Feeling Numb and Other Wellness Concerns in the Aftermath of a Global Pandemic
Pandemic…*Ugh*…The agony of hearing the dreaded “P” word. If you are feeling triggered reading this far, I suggest not reading ahead. I for one am exhausted from hearing about COVID-19…yet these words need to be said.
If you are reading these words and have lost someone recently, through COVID-19 or otherwise, my heart is with you.
The year 2020 marked the birth of the commonly used phrase we have all heard far too often – “physical distancing”. For a brief moment in time, we referred to our need to quarantine from COVID-19 as “social distancing”, until experts realized the impact language can have on our minds, bodies, and spirits. Especially during a time of collective and ongoing trauma for so many, social distancing was the antithesis of healing.
Getting back to the year 2022, we should be in a state of joyous celebrating and reconnecting…right? I don’t believe I am alone in feeling like I am still trapped in lockdown. In my mind, I haven’t quite escaped quarantine, and there is a reason for this. Globally, we were sent daily messages through our television, social media, and community signage that the world is a dangerous place. In fact, the messaging also made us fear each other, which led to many of us being disconnected from our social supports for an extensive amount of time…maybe some of us continue to find it challenging to be in person with people we truly love and enjoy spending time with. And, yes, I am aware that we relied (and still rely upon) heavily on messaging apps and phone calls to keep in touch; but at the time, we were very aware that physical connection was, at least for a few years, a taboo topic; for if we did connect, we were risking the health of those we loved. So, now that we are beginning to reconnect in person, why do we continue to feel so isolated? I mean, rates of anxiety and depression continue to go through the roof, even with our communities re-opening. Well, fear for many over the global pandemic was intense, and many of us lost loved ones without having a way of saying goodbye. We had to find ways to grieve from a distance, alone in isolation. The mere act of being unable to connect became an additional trauma within an already traumatic global event. We as a human population are feeling beings as much as we are rational ones. We require connection with our emotions and others in a shared space to heal. We now know that trauma impacts the brain in a significant way. When we feel we are in a dangerous situation, our brain initiates the stress-response system to help keep us safe and protected. A common response is numbing, a fancy way of referring to feeling our emotions going offline (see our blog on “Feelings versus Emotions” to learn more about this). With our feelings offline, grieving, connecting, and moving on becomes a difficult task.
So, what can be done about it? If connecting with others still makes you anxious, I recommend taking small steps toward that important goal. Will it be difficult? Most likely, and yet if community/relationships are important values, then it may be even more difficult to do nothing. What will your first step be? Perhaps you give that loved one a call and set up a short coffee chat, or maybe you ask your neighbour to walk your dogs together through the park. Whatever your first step is, it will be an important one.
