Imagine the Next Normal -- Our Mental Health
Part #2 of a series focused on creating healthier and safer communities for all
I am pushing back HARD against the desire to return to normal.
Instead of wanting to return to what was pre-COVID, I am stepping into the future — the NEXT NORMAL — with the hope that we can create healthier and safer communities for all. Returning to 2019 normal is unacceptable. PERIOD. It is unacceptable because we have all changed, grown, and learned so much living through (read: surviving) a pandemic.
I invite you to explore this NEXT NORMAL with me in this 10-part blog series (yes, I am fired up, inspired, and really excited). If you are jumping in today, please go back and read my inspiration for the series as well as the first part.
WARNING — this post addresses depression, anxiety, and suicide. Feel free to skip this post if it is triggering. You can rejoin the conversation next Tuesday.
Several months ago, I wrote that the pandemic has been devastating to our mental health. And shared honestly the toll the pandemic was having on my mental health. For many of you who saw me on Erie News Now or weekly on our county Facebook page answering COVID questions and sharing my epidemiological expertise, it may have been (or still is) hard to understand or even acknowledge my struggles with depression and anxiety. I’ve become a master of masking the pain, pushing through the darkness, and putting on a good show, especially when there is work to do and people are counting on me.
In the midst of a lot of harsh criticism (and personal attacks) and months of loneliness, I wrote in my journal on December 27, 2020 that —
“I feel like the grumpy Care Bear with a cloud of gloom and negativity hanging eternally over my head.”
I share all of this with you because I am part of the 42 percent of US adults who reported symptoms of depression and anxiety during the pandemic. I am not embarrassed to say I am struggling with depression and anxiety. It is the truth; my truth. And addressing my mental health has become a priority for me. I have adopted the following practices to address the fact that I am struggling with depression and anxiety —
I go to yoga. Now that the yoga studio is open, I leave my house and go to yoga often (up to six days a week). Not only is the practice of yoga good for my physical and mental health, but the community of people that practice together is uplifting. It is about the practice and the people (more to come on social/emotional health next Tuesday).
I get outside every day. For in the words of Rachel Carson — “Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts.”
I am journaling. I follow @yourjournalcoach on Instagram and use her prompts/techniques as inspiration for my journaling practice. I also just do braindumps regularly — where I just write down all the thoughts, feelings, and plans that are swirling in my head. It is a practice that allows me to “clear the deck” so to speak and then I can get back to whatever is the next thing to do.
I get offline. I spend time with my family (screen-free). I read books. I go for walks. I use a pen and paper to plan, write, journal. And I limit my time on social media.
Despite acknowledging my mental health and putting practices into place to address my mental health, I still struggle. And statistically, many of you are experiencing these same things. The social isolation, loneliness, fear, suffering, exhaustion, stress, and loss brought about by the pandemic are real health consequences.
As we enter this period of the NEXT NORMAL, we must balance the risks of COVID infection with the very real consequences the pandemic has had on our mental health.
And we need to start talking about all of this more openly.
While we know that isolation of COVID+ individuals and quarantine of close contacts will slow the spread of disease, is it worth mandating that a fully vaccinated child with no risk factors for severe disease be quarantined for 10 days or even 5? how will the quarantine impact this child’s mental health? Will they become one of the children who commit suicide in quarantine? What are the costs of closing a school (going remote) and canceling all of the extracurricular activities?
If we can prevent severe disease through vaccinations and test-to-treat programs and slow the spread of disease with mask mandates — why not prioritize the mental health of students and allow them to continue to learn in person? And why not keep the extracurricular activities going? We know that sports, band, choir, and clubs provide countless physical, mental, and developmental health benefits to our kids.
Can we afford to prevent the spread of COVID at the expense of our mental health?
Where do we draw the line? What is risker? Where does the collective benefit of slowing the spread of disease trump the costs to our mental health? COVID is not the only health threat in our lives. We need to weigh risks and benefits. And think about health holistically — prioritizing physical AND mental health.
There are no simple answers to these questions. But I think we need to work towards creating communities where we slow the spread of COVID and prevent severe illness so that we can be together to learn, play, pray, and have fun. This will be good for both our physical and mental health.
We cannot ignore the mental health effects of the pandemic anymore.
According to the Global Burden of Disease Study (conducted by WHO), the global prevalence of depression and anxiety has increased by (at least) 25 percent because of the pandemic. Women, individuals with pre-existing physical health conditions, and young people are at the greatest risk of depression, anxiety, suicide, and self-harm.
Our world has been traumatized by the pandemic and is under a lot of stress. The pandemic has been relentless and brought about so much loss. We have faced the loss of loved ones, isolation, uncertainty; there has also been a loss of relationships, time together, and moments that cannot be relived or retrieved.
And according to Alex Desatnik, a clinical psychologist in the U.K —
“It will take at least a generation to resolve the damage to many young people caused by missed milestones and experiences crucial for development.
As we move into the next normal, we must include mental health support, services, and care into our COVID response plans.
Mental health services need to be accessible and available to everyone.
In a recent interview of the PBS News Hour, Dr. Tom Insel (former director of the National Institute of Mental Health) discussed the fragmented and stigmatized system of mental health care in the United States. Dr. Insel specifically said —
“We need to fix a broken healthcare system. This means ending the fragmention. We must (put an) end (to) … what I call a crisis-driven sick-care system.”
As I imagine the next normal, mental health care — everything from education about it to the treatment of it — would be included in the definitions of health education and being healthy. I want to live in a community where seeking out mental health care from a psychiatrist or counselor is assumed in order to be healthy.
I want to see health insurance companies provide incentives for people who are taking care of their mental health. I want to see mental health screenings, counselor visits, and medications treated as preventative services covered fully by all healthcare plans. And I want to see a huge push from the federal government — in terms of leadership and funding — to provide mental health services to individuals without insurance, especially for those living in poverty, homeless, or incarcerated.
Mental health must become synonymous with our goals, individually and collectively as communities, to be healthy.
The work that we have ahead of us — to destigmatize mental health, to prioritize our mental health individually and collectively, and to create a real healthcare system that provides mental health education, prevention, and care for everyone — involves each of us. And while the public health officials, mental health providers, clinicians, and policy experts can lead this work, this work has been assigned to each of us.
We are all public health. And public health includes mental health.
Thank you for opening your emotions and heart.