Grief is a very familiar thing we all feel these days. When you hear the word grief, your brain immediately goes to loss or death because it is what everyone equates grief to. But, grief also comes in many different forms. This pandemic alone has caused many to have loss and grieve. For most of us, we have lost our freedom to things that we like. Some, it’s the loss of a job and an income. For many, it is the loss of a summer vacation they normally have.
Grief is a sneaky thing. Grief is like a wave. At the time when you feel that you are in that acceptance state of your grief, it will flood you with emotions that you have experienced before.
To get through any tough situation we must come together to find a solution. That seems to be a very well known thing, but what do you do when the thing you are trying to overcome is preventing you from physically being able to come together.
By this time, most everyone is very familiar with the global pandemic we are still fighting, the thing you might not be aware of is how much the distance between you and others, or the loss of the emotional and physical presence of someone we know and love, or even the loss of activities and routines that we are familiar with is affecting your mental health and overall wellbeing. Take coma patients, for example, who are more likely to improve because the people they love are attending to them. It is the familiarity. This is why I think the pandemic and the social distancing are detrimental to our mental health. You probably have been seeing and hearing a lot about how the whole shelter in place order has been a real isolation for some people, maybe most people.
By having these new standards of social distance it is harder now more than ever to try and maintain a normal routine by still keeping healthy, but that doesn’t mean that it is impossible. Even though the physical aspects of our relationships and everyday life have been put on hold, keeping in contact with the important people in your life can make a huge difference, by something as simple as setting up a facetime date or calling your friend on your morning walk. Focusing on what you need is more essential than ever before.
