COVID-19 Strikes Panic and Anxiety as Cases Rise.
From constant news reports to death tolls posted all over social media, Coronavirus took the world by storm and has caused a worldwide panic through its path. Social isolation has pulled friends and families apart and the distractions people once had are no longer available. Day by day cases began to soar, but so did the effects of the deadly virus. Although the pandemic is spoken about as the cause of toilet paper and food scarcity, it hasn’t been blamed nearly as much for the decrease in mental health it has caused throughout our communities.
Dora Gonzalez, a senior analyst for New York-Presbyterian Hospital’s Retirement Services Department, says that although working from home is “easy in the sense that [they] are able to work remotely”, she states it has affected her personal life in many difficult ways. Being in one of the most affected cities in the United States took a toll on how she reacted to the spread of the virus. When asked if she has panicked during the Coronavirus lockdown she said, “I did panic because I actually got sick and my family got sick as well so we actually went through panic mode… it was crazy, it was tough, but we got through it.” Gonzalez is one of the very lucky survivors of the virus and she says she owns much of her sanity to the company she works for.
“I actually learned meditation, it actually helped me especially because when I had COVID-19, I fell into a little depression and due to that I had this feeling of ‘why am I going to live if even though I’m going to live I won’t be able to go out’… Because of my job, they offered meditation and I actually tried it and it worked out for me,” said Gonzalez.
Similarly, there are many students who have felt the same amount of stress and anxiety while trying to juggle home and personal life with school or work. University of Houston student, Natalie Armstrong, has had to move back to her hometown 3 hours away from her dorm room as well as keep up with her demanding classwork. “Architecture is very hands-on and collaborative and my professor is not very tech friendly so a part of me feels like this became a blow off semester, which is sadly very disappointing,” said Armstrong. Not only has the virus negatively influenced her ability to effectively finish her assignments, but it has also caused her to feel unproductive and overwhelmed. Armstrong stated that she had “a lack of motivation” and “became slightly depressed.” Even though Armstrongs school has given back to their students financially, it hasn’t been apparent if they have been helping their students when it comes to mental health during such a difficult time.
“It’s hard not to get anxious right now, every day the news says there’s a new symptom or strain we didn’t know about and no one knows what to do… ‘The country won’t return to normal till 2022' …things like that aren’t encouraging,” said Armstrong.
Even those who are calmly waiting to see what happens next have been feeling a bit stressed cooped up in their houses. College student and car salesman, Eric Dobbins, hasn’t panicked about the pandemic but he has been feeling the stress that comes with not being able to live a normal life. “I’ve been more stressed but only for the time that I’ve been inside, I’m not really stressing about what’s going to happen in the future because there's nothing I can do to change it,” he said. To fight back boredom, Dobbins has picked up a couple of hobbies to pass the time and keep himself sane. “ I took a break from college and started working at a car dealership but since quarantine, I haven't been able to go to work… to take my mind off of things, I’ve been spending hours on my art and selling my logos and graphic designs,” Dobbins said.
For some, the COVID-19 outbreak has caused fear of the unknown. For others, it is just a hardship we will all get over. However, the global pandemic has changed many people's lives at least a little. Whether you have gotten mental health help from a professional or found your own way of helping yourself, the interactions we used to have, our health, and our mental stability are things many are especially appreciating today.
