Trauma and Covid

“In our bodies, in this moment, there live the seed impulses of the change and spiritual growth we seek, and to awaken them we must bring our awareness into the body, into the here and now.”
Pat Ogden 

Natural disasters, like flooding, fires, hurricanes, and tornadoes, can have a traumatic impact on our mental health. So can world political events, like terrorist attacks and war.

Although many traumas take place on a person-to-person basis, or within a family, these are societal events. Trauma is any experience in which a person feels helpless and overwhelms an individual’s ability to cope

And so can Covid, although it is a prolonged and sustained event in a way that hasn’t happened in a long time. Other such events are the Great Depression and Spanish Flu.

The effects of sustained traumatic events show up at various times and in diverse ways for individuals. Some people develop symptoms during the event; others develop symptoms after things have gone back to more normal ways of living; and for others, symptoms don’t manifest until sometime after the event has ended.

One of the biggest symptoms related to Covid is grief – grieving the loss of friends and loved ones, opportunities, a job/volunteer positions, financial security, businesses, social life, postponed weddings or graduations, and freedom of travel, to name a few.

Other symptoms related to Covid include depression, anxiety, PTSD, grief, relationship issues, substance abuse issues, outbursts of anger, and difficulty regulating emotions. For some of us, the current situation exacerbates trauma symptoms we already have.

You don’t need to deal with these difficulties on your own.

Please, reach out for help.

I can be reached by phone at 301-279-7779, by email at BethLCounseling@aol.com or by using the form below.