This term was used on the new show created by Global News called 'Corona Virus: The New Reality'. When I first saw the title, I was offended. I pre-judged. I assumed the show would be yet another media grab at playing with our fears and messing with our ability to cope. I was wrong. The show is brilliant; facts mixed with hope and sealed with a healthy dose of inspiration.
There is a very real 'echo-pandemic'. COVID 19 is sowing the seeds of a major mental health crises. Eleven million Canadians admit to having symptoms of a very high level of stress. Half of Canadians feel their mental health has already been affected. I think the numbers are much higher. Our mental health services were already vastly under-funded. People were already waiting months to see a psychiatrist or a counsellor. We were already dealing with a mental health crisis.
My father was a bank manager and a philosopher. Had World War II not interrupted his education, he would have become an academic. He left his philosopher imprint on me. As I struggle with my own fears and, this weekend, my yearning for family and friends, I keep finding myself trying to figure out why social connections are so important. Not in a thoughtless or dismissive way but in a profound way. What is the physiology behind our need to be connected? Why do lonely people have a decreased life expectancy? What's the big deal about not being physically close to the people we love or any people for that matter? I am sure some brilliant sociologist- geneticist-philosopher type has already figured this out. Whatever the physiology, we are deeply social and we suffer in isolation.
The combination of isolation and fear are like a tinderbox ready to explode. Everyone around you is afraid. We have never experienced this kind of fear on such a massive scale. The vast majority of us are too young to have had any experience with previous global crises, thankfully. But this lack of experience may have left us bereft of the tools we need to survive this troubling time.
Our mental health is at risk and our relationships are at risk.
Dig deep.
Give people more grace than they deserve and give them less punishment than they deserve. ( Wise words spoken by my pastor ( Todd Cantelon) during this morning's online service. Man do I miss my church family )
Lean towards peace, not conflict. So many people are suffering.
This is most important, bulge with kindness. Or as Todd said, "Treat kindness like it is chocolate cake." Everyone is struggling. Kindness changes that. It is a key word my husband and I have decided to put out front as we struggle with the wear and tear of all this. I will first and foremost be kind. Kindness to our partners, our co-workers our friends and family, our children and most importantly ourselves.
May I acknowledge the parents out there whose school-aged children are home? You have been asked to do the impossible. I picked this up in someone's twitter feed today, "Nobody has yet explained how we are supposed to do 8 hours of work, 4 hours of school, 13 hours of childcare, and 2 hours of household stuff in a single day".
It can't be done. Be kind to yourselves.
If you need support, please reach out.
CMHA WW Website: www.cmhaww.ca
Here 24/7 at 1-844-HERE-247 or www.here247.ca.
And for post-secondary students, Good2Talk
https://good2talk.ca/
https://good2talk.ca/
Tomorrow is another day and we are still standing. That counts!
Anne-Marie
Please share.
No comments:
Post a Comment