I remember the meeting the SELF health team had before I really grasped thatCOVID-19was going to be…well.
(For a few weeks, we thought.
Or months, tops.
Irina Kruglova/Adobe Stock
Well…hi from my bed nine months later.)
We got our assignments.
We started writing about COVID-19.
Obviously, the joke was on me.
Little did I know that the COVID-19 pandemic would provide me withampleopportunity to write about mental health.
Way too many opportunities, even.
For the past nine months, depression and anxiety have become part of our collective baseline.
Here are the lessons Im going to bring with me into 2021 and hope you do, too.
Switch up and adapt your coping mechanisms as needed.
So many of my mental health management skills became obsolete in the face of the pandemic.
Either they werent accessible for safety reasons or they stood no chance against the reality of COVID-19.
So I had to findnew ones.
Find things you’ve got the option to control when everything feels uncontrollable.
Long story short, we dont do well with it.
All year, therapists urged us to focus on what we could control.
So as uncertainty continues into the new year (Will people get the vaccine when theyre able to?
Will Trump have to be forcibly removed from the White House?
), keep control in your toolbox however you’ve got the option to.
Set a low damn bar.
This requires a whole lot of self-compassion, dont get me wrong, but its worth it.
Speaking of setting a low bar…
4.
Distraction and denial are okay, actually.
Who among us hasnt utilized some major escapism this year?
Or entertainment recommendations in ourGot Us Throughseries.
You just have to watch that you dont use it at the exclusion of other tools.
But find some way to process all your emotions.
Which is easier said than done, I know.
But it is and remains crucial.
Thats because you gave them all that time and space to do push-ups.
We all process differently, and it doesnt hurt to have plenty of ideas to choose from.
Cutshouldfrom your self-talk vocabulary.
Theres more to it than that, of course, includinghowto actually resist the siren song ofshould.
I touched on it inthisearly pandemic article, right when my inner voice was full ofshoulds.
Learn skills to deal with common cognitive distortions.
Just to name a few.
Take things one day at a time if you oughta.
Tunnel vision can continue to keep you afloat, especially as we enter a whole new year.
So Im not going to think about it yet.
With everything going onand the magnitude of tragedies many people have experiencedits hard not to.
be grateful things arent worse when you really dont feel it.
Create things to look forward to.
Stay up on basic self-care if you’re able to.
It pops up in every mental health tips article I write.
You probably expect it to pop up in every mental health article youread.
It exacerbates your emotions.
It lowers your functioning.
It just makes everythingharder.
Which isnt to say this stuff isnt hard too.
But we owe it to ourselves to try the best we can.
Take advantage of resources and communities.
Learn more about online support groupshereand virtual therapyhere.
Remember: We havent adjusted to the new normal, not really.
Youre not alone if youve reached a point where youre feeling a little…desensitized?
Because what does getting used to something really mean, anyway?
I think Dr. Bonior put it best when I interviewed her forthis article.
Its like permanently having a rock in your shoe, she said.
Mental health and traumabecause thats what many of us are experiencinghave no timeline.
Here are just some you should read and bookmark for when you need them.
