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SprinkL3
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Help Jan 08, 2022 at 11:58 PM
 
This article discusses a growing phenomenon called "pandemic fatigue" or sometimes referred to as "covid fatigue." Here are some ways the experts from the AMA suggest that you can cope with Pandemic Fatigue.

1.
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Recognize signs of COVID fatigue
: e.g., fatigue, burnout.

2.
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Seek mental health care.
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Find ways to have [safe, online, social/physical distanced] community. It is important to “find ways to stay connected,” said Dr. Yap. “For me, I’m lucky in that I like playing computer games and I have friends who I play computer games with.

“We’re on voice chat together and talking to each other while playing video games, so I still have that sense of community there,” she added. “Finding a way to still establish community with somebody or some folks somehow electronically is important.”
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Maintain hope. With COVID-19 fatigue, “you’re tired in your soul—emotionally, psychologically, socially, spiritually, you are just tired and not motivated,” said Dr. Lambert. “To get out of that fatigue, maintain hope that things will get better.”

“That feeds into what's happening nowadays with the vaccine and all these other avenues that are providing hope,” he said. “If there's anything that you can do to maintain hope, that's really the way to go.”
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Create a schedule. With “COVID fatigue you feel like a dog that's just paddling in the pool, not really knowing where you're going,” said Dr. Yap. “When you lose those routines in life, you lose a lot of your momentum and the feeling that you’re growing.”

“As humans, we like to have something we're moving towards and when we don't even know when the end point of something is, how can we move towards it?” she said, adding that one way is to change from pajamas into clothes or move from the bedroom to the living room to “help you feel like you have some sort of change that you're experiencing throughout the day.”
Astronauts have suggested similar advice during this pandemic. They know what it's like to be secluded and isolated in space, and they know how to deal with it. One of the ways to cope with seclusion from the mainstream world is to create a routine.

Scott Kelly
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is a retired NASA astronaut who spent nearly a year on the International Space Station.
He suggests the following advice for those who are shielding/isolating/quarantining/sheltering/social distancing/physical distancing during this pandemic:

A. "Follow a schedule."

B. "Pace yourself."

C. "Go outside."

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Research has shown that spending time in nature is beneficial for our mental and physical health, as is exercise. You don’t need to work out two and a half hours a day, as astronauts on the space station do, but getting moving once a day should be part of your quarantine schedule (just stay at least six feet away from others).
D. "You need a hobby."

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When you are confined in a small space you need an outlet that isn’t work or maintaining your environment.
E. "Keep a journal."

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NASA has been studying the effects of isolation on humans for decades, and one surprising finding they have made is the value of keeping a journal. Throughout my yearlong mission, I took the time to write about my experiences almost every day. If you find yourself just chronicling the days’ events (which, under the circumstances, might get repetitive) instead try describing what you are experiencing through your five senses or write about memories.
F. "Take time to connect."

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Even with all the responsibilities of serving as commander of a space station, I never missed the chance to have a videoconference with family and friends. Scientists have found that isolation is damaging not only to our mental health, but to our physical health as well, especially our immune systems. Technology makes it easier than ever to keep in touch, so it’s worth making time to connect with someone every day — it might actually help you fight off viruses.
G. "LISTEN TO EXPERTS."

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Living in space taught me a lot about the importance of trusting the advice of people who knew more than I did about their subjects, whether it was science, engineering, medicine, or the design of the incredibly complex space station that was keeping me alive.

Especially in a challenging moment like the one we are living through now, we have to seek out knowledge from those who know the most about it and listen to them. Social media and other poorly vetted sources can be transmitters of misinformation just as handshakes transmit viruses, so we have to make a point of seeking out reputable sources of facts, like the World Health Organization and the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
H. "WE ARE ALL CONNECTED."

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Seen from space, the Earth has no borders. The spread of the coronavirus is showing us that what we share is much more powerful than what keeps us apart, for better or for worse. All people are inescapably interconnected, and the more we can come together to solve our problems, the better off we will all be.

One of the side effects of seeing Earth from the perspective of space, at least for me, is feeling more compassion for others. As helpless as we may feel stuck inside our homes, there are always things we can do — I’ve seen people reading to children via videoconference, donating their time and dollars to charities online, and running errands for elderly or immuno-compromised neighbors. The benefits for the volunteer are just as great as for those helped.
Back to the original article...

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Focus on what you can control. “Even if we’re in a world right now where it seems like everything is just lost and turned upside down, pick one or two things that you have control of,” said Dr. Lambert. “For me, personally, that’s been my fitness. My wife and I made a little gym in our kitchen and that was our workout space.

