Mental Health In The Year 2020 — Salt Lily Magazine

Jul 20

Jul 20 Mental Health In The Year 2020

Throughout the past few months, I have often felt torn between wanting to stay online to connect with friends and learn about current events while living under quarantine and social distancing measures. Yet, after constantly feeling overwhelmed, worried, and struck by the amount of injustice in the world, I had to realize that constantly seeing images of people suffering was only harming my mental health.

For everyone around the globe, 2020 has proved to be a challenging and unprecedented year. The COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered many individuals’ daily routines. In the midst of this new reality, the world has also begun to more closely pay attention to global issues of systemic racism and police brutality. The 24-hour news cycle seems to constantly announce tragic notices of more cases of COVID-19 or another person who has been murdered by police. At this point, it is important to recognize the fact that our world can be incredibly detrimental to individuals’ mental health.

Standing alone, the COVID-19 pandemic presents many unique mental health challenges. This virus has brought anxiety, fear, isolation, and stress to the masses. Worries about protecting your own, your friends’, and your family’s health can increase stress levels; seeing individuals not following social distancing measures may incite a fight or flight response; losing your job or having reduced hours can worsen financial stresses; and being separated from typical routines and social events can exacerbate feelings of loneliness.

In addition to the CDC’s resources about COVID-19 symptoms, testing centers, and recommendations for navigating daily life, the CDC also recognizes the toll of the stress of the pandemic upon people’s mental health. Among the steps the CDC recommends taking, it is important to learn about COVID-19 resources in your area, take breaks from engaging with the news, and make time to connect with friends over Zoom or by talking on the phone. We are all living through an unprecedented situation, so it’s no surprise that the drastic changes we have made may be difficult to cope with. While these small measures to protect your mental health may not provide a fix, it is important to recognize that we can make it through this pandemic by taking care of our health — both physically and mentally.

On top of this public health pandemic, the world has also begun to notice the widespread horrors of systemic racism and police brutality following the murders of Ahmaud Arbery, George Floyd, and Breonna Taylor. Social media movements focused around #BlackLivesMatter have called attention to systems of injustice, and the increased number of people who are staying home or who are unemployed has mobilized some to have more availability to protest. Seeing people being attacked or murdered on the streets is not something that can be ignored. In order to enact change, it is important to be aware of the current status of the world. But, for many, seeing the violence against Black, Indigenous, and people of color is shocking and terrifying.

If you want to help educate others about the issues surrounding systemic racism, it is important to do so while also making sure to protect your own mental health. Some of these conversations can be difficult and polarizing, but by prioritizing your own mental health, you may be able to have a more constructive conversation. Waiting until you’re in the right headspace or able to access resources, materials, and data are ways in which you can balance both taking care of yourself while educating others.

For people that want to engage with protests, but are worried about COVID-19, Salt Lily’s Ellie Bresler has a great article about what to do. When you feel as if there’s nothing you can do to help the situation or don’t know enough, it is possible to overcome these feelings of hopelessness. You can take matters into your own hands by educating yourself or taking concrete actions to promote change — reading books, listening to podcasts, conducting research, signing petitions, donating money, and voting in local and nationwide elections. While some of these methods may seem small, they are all important in the search to become more aware of current events, and with this knowledge, you can be better prepared to help promote and create a more just society.

Throughout this time, social media has been an incredible tool. For staying in touch with friends or finding new petitions to sign, social media can be powerful in spreading awareness and forming connections with people. Yet, spending too much time on social media may worsen your own mental health. Seeing people post photos as if there isn’t a pandemic and watching people treat the Black Lives Matter movement as if it is a trend can be hard to cope with. But, it is okay to unfollow or mute people if seeing their content is causing you distress. Personally, I have found it challenging to see friends post photos from restaurants or large gatherings without wearing masks. So, for the meantime, I have chosen to mute some individuals’ stories in order to avoid possibly experience re-traumitization from the pandemic.

It may also be difficult to see peers participate in other trends on social media, including the Black Out Tuesday movement — where many people posted black squares on Instagram without ever taking another action to support the Black Lives Matter movement. In this form of optical allyship, some people may wish to seem like activists for change while doing the bare minimum — and in many cases, hashtags with the Black Out Tuesday trend made it harder for others to access real resources about Black Lives Matter on social media platforms. In these cases, it is necessary to step back and reflect on why you’ve chosen to follow certain people, and some of these choices may need to be reconsidered if you don’t want to experience fear or trauma from spending time online.

Social media gives us the power to connect globally, but if you begin to feel overwhelmed by the amount of injustice and suffering in the world, it is okay to take a step back and take care of yourself. No one person can fix everything, so taking the time to learn about what’s happening while prioritizing your own mental health can help create a balance so you can continue fighting for what you believe in.

As we all attempt to manage the new normal, it is important to find a balance between remaining educated and plugged into current events while prioritizing your own mental health. If you first take care of yourself, you will then be in a better space to work to help others — in any arena. For me, cutting back on my time spent online while planning virtual get-togethers and educating myself about local and global issues has helped me to begin to find a balance between staying engaged and protecting my mental health — and by doing so, I have felt more prepared to continue learning and promoting justice.

Below, I’ve listed a few links to some resources that include ways to stay educated and involved with current events around the world. These sites offer educational resources, petition links, and places to donate.

Educate yourself on global issues here:

https://educateurself.carrd.co/

Curated list of links to other sites about current global tragedies:

https://currentinfo.carrd.co/

Multiple resources for 2020 issues:

https://dotherightthing.carrd.co/

Links to letters and petitions for global issues:

https://makepositivechange.carrd.co/

Petitions that still need signatures:

https://pleasehelpsignthese.carrd.co/

Global issues and resources in several languages:

https://issuesintheworld.carrd.co/