COVID Frustrations
I’m going to change directions a bit for the blog today, I am going to keep it real which has always been my goal since I started this in January. I don’t know about you but I’m feeling burnt out and feeling impatient about returning to “normal”, whatever that may look like. I set out this year with a plan for my blogs each week but only a few short months into that plan it was thrown off. I know that some things continue to be a concern but I feel that COVID has been a top priority so I have continued a few blog topics as planned but have sprinkled in some COVID-related blogs here and there as things unfold.
I feel it’s important to normalize that we’re all going through this experience, we’re all experiencing an increase in stress and anxiety for a variety of reasons and we’re all experiencing some sort of level of trauma. It’s in our nature to seek a sense of safety and with things changing day to day along with all of the uncertainty, there is no “light at the end of the tunnel” right now because that tunnel ended up being much longer than I think we initially anticipated making it harder for our natural fight or flight response to relax. This means that all of us are experiencing an increase in the various stress hormones meant to keep us safe, but this also means that these hormones are wreaking havoc on our bodies if we’re not doing our best to keep them at a manageable level. We need to make a more conscious effort to practice self-care on a daily basis to do our best to combat this increase.
So what does this mean if our stress hormones are increased? Well, it means you’ll notice that maybe you don’t sleep as well, you’re more irritable or on edge, have an increase in headaches, or are more susceptible to emotions. Just to name a few of the many things you may be noticing. Physically, you may be also noticing an increase in muscle tension or new aches and pains. More concerning is we’re seeing an increase in the Nation of heart-related conditions and there’s a trend of this happening in younger individuals who we don’t normally associate with heart-related medical issues.
On another note, we’re also creatures who thrive in social connections and this is in short supply due to the current restrictions. Even our stress response reinforces this need for social connection. When we’re stressed one of the hormones we produce is Oxytocin, aka the cuddle hormone, this reinforces our need to reach out for support. It reinforces our need for connection. So at the time when we’re needing the most connection, we’re getting the least of it. So it’s important we get creative in getting this need met as best as we can. If you haven’t yet, read my blog How to Maintain Social Connection While Social Distancing to get ideas on how to do this.
If you’re like me though, you’re finding yourself even more overwhelmed despite making that extra effort to use all the skills you have in your toolbox, which means you have to maybe take a break to recharge. It’s also made me realize how beneficial all of the “fun” activities I used to do on the weekends are and how essential they were to my overall well-being. They helped keep a balance between my work life and stressors. However, with COVID, doing those activities has an extra layer of complexity and stress. As a result, I found myself arriving to work last week with some noticeable anxiety, resulting in me feeling overly emotional and then tearful. It took me by surprise and took me a few hours to really pinpoint why this was happening as there didn’t seem to be any identifiable triggers. After some reflection, I realized I was overwhelmed and burnt out due to a build-up and lack of adequate opportunities to unwind, rather than one or a few specific incidents. I was able to advocate for my need to take time off, despite the inconvenience this would mean for my employer. Luckily, my direct manager is very receptive to balance and self-care and gave the “ok” based on my rationale.
I know that I am not the only one feeling this as I hear similar experiences daily in my work with my patients and I find myself normalizing their experiences, not with the intention to minimize or tell them to “suck it up”, but to hopefully decrease their self-shaming. I also found myself procrastinating on writing this blog because I really was at a loss about what to address today. I reached out to some friends with the question about what they would want to hear or read about and I heard a lot of similar messages. This message was along the lines of “reassurance that I’m not the only one feeling (insert negative feeling here) about everything.” So I am hoping that this blog helps to normalize some of the feelings you’re having and helps decrease the amount of shame and guilt.
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