April is Stress Awareness Month and coping with the effects of the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has produced a great deal of stress for many people over the past year.
Contributing factors range from concerns over health and safety, to economic implications of the pandemic, to spending too much time on social media.
WCBU reporter Joe Deacon recently spoke to OSF HealthCare psychotherapist Bernice Gordon-Young about how COVID-19 and other factors have created more stress and how people can deal with those concerns.
Listen to the full conversation
Joe Deacon: How much have you seen an increase in people's stress and anxiety caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, along with economic, social and political tensions over the past year?
Bernice Gordon-Young: I would say it's doubled, at least. And the biggest increase has been in children.
How so? What are we seeing with children, and why are they experiencing increased stress?
Gordon-Young: Right, so with our children, they have the stress of trying to navigate remote learning, and not being able to socialize with their peers, having the pressure of expectations from their parents, from the teachers. Just family dynamics of what's going on at home, or not being able to have an environment that is conducive to learning.
With adults, too, so much has happened over the past year that is very stressful. Stress has always been a concern, but what about the past year has made it worse?
Gordon-Young: Well, it's unprecedented. Pandemic fatigue is a real thing; pandemic fatigue is something that we did not foresee. It has accumulated. We've been wearing masks for over a year. The pressure that adults are experiencing in terms of financial challenges, just that stress alone – which consists of work, family, school finances – that on an average day can be challenging.
But when you throw in losing your job ... and trying to accommodate additional supplies that are needed, just some basic functions have really thrown lots of people off in trying to maintain family status and their own sanity, if you will.
What kind of health issues or other problems can develop from elevated or excessive stress?
Gordon-Young: Heart disease, high blood pressure, and insomnia, which can contribute to other factors. We know that the brain shrinks when there is extreme stress. We also know, because I want to note this, that stress can be a positive thing as well.
Stress is that thing that makes you want to get up and go. It’s the thing that makes you want to complete the task because there's a deadline attached to it, or there's a consequence attached to it. We just can't overindulge or allow ourselves to overindulge and (create) unnecessary stress.
So how can people recognize the difference between positive stress and stress that is problematic?
Gordon-Young: Positive stress would be, let's just say you have work deadlines and you're using that energy, that adrenaline, that rush to complete that deadline, even when you don't feel like it, because there's a consequence attached to it. Some people function in terms of 'I procrastinated, but now I have no time to waste time on social media, or to find things that are distractions. I have to buckle down and get things done.' So that's a positive stress. You don't want to always function that way, but it does help with completing task.
A negative stressor, you know, are things that cause irritability (where) you're angry, you are not taking care of yourself, feeling symptoms of depression, avoidance, withdraw, eating too much, not eating enough, not taking care of yourself. Those are signs that you're experiencing negative stress.
You just touched on it. But what are some of the signs or indicators that a person's stress is too high?
Gordon-Young: You have to know yourself, right? Everybody has a base of who they are. When you find yourself in a constant state of irritability, you find yourself withdrawing from things that you typically would do, you are not completing tasks - those are some signs to look for. What's your base, because what one person's base is not the same for the other person. And so it’s recognizing, “How do I normally function, and how far off am I from that space?”
What are some steps people can take to alleviate or minimize their negative stress? What recommendations would you offer?
Gordon-Young: I'd recommend eating well, sleeping well, doing things that are fun. You know, unplug. We spend a lot of time watching the media, and sometimes we can overindulge in that, or listening to media. We can overindulge in some of the things like civil unrest. We know that the numbers are going up and down in terms of COVID. People are stressing about getting the vaccination.
Just in the meantime, finding creative ways to relax, to meditate and to ask for help – that's huge, asking for help when everything that you're trying isn't reducing your level of stress.
What professional treatment options are available when someone's stress reaches the point of needing attention?
Gordon-Young: Well, there are several resources. There are local resources, and that would include OSF and Unity Point. There's the Human Services Center. OSF has Silvercloud, which is an app that you don't have to leave your home. In fact, telehealth has increased tremendously during this time, because so many people can't leave their home or they don't feel safe leaving their home. There's the hotline, the Suicide Prevention hotline. There are scores of resources that are available in this community.
In conclusion, then what would be your main message to people when it comes to handling stress?
Gordon-Young: My main message would be, 'It is OK to not be OK,' and we can't fix what we don't acknowledge. If you find yourself far off or away from your base, reach out for help if you can't modify it or control it on your own. But you try to do the things that are going to bring you some relief, such as walking. Get outside, the weather is nicer.
Talk about it, because chances are, you're not the only person in your circle experiencing some stress. So normalizing it; we can't just create (a situation where) everybody just goes to this happy space. We have to be realistic with the challenges that we've been faced. Unplug, and do your best to just find creative ways to move to a different space.
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