Speaker 1: (00:00)
As the coronavirus pandemic soldiers on. So do mental health struggles with the pandemic entering its third year. And with the variant, bringing a mammoth wave of cases, mental fatigue can be impossible to avoid. I'm joined by marriage and family therapist, Lindsay, to moose from sharp me Vista to talk about how to help manage pandemic fit fatigue, and the stress that can come with it. Lindsay welcome.
Speaker 2: (00:24)
Thank you. Thank you for having me a recent
Speaker 1: (00:26)
Poll found 87% of respondents. Believe there's a mental health crisis in the nation today. Do you agree with that assessment?
Speaker 2: (00:34)
Unfortunately, I do. I think that this pandemic has taken such a significant toll on our collective mental health and has brought about much fatigue. And so I do think that there is increased awareness about how we overall are significantly struggling. So
Speaker 1: (00:52)
What's important for us to keep in mind when it comes to our mental health.
Speaker 2: (00:56)
I think it's really important to start out by checking in on ourselves, to check on how we have been experiencing these past two years and the impact that it's caused to us individually. I wanna normalize that the fatigue that's been brought on by the pandemic is completely normal and understandable. We're really not built to be able to sustain and endure this type of ongoing and pro long stress. So I think giving ourselves the opportunity to really recognize what we're struggling with is the first step in the process of being able to receive support and heal from this terrifying and, and really difficult pandemic.
Speaker 1: (01:37)
And what can people do to help cope with mental fatigue during this ongoing pandemic?
Speaker 2: (01:42)
It really depends on what you're experiencing. So some people really need to be focusing on ensuring that their physical needs are being met. It might be a matter of looking at any sort of calming strategies that you can employ, whether that's engaging in breathing exercises or physical activity, but with more persist, severe symptoms that people could be experiencing professional help may certainly be indicated. So it's really a matter of recognizing the severity of what you've been experiencing over the past two years, going into this third year and receiving support, asking for support. You
Speaker 1: (02:22)
Mentioned the of recognizing what we've been going through. What are some, some warning signs people wanna look out for not only in their own lives, but, but also with, uh, those of, of our loved ones,
Speaker 2: (02:33)
Just some warning signs to start off with would be feeling fatigued more often than not having sleep problems, a change in your eating habits, a change in your weight or your health feeling a loss of your willpower or control losing interest or having apathy in terms of connecting with others, getting out of the house, even taking lots of time off or, um, drinking more using substances. I also see people having a lot of difficulty in terms of managing their anger, their I irritability being very quick to react. So there's such a wide range of warning signs that we may have otherwise determined were just kind of everyday things that we struggled with, but collectively can be a bigger indication of mental health fatigue that comes with the pandemic.
Speaker 1: (03:21)
How has treating mental health been changed by the pandemic?
Speaker 2: (03:25)
I think that this has really been our time to shine in the field of mental health, which was such a taboo thing in my experience previously. Now, so many people are experiencing and recognizing that they are actually struggling mentally. And with that, they're taking the opportunity to be able to access resources for mental health. And so it's to the point now where lots of individual practitioners, lots of institutions that have various programs have waiting lists, and this is not something that we've necessarily seen for the pandemic. And so actually the reframe is this has been a, a really phenomenal opportunity to be able to value the impact and the importance of mental health resources and take those opportunities for support.
Speaker 1: (04:14)
Have you noticed any different mental health symptoms in, uh, year two of the pandemic from what you saw in the early days of the pandemic
Speaker 2: (04:22)
At this time last year? I think we had this collective hope that we were going to see some semblance of an end to this with the vaccination rollout. And so we, you know, we had some gas left in the tank to be able to persist and just to cross the finish line. And now it almost seems like completing year two where it's like we've finished a marathon. And then we're finding out that the race actually hasn't ended and we have another 26.2 miles to go. So for the majority of the population that would really bring about an increased amount of anger, of frustration, of overwhelm, of sadness and these types of, of actions that we have may be much more chronic and persistent where in year one we saw impacts on mental health being something that could be reversible that could be managed with techniques that one could employ themselves. And now what we're seeing is that people need a lot more intervention. What
Speaker 1: (05:21)
Are, if any, some misconceptions about mental health you've seen during the pandemic?
Speaker 2: (05:26)
I think that people have experienced this misconception, that mental health issues are uncommon. That they're the only ones that are really deeply struggling with pandemic fatigue. I think that people still feel like they'll be judged for using mental health resources and then going back to something that has been an unfortunate tried and true misconception, is that even something like, you know, addiction is coming from a lack of willpower and a character deficit. I think people still have difficulties in, in acknowledging that they are among others that are truly struggling with this and that it's okay for them to be able to seek
Speaker 1: (06:05)
Help. We've been talking a lot about the negative impact the pandemic has brought to many of our lives. Are there any positives that jump out to you during this time?
Speaker 2: (06:15)
I think in year two, two echoing off of what we've experienced in year one, the importance of maintaining connection of being able to look at how we can employ different health routines and solidify structure with our lives. I think if we've been able to maintain or get back to those practices, people see a significant IM impact. So, um, there is a sense of community and connection that can come from using those tools. And like I said earlier, I think a big bonus that has come from the pandemic has been recognizing that we all are struggling and that there are actually, uh, resources and support systems in place to be able to guide through that process and not having to do that alone. You
Speaker 1: (07:01)
Mentioned resources, what are they? And, uh, how are they available to people who are struggling with their mental health?
Speaker 2: (07:07)
I personally think that the it's up to us campaign that the San Diego county has, uh, utilized for a long time is a great resource for accessing San Diego's available support system. And that's at up to sd.org. I also coming from sharp makes Vista know that we have such a wide range of, of resources, whether it's inpatient care intensive, outpatient care that we have available to the majority of San Diego county, even utilizing the employee assistant program from your is such a helpful resource that many of us have forgotten about over the years. And lots of those EAP programs have very short wait times to be able to seek therapeutic support from a provider.
Speaker 1: (07:52)
I've been speaking with Lindsay DMO, a licensed marriage and family therapist with sharp me Vista Lynn Z. Thank
Speaker 2: (07:59)
You. Thank you Jade for having me.