“We would put it on our calendars, and we knew despite our schedules there was a half-hour block that we could control,” he added. “It’s about having hope and then also saying: OK, the decisions I’m making now are going to make me more resilient and stronger for when this pandemic is over.”
Notice here, that what you can control reflects around being responsible citizens through social/physical distancing, masking, doing more activities at home or at least 6 feet away from others outside, getting good airflow inside buildings, purifying the air where necessary, keeping surfaces and hands clean, and getting vaccinated/boosted when it's available to your group. It does NOT mean to avoid advocating or avoid spreading awareness; advocating and spreading awareness is something we can do within our control to help influence better behaviors. What we can control is the information we share - and we're doing what we can to dispel disinformation, misinformation, and other oppositional defiant antisocial behaviors that come from people resisting public safety measures. Ethical physicians and ethical mental health professionals will make such distinctions apparent, and will do what they can to slow the spread through using and encouraging all of these measures.

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Practice positive affirmation. “We're literally doing the best that we can, and we don't always give ourselves credit—we tend to move towards the negative,” said Dr. Lambert, adding that it is important to “think about the good things you are doing.”

“It really comes down to: I’m showing up, I have compassion in my heart and I’m doing the best that I can,” he said. “Even though we're fatigued, there are some things that we should still be grateful for.”
This includes positive affirmations of doing your civic duty by reducing the spread, which also reduces long-term disabilities, death, traumatic grief/loss from those who lose relationships through disabilities or death, medical trauma prevention, and overwhelmed hospitals, which in turn affects our economy and related infrastructures.

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Set boundaries for social media.
9. IMPORTANT ONE - EVEN THOUGH YOU CANNOT CONTROL WHAT OTHERS DO, YOU CAN STILL ADVOCATE, SPREAD AWARENESS, AND DO YOUR PART IN SLOWING THE SPREAD:
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Continue to follow preventive measures.
While there are COVID-19 vaccines, they are 94% and 95% effective, which means there is still a 5% chance for infection. It is also unclear whether vaccination prevents transmission. This is why wearing a mask remains important.

“We want this to come to an end and we know that the best way to do that is to do it in a safe and measured manner,” said Dr. Lambert. “That comes with proper education and just following the science.

“Even though you got the vaccine, there's still that window where you're susceptible to becoming infected with COVID-19,” he added.

“Until everybody gets vaccinated, we probably can't loosen up our mask-wearing” or physical distancing, said Dr. Yap.

The AMA has developed frequently-asked-questions documents on COVID-19 vaccination covering safety, allocation and distribution, administration and more. There are two FAQs, one designed to answer patients’ questions, and another to address physicians’ COVID-19 vaccine questions.
Some of the links above are older, so there have been some updates on things like mixing vaccines, vaccine efficacy, variants of concern, etc. Nevertheless, the tenets of maintaining public health remain.

EDIT - I found another article to add on to the information provided initially below.

Here's another article on Pandemic/Covid Fatigue.

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The World Health Organization (WHO) defines pandemic fatigue as being “demotivated” and exhausted with the demands of life during the COVID crisis. The WHO warns that this fatigue could ultimately lead to a longer, more devastating pandemic.
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How to know if you have COVID fatigue.

Feeling cynical and emotionally exhausted. Two of the most common burnout symptoms are feeling emotionally drained and cynical about the world around you. ResearchersTrusted Source have observed these symptoms in people who have worked in demanding environments during the pandemic.

Being less effective on the job. Burnout happens when you’ve run out of personal resources. Self-doubt creeps in and, over time, you may not be able to pay as much attention to work tasks. ResearchersTrusted Source have noticed that some people with pandemic-related burnout begin feeling like a failure at work.

Having a deep sense of anxiety about the future. Your anxiety may be related to your own future or the future of your community and the wider world. ResearchersTrusted Source think this anxiety comes from the fact that you can’t predict when the pandemic will end. When things are unpredictable, people often feel they have no control over their lives.

Being less willing to comply with health guidelines. As the pandemic drags on, more people are tiring of restrictions such as mask-wearing and social distancing. Growing tired of inconvenient public safety measures may be natural, but experts say it could prolong the pandemic even further.
[/QUOTE] Strategies for dealing with COVID burnout:

...Keep your routines....

...Strengthen ties with your most important relationships....

...Be aware of addictive behavior risk....

...Build your resilience....

[/QUOTE]

Last edited by SprinkL3; Jan 09, 2022 at 12:10 AM..
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