CHRONIC STRESS FROM COVID- 19 PANDEMIC OVERWHELMING MANY
Cheryl Fluharty knew she hit her breaking point when she bought a pack of cigarettes after quitting smoking cold turkey seven years ago. But with a pandemic layoff, a father with COVID- 19, and her sister’s death, something had to give.
The stress during the past nine months, says Fluharty, 44, of Steger, became too much to bear.
“There have been times when I felt helpless and wanted to cry in a corner,” she says. “But I keep thinking things have got to get better. And they will ... eventually.”
Fluharty is one of millions of Americans who suffers from chronic stress, the kind of stress that hits our systems again and again over a long period and can make us eat more, drink more, smoke more or even get sick. Researchers estimate that 60% to 80% of doctor’s visits are related in some way to stress.
This chronic stress, triggered by the coronavirus pandemic and exacerbated by contentious national elections and nationwide civic unrest, is overwhelming Americans, many who already were juggling the everyday stressors of life.
“We each experience the pandemic through the lens of our unique past experiences, so if we happen to be triggered by discord, for example, or financial fears from an early life experience, or are in recovery, our responses will be magnified and exaggerated, perhaps causing confusion for us as well as for those around us who don’t see the past trauma and how it contributes,” says Jennifer Love, a Southern California psychiatrist and co- author of the new book “When Crisis Strikes: 5 Steps to Heal Your Brain, Body, and Life from Chronic Stress.”
For Meggan Shortall of Chicago, the months of stress have resurrected what she calls “doom belly” — a gnawing pain in her gut that comes with increased anxiety. The pandemic also triggered a nightmare that she, her wife and her son were trapped in a concrete house, forced to look only at her neighbor who was in a similar concrete box.
“I’ve dealt with anxiety for a long time,” says Shortall, 39. “But it has really been
exacerbated by this.”
Researchers and physicians have taken note — so much so that they have labeled this time a mental health crisis, Northbrook psychologist Natalia Kaczmarek says.
“Almost everybody on caseload is affected to some degree,” Kaczmarek says.
Dealing with some stress is normal, Kaczmarek says: “We are wired to survive when things are off or a little different.”
When we face a perceived threat, our nervous systems kick in, releasing coping hormones. But while our bodies are wired to handle stress, they’re not equipped to do it constantly.
“And all of a sudden,” Kaczmarek says, “this wonderful system is overactive.”
Americans have reported that living through the pandemic has taken a toll on their health even if they didn’t catch the coronavirus. A July
Kaiser Family Foundation
survey found that 53% of adults over 18 in the United States said worry and stress over the coronavirus has hurt their mental health — up from 32% in March. An October report from the American Psychological Association found that about eight in 10 adults said the pandemic is a significant source of stress. In June, 40% of adults surveyed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said they were struggling with mental health and substance abuse issues.
“You can see it in the person who walks around telling you, ‘ I’m fine,’ but their back is killing them again, or they’re gaining weight or have stomach issues, and people who love them suddenly tell them ‘ you’re seriously the meanest person I’ve ever seen — what is going on with you?’” says Love, whose network of clinics includes an office in Bannockburn.
To cope, Fluharty goes for walks with her dog. Shortall
grounds herself with a simple act, like drinking a glass of water. Kaczmarek recommends keeping small rituals like changing your clothes if you work from home, and she and Love also recommend other tools, such as exercise, meditation and yoga, to help you feel safe in uncertain times.
“This is a great time to try therapy,” Kaczmarek says. “Teleheath is really changing how we’re doing that.”
In her book, Love and co- author Kjell Tore Hovik offer a five- step approach to managing the alarm bells that go off in our minds that include pinpointing what you can control and learning what to let go of.
“The five steps don’t fix the crisis,” Love says. “They give you practical tools to help you figure out what is going on and ‘ why am I so affected by these things.’ They walk you through finding options to motivate you to make changes when you don’t want to do anything.”