I was worried about her leaving. But then her colleague sounded just as exhausted. She spent the pandemic helping her juniors and her seniors at remote schools while trying to keep her small business going. She confided in me:
People are tired to an unusual degree.
In the spring of 2020, when the pandemic had just started, the question my patients asked was, “When do you think things will get back to normal?” Now no one talks to me about getting back to normal. There is an implicit recognition that the chaos we are experiencing may continue for a long time.
Patients who were concerned about national and world events and were visibly frightened during treatment. pandemic, seems tired now.of Murder of George Floyd It’s terrifying and mass shootings are becoming more and more common. Now it feels like we’re all in a constant game of whack-a-mole, but in this case, rodents are an existential threat.
I find many of my patients experiencing a lack of optimism and feeling overwhelmed. About important issues beyond their control.
I call it “hope fatigue”.
People are tired of hoping that the pandemic will end, the Ukraine war will end, the mass shootings will be contained, and the government will be able to address these immediate crises. Two of his ten Americans said they trusted Washington’s government to do the right thing “almost always” or “most of the time.” 2022 Pew Research Center Poll.
Symptoms of this fatigue are feeling anxious, slowing down, and giving up.
“People have a lot of difficulties. COVID-19 has given us a lot. said Paul Slovic, a professor of psychology at the University of Oregon who has researched for more than 60 years.
The therapist struggles to help. We seek to instill a sense of hope in our patients. That means you feel better, you have agency, and your catastrophic thoughts can exaggerate reality. , it’s a challenge.
Sometimes it’s tempting to sympathize with them, but that’s not productive. I try to validate their concerns and explore what it means to them personally.
Our Nervous System Wasn’t Designed This Way
Many of the problems threaten our basic sense of security. Will my community be devastated by a fire? Will my children be safe at school? Is nuclear war possible?
“I see a lot of people ‘in the motion of living’ and they don’t know what to do with life, how to stay safe, how to control something, how to change something. Because they don’t know how to live happily, they fall into a sort of separation,” said psychologist Judy Levitz, founding director of the Center for Psychoanalytic Psychotherapy Research in New York City. .
Humans need to feel like they have a certain amount of control. Depriving people of their sense of security leads to depression and anxiety. Our nervous system was not designed to handle many crises at once.
no wonder 33% of Americans reported symptoms of depression and anxiety this summer, up from just 11% who reported these symptoms in 2019.according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Household Pulse Survey.
8 Steps to Refocus Your Anxiety
Obsessing over problems that seem unsolvable can paralyze anxiety, but there is hope.
“Just because you can’t solve a problem doesn’t mean you can ignore it,” says Slovic. Compassionate Arithmetic, highlighting obstacles to humanitarian decision-making. “We are not powerless.”
This is part of the advice I give my patients.
Take a break from the news. doom scroll It is addictive and can amplify the tragic nature of the event. In one study, researchers News of the Boston Marathon bombing engulfs me for hours a day each week After the event, they experienced higher acute stress than individuals who were on site. Her Roxane Cohen Silver, Distinguished Professor of Psychological Science, Public Health, and Medicine at the University of California, and senior author of the study, said: in Irvine.
Patients who are depressed by news headlines are advised to read the news only once a day, turn off cell phone alerts, and check social media sparingly if possible.
take care of yourself. I tell my patients This means taking care of your nervous system (sleeping well, eating well, exercising smartly) and engaging in life-affirming activities will increase your resilience.
Focus on the present. Get into the habit of anchoring yourself here and now. Worrying about the future is useless.
Try breathing exercises. Taking a few deep breaths, for example, breathing in five times and exhaling five times calms the sympathetic nervous system (fight or flight response) and reduces anxiety.
Some patients are skeptical when I offer deep breathing exercises. But remind them that the exercises are science-based. They usually report that they can at least do something with their breathing when they feel their heart rate increasing.
Think of your victories. Remind yourself of what’s going well in your life — whether it’s your job, your friendships, An array of uplifting houseplants You grew up during a pandemic.
Be your own therapist. Ask yourself, What specifically am I feeling hopeless about, and why? can be processed effectively.
Please act. Worrying doesn’t help your mental health, but taking action does. Look around your community. Your local playground might benefit from his basketball court, or a church or synagogue might sponsor a refugee family. People have a new sense of optimism when they tackle local issues.
Join forces with your friends. Please select a cause. There are hundreds of nonprofit organizations dedicated to tackling some of the most tenacious challenges on the planet. donate money to stimulating tissue, or volunteer.
Slovic advises: “Think about what you can do rather than what you can’t do.”
Are you a mental health professional who would like to contribute to this column? Email [email protected].
