Pandemic, outages could be unhealthy combo

First, there was the COVID-19 pandemic that kept millions of Americans quarantined at home, hoping to avoid a potentially fatal illness. Then there was the social unrest that led thousands to take to the streets, protesting police violence and institutional racism.

And, in the past week, a tropical storm swept through Connecticut, leaving downed trees and other destruction while knocking out power for about 1 million in the state.

More than a week later, some are still without power, sitting through yet another heat wave without air conditioning.

The stress has been piling up and is taking its toll, experts said, causing heightened anxiety and even depression in many Connecticut residents.

“It reminds me of the book, ‘The Perfect Storm,’ ” said Dr. Charles Herrick, chairman of psychiatry at Nuvance Health, which includes Danbury, Norwalk, New Milford and Sharon hospitals. “In that book, it was the confluence of three different storms coming together at the same time that led to this horrible experience.”

Herrick said the recent tropical storm “is the third storm to come, on top of COVID and social unrest.” It’s a lot to take at one time, he said.

Melissa Whitson, an associate professor of psychology at the University of New Haven and a licensed psychologist, echoed those thoughts.

“(The tropical storm) is adding onto the stress that’s already there,” she said. “One of the things I’ve talked about with the pandemic is that we have more extreme reactions when things are out of our control. A lot of this is out of our control. And a lot of things we were doing to cope (with the pandemic) probably depended on electricity.”

Herrick said people might respond to this disruption in a variety of ways.

“Some people express their moods with irritability and anger,” he said. “Some might express it with sadness and hopelessness. Some might express it with anxiety. But it’s all part of the same underlying experience.”

Yet, the experts agreed that, in most cases, people are capable of stepping back and coping with this rising anxiety. One of the problems posed by the pandemic and the storm is they have disrupted people’s routines, said Dr Andre Newfield, chairman of psychiatry for St. Vincent’s Behavioral Health Services in Bridgeport.

“I think it’s a matter of really trying to adapt and come up with new routines,” he said. These could include going for regular walks, Newfield said, or — for those with power and internet — learning to cook new healthy recipes.

Whitson agreed, pointing out that 10 minutes of deep breathing or reading might help keep anxiety in check.

“Doing something for just a few minutes can be really restorative,” she said.

If people don’t establish healthy routines and coping mechanisms, Newfield said, “that leaves the door open for unhealthy coping mechanisms,” such as binge drinking, overeating, eating too little or sleeping too much or not enough.

If people find themselves engaging in these kinds of behaviors, it might be time to check in with a professional, starting with their general practitioner, Newfield said.

At the very least, Herrick said, people need to examine how they’re coping, and they need to cut themselves some slack.

“People need to be more forgiving of themselves and others, to help understand and appreciate that we’re all struggling with this in our own way,” he said.