[MoxieDoxie]

Does that make you feel validated about how you have been struggling for years and now they feel what it is like or does it now down play what you have been struggling with because it has become the norm?

[Lostislost]

In the beginning I felt validated. It seemed like a lot of people were experiencing the fear that I had lived with my whole life, of going outside, meeting people, what awful things happen etc.

Now I don't feel like I can ask for help anymore because everyone needs help. I dont feel like my problems matter to anyone because they all have their own immediate issues. And my mental health has got much worse through this year.

[LonesomeTonight]

Originally Posted by Lostislost

In the beginning I felt validated. It seemed like a lot of people were experiencing the fear that I had lived with my whole life, of going outside, meeting people, what awful things happen etc.

Now I don't feel like I can ask for help anymore because everyone needs help. I dont feel like my problems matter to anyone because they all have their own immediate issues. And my mental health has got much worse through this year.

My T said, fairly early on, with people experiencing anxiety about catching Covid, that I could use that to explain to people (like my parents)--that anxiety? That's like what I feel like all the time. And it struck me that it could be a way to explain...

As for asking for help, I can understand feeling that way. I feel bad lamenting things like "I can't go out to restaurants or to concerts" (well, now I *can* go to restaurants, but I don't feel safe doing so, or "I'm really struggling with my D and H home all the time" when people were dying. But my T said what I'm feeling is legitimate, not to compare it to what other people are experiencing. How part of it is that many of my coping mechanisms and the things that bring me joy (live music, for example) have been taken away. And there's also the effect on my daughter, who's on the autism spectrum and struggling considerably with distance learning and losing social skills and struggles with not being able to see other kids and her grandparents (except at a few socially distanced things).


You deserve whatever help you need.

[ArtleyWilkins]

No. I just feel so badly for those that are struggling. I worry for my students who are struggling with depression because they are isolated. School, for many, was their safe place. It’s an impossible situation. I feel sad for the elderly in nursing home and assisted living centers and their families who have had no contact now for half a year. It’s an impossible situation.

[Salmon77]

I don't think struggling with a difficult situation is the same as having a mental health disorder.

[stopdog]

I disagree with the statement altogether. I think that those people try to turn normal responses into something being wrong. It is like when the oncologist would ask my person if she was depressed over having stage 4 cancer like it would be something wrong with her if she said yes- what a ridiculous question. What more normal response would there be? They just want to make more money off of drugging/labeling people and they want to feel important/relevant.

[LonesomeTonight]

Originally Posted by Salmon77

I don't think struggling with a difficult situation is the same as having a mental health disorder.

Agreed, I think that would fall under the category of "situational depression" (or I guess "situational anxiety"). Where one is just reacting in an unsurprising way to a bad situation, and if the situation went away, one's mental health would return to normal. Sort of like typical grieving (whereas complex grief is something else).

[Taylor27]

When this all happened, I didn't think it would impact me mentally as it has right now. I think it's a struggle for many people. I think this will be felt for a long time. I sometimes feel validated and most of the time I feel so isolated and alone in this. It's very real people are struggiling and may have a mental illness from this.

[divine1966]

I don’t believe pandemics is causing people to develop mental health disorder. Being stressed or upset about specific events even as drastic as pandemics isn’t the same as having mental health disorder

[rechu]

Interesting discussion. In my case, I mainly deal with anxiety and panic attacks. After a really horrible period, I had been a lot better due to some changes in my circumstances early this year. However, the pandemic hit and I am not doing well again. I think a large part of it is the extent of the lockdown we have been enduring since May. We are on week 15. I hear people in other countries whining about restrictions, but here things are among the strictest in the world. I can't take a walk around my neighborhood. We can't even take our car to get fixed. We get exactly two permits a week to go out for approved reasons such as buying groceries or to go to the pharmacy, and these have time limits. So, it has shifted me from pretty stable/anxiety under control to constantly being anxious and stressed again.

[missbelle]

I have a lot of anxiety now... I feel so frustrated and isolated......!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!