Collective COVID Trauma: How To Cope

After nearly two years of pandemic life, many now call our shared experience “communal grief,” a collective stressor and other names. We might feel isolated, be out of work, battling long COVID-19, grieving those we’ve lost or reminiscing about what “normal” used to feel like. Perhaps you don’t even realize where feelings of sadness, anxiety, worry or sleeplessness might be coming from. If that describes your current situation, know that you’re not alone.

Signs of Distress

A Kaiser Family Foundation poll found that one in four adults now experiences anxiety or depression in the COVID era. That stress physically manifests as trouble sleeping, changes in eating habits and increases in alcohol and substance use. Some even report worsening of their chronic conditions or preexisting health problems.

This new reality also impacts children. In 2021, the American Academy of Pediatrics reported more than 140,000 American children lost a parent or grandparent to the coronavirus. From March to October 2020, ER visits for kids in mental health crises spiked 24% for those between 5 and 11 and 31% for those 12 to 17.

A Journal of Medical Internet Research article revealed that 71% of college students, too, felt increased stress, depression and anxiety. They not only worried about their loved ones and their grades, but they also struggled to concentrate, sleep and interact with others due to distancing policies.

You might have noticed some of these symptoms yourself or observed them happening more frequently to a loved one. Signs of increased stress can include aches and pains (including headaches), anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, trouble sleeping and digestive problems. Other common ways of coping with increased stress throughout the pandemic include increasing alcohol, tobacco or substance use or compulsively shopping online.

Finding Supportive Solutions

The good news is that this stress isn’t forever, and there are many ways to begin healing.

Practice mindfulness. Intentional breathing, meditation, chatting with a person you love or even participating in an activity you love can lower your heart rate and blood pressure. The Mayo Clinic suggests meditation can help you manage asthma, chronic pain, depression, heart disease, hypertension, IBS, headaches and sleep problems.

Move through it. Physical activity can get your mind off your woes, but it also releases endorphins and other chemicals that boost your mood. An article in Frontiers in Psychiatry examined the impact of exercise on depression and anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic. The authors found regular exercise (at least 30 minutes per day) boosted immunity, decreased depression and anxiety, and helped fight other chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, asthma, arthritis and cancer.

Take a break from electronics. Even before the pandemic, the Pew Research Center reported that 66% of Americans felt “news fatigue” due to overwhelming information. While social media might help you feel connected to others, make sure you aren’t “doomscrolling.” Consumption of negative information can increase depression, so it might be time to limit your app usage or navigate the rabbit hole of bad news.

Sleep it off. The National Sleep Foundation advises adults get at least seven hours of sleep every night— but most of us don’t get that much shut-eye. This is a problem because insomniacs have a tenfold higher risk of developing depression than the well-rested. Even missing an hour of sleep takes us four days to "get back."

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