Recovering From Pandemic Stress?
You’re not alone! An exercise from bioenergetic psychotherapy can help
As life begins to return to normal, many people still experience high levels of anxiety and depression. For myself, I’ve had periods of strong emotions, along with a confusing contrast of wanting time alone and an urge to be around people. I learned that several of my friends felt this too, coupled with being more tired than usual and considering big life changes. Perhaps you are experiencing some of these symptoms as well.
With the shift of more people being vaccinated and COVID case rates generally dropping, we enter a new phase related to the collective traumatic stress of the pandemic. There’s a reason PTSD — Post Traumatic Stress Disorder — occurs after the stressful event. In the midst of traumatic stress, our resources — body, mind and spirit — focus on addressing the immediacy of the stress. In the pandemic this has included adjusting to working, teaching or learning online, managing childcare along with work, coping with tight finances for people who’ve lost jobs, tending to the overwhelm of ill patients for medical professionals, finding new ways to connect with family and/or friends, tending to ill family members, exercising caution with regular activities, along with worrying and wondering how long this global crisis will last.
