to wear a mask, so it is good to see everyone wearing them now. Social distancing is still a little lax.

If I need to leave my house I feel a little anxious at first and every time I am around people I do not know, and on returning to the house I feel a little stressed because I feel the need to sanitise everything I touch until I can wash my clothes and get in the shower.

For the most part though, once I am outside, as long as I am not close to many people, I feel fairly relaxed. There is always the looming background thoughts of potential infection-there is no getting away from that, you just have to be sensible, take precautions and dampen it out.

Regarding work, I am mostly relieved. I will need to get used to teaching online, but my coworkers and I will still be able to earn a decent income from home while avoiding the commute. Technology is wonderful and its adoption has sped up rapidly. I will even be able to attend my grandma’s funeral online today-something I think would not have been acceptable a few years ago.

I am not sure what will happen with my main job-that school does not have the resources to go online. For now though, I am enjoying the time off, time with family, time to rest. I had got to a point last week where I was overloaded with work and my body and mind were getting very weak. Having these 3 days off is a blessing for me-it is exactly what I needed. We will take a financial hit, but hopefully this is only temporary.

We are only on Day 4 of this developing situation, so I may do an update later on if my feelings change, but for now I am occasionally (situationally) anxious, but mostly relaxed.

I am a little nervous about teaching online and the learning curve, but I love the idea of working from home and not commuting for 2 hours each way. Maybe this will change, but I now have 4 extra hours each working day to rest and spend with family. This is a gift for my physical and mental health.

Silver lining

I realise this kind of situation may not be so pleasant for others, especially if you are unable to work from home, but I encourage everyone who is forced to stay home to cherish this time with family and evaluate if your life before this is really the “normal” you want to go back to.

I hope that this gives everyone the chance to reflect on the way we live our lives, giving us opportunities to keep the good parts that have come from this pandemic and change the not-so-good parts from before the pandemic to improve our quality of life.

I truly do hope everyone stays sensible, follows the rules and guidelines from experts and leaders and gets vaccinated as soon as possible. This local situation has prompted many people to take more precautions. It is good to see people taking it more seriously again.

If everyone can work together, we can beat this and lift this looming threat from our psyches. The only way out of this pandemic is if society works together and supports each other.

How have you been managing during these tough times? What are your silver linings?