Helping people cope with their pandemic anxiety
“The Essentials” is a series depicting the stories of the workers on the front lines of the coronavirus crisis, in their own words.
This includes first responders and health care workers, but also the cashiers, day care employees, plumbers, delivery drivers and others who keep Hampton Roads up and running while many are keeping safe at home.
If you are an essential worker with a story to tell, we’d love to hear from you. Email matthew .korfhage@pilotonline.com with the subject line, ESSENTIALS. Please provide your name, age, city of residence, and a little bit about yourself and the job you do.
Edith Beaujon, Virginia Beach
Mental health worker
I’ve had clients who are afraid to eat because they’re afraid that there’s some virus in the food.
They were getting dizzy, going to the hospital having all kinds of low things in their blood because they haven’t been eating. Just terrified.
I’ve had clients who haven’t been outside in two months because of their anxiety.
Also, I see a lot of military people restricted from going farther than 50 miles away from Virginia Beach and Norfolk. That’s putting a big strain on people who have family far away. I know someone whose father is dying and hasn’t gotten permission to go be with him.
I have one couple coming to see me deciding they’re getting a divorce.
Those are the kinds of things I’m seeing, people that are very anxious — tremendously anxious. So anxious that they’ve done the craziest things. Some of them I won’t even mention because it’s just too crazy, and I don’t want them to be in the paper.
We’re dealing a lot with companies that ask you to come in for what we call critical incidents. We’ve had people on the phone by Zoom who have had colleagues that died of the virus. And they’ve, of course, got a lot of mourning and sadness, but also fear for themselves.
There are a lot of mothers who haven’t had child care but are forced to go to work anyway. People that work in call centers where they’re not letting them work from home, and there’s really not much social distancing.
As therapists, what I do is try to get them to decontaminate their fear. We do that by getting them into some rational thinking and facts. Getting them to meditate and see the present.
I find that a lot of people have anxiety about “what if ” this and “what if ” that. “What if ” I lose my job? We can drive ourselves crazy.
We have to be in the present and take things one breath at a time. We’re not promised anything but the present.
Go in nature. Go to First Landing State Park. Go to the beach and take a walk away from crowds. Do something that makes you feel invigorated. Ride your bicycle.
There are some support groups that meet online for people with anxiety. Find a place to go that makes you feel comforted. Maybe it’s inside a church. You can’t go to church right now, but maybe you can go to a chapel or a Zoom meeting.
Whatever makes people feel safe and secure — that’s important right now. Because I think our sense of safety has been pulled away right now.
Who would have thought two months ago, three months ago that the whole world would be closed down?
It’s unthinkable. We couldn’t have imagined it. So whatever makes people feel secure, whether it’s their animals, whether it’s God, what makes them feel at peace in nature, definitely keeping in touch with family and friends on Zoom, those are kind of things I would tell people to turn to.