Weight of the past year is wearing people out, experts say
Editor’s note: If you or someone you know is struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at (800) 273-8255 or text “Hopeline” to the National Crisis Text Line at 741-741.
Last April, Catherine Packard and her family were supposed to gather together at the Hobnob supper club in Racine to honor her grandfather at his favorite restaurant and consume plenty of Gorgonzola bread, French onion soup and steak.
Instead, they found themselves facing an uncertain world.
Family members in Washington state were hesitant to travel after COVID-19 had torn through the Life Care Center of Kirkland, ultimately killing
35 people.
They decided to cancel and hold the reunion over Zoom.
“For my whole family, I think that was sort of a tipping point into this becoming real,” said Packard, 43, who lives in Butler. “Having an understanding that this was not going to be a quick event — that it was going to be like running a marathon.”
Experts say the coronavirus’ disruptions have led to what can also be described as a mental health pandemic. They’ve seen more people who need services to work through depression, anxiety and stress.
“(People) have been carrying a boulder across a running river, and they feel like they’re ready to put the boulder down,” said NAMI Wisconsin Executive Director Mary Kay Battaglia.
According to a recent Pew Research Center survey, one in five adults say they’re experiencing high levels of psychological distress, and 45% of people between ages 18 and 29 said they felt “nervous, anxious or on edge.” A household survey from the National Center for Health Statistics and U.S. Census Bureau found that about a third of participating Wisconsinites experienced symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder in February.
Marshfield Clinic psychologist Jennifer Michels said there’s been a surge in patients referred for counseling and psychotherapy, from a range of socioeconomic backgrounds and life experiences. Some had preexisting mental health problems that escalated, while others never needed services before. Spokespeople for Bellin Health and ThedaCare said they too have seen an increase in mental health referrals during the past year.
“People are just worn out, frankly, at this point,” Michels said. “Their resilience is just worn out.”
The reasons are numerous: Families lost loved ones to the virus. Others grappled with the stress of unemployment. People became more isolated as they worked and learned from home and went months without seeing friends in person.
Experts say people are not equipped to absorb that kind of trauma for such a long period of time.
Charles LaTorre, a counselor at Bellin Health’s Riverside Psychiatric Center, said part of what makes the pandemic so challenging is the uncertainty that surrounds it. The brain is a “predictioncraving machine” that becomes more anxious when it isn’t sure what will happen, he said — a familiar feeling this past year as people waited for answers about schools, vaccines and more.
“COVID doesn’t take any time off. It’s relentlessly always there,” LaTorre said.
“That has definitely taken its toll on people emotionally.”
Packard counts herself as one of the lucky ones whose family has stayed healthy, but she lives with depression and anxiety and said her mental health has suffered. The holidays were especially tough, she said. She lost interest in holiday music on the radio that she typically loves.
Emily Miels, a content marketer in Oshkosh, lives alone and has only occasionally seen family members due to health concerns that made her more cautious. She said she struggles to find motivation, and though she’s grateful for video chats, she sometimes tires of talking to friends through a computer screen.
In August, being alone became too much, and Miels decided to adopt her first pet, a cat named Oscar. Now, she said she feels cautiously optimistic about the future and grateful for the support system that kept her going.
“This whole time, I’ve tried to stay positive and optimistic,” Miels said. “I guess I finally feel that a little bit more, especially the last couple months.”
Packard, too, said she’s finally picturing possibilities instead of worries about the future. The arrival of the vaccines helped with that. Happiness feels different these days than it did before the pandemic, she said, but it’ll just take some getting used to.
“Just finding a new way forward is what I’m focused on for sure,” she said.
Therapists recommend the same coping mechanisms they’ve suggested from the onset of the pandemic: Get outside, move around, connect with loved ones and seek out additional support, such as therapy.
The arrival of the vaccine may also help people look to the future with a sense of excitement. But now, gratitude is key. The one-year mark can be a time of reflection to process the good things that came out of the last year, Battaglia said — creative connections with family, more time at home to snuggle with pets, a reexamination of values and what’s really important in life.
“In the end, we can take some ‘lemonades’ from this,” she said. “There are some silver linings.”
Some mental health effects of the pandemic may linger as life returns to normal, particularly for those dealing with the added stress of economic struggles. LaTorre said it’s important to stay in the moment and take life one day at a time. There are ways to use these challenges to become a stronger person in the end, he said.
More than anything, LaTorre said, self-care and a positive mindset will help you get through.