I am so tired and exhausted. Aren’t you too? Who knew this pandemic would be so emotionally tiring. It feels like we have been sheltering in place for 6 months. Our normal routines have been turned upside down so much that have lost track of the date and the day of the week. Going outside is now a chore fraught with fear and anxiety that we can get COVID-19 from any person or surface. We all have to wear masks and gloves and make sure to stay away from anyone. I thought wearing a winter coat was a chore, boy was I wrong.
I don’t like the new normal. The part of the new normal that I am really having problems with is, I miss people. I never thought I would say this….I miss handshakes and sitting next to people. I believe why I’m so emotionally tired is that I’m not going out and connecting with people. I don’t think we realized how much we socialized during a single day and the positive effect it had on our mental health. We always knew socializing was good for our mental health, but now we really understand how good it is. Socialization is therapeutic. We can talk about our troubles or things to get our minds off our troubles. Without socialization, it makes it more difficult to manage the anxiety and fears this pandemic has brought on. We need to make socialization a priority to maintain our mental health. I know we all wish we could go out and have fun with friends like the old days, but we need to make FaceTime and group get-togethers on the internet a priority. It would be nicer to have interactions in person, but as long as we can connect in some way our mental health will survive this period of turmoil. Let’s make it a priority to maintain our mental health until our lives are back to normal.
I encourage you to reach out to family and friends and make time for a good old fashioned chat. If you need something more like a therapy session, I am here for you.
