Photo by Erik Mclean on Unsplash
From acute to chronic
July marks month five of COVID happenings in the US. We went from panic buying toilet paper to temporarily setting up work from home arrangements. Along the way, we adjusted to new rules at the grocery store and signage everywhere. We learned that schooling from home is not the same as home schooling. We might have gotten news about layoffs or if we’re still working, the ever-changing COVID policy rollouts. We order desks, laptop stands, chairs to make working from home more permanent. Clorox wipes reappear on shelves momentarily and there’s no shortage of companies selling you cloth masks. Leaving home without your face mask can feel like you’re leaving home without your phone.
The reality of COVID
All in all, from the limited packages of chicken you can buy at the store to, “It’s the summer and I have nowhere to go!”, we’re reminded that COVID is staying, for now. While I’ve heard countless times, “Now if only this virus would go away!” or “I’m so done with this!”, we have entered the chronic stage of this global pandemic. It’s chronic in that it’s something we have to learn to deal with through the summer, into the fall and likely into 2021. Even if you don’t want to hear that, it doesn’t change what is. I see it as getting over the initial shock of, say being diagnosed with diabetes: one is still left with learning how to manage this condition.
Different times call for different strategies
The thing is, how we manage in the beginning is not how we manage now. Similar to my previous blog about building your wellness toolbox, we need different tools when we’re coping for the short-term versus planning for the long, or at least mid-haul. When the dust has settled but you’re tired of the same old same old, what are you to do?
Here are three tips to cope with this next phase of COVID:
Switch things up - Nobody says your furniture has to go up against the wall, you can’t have breakfast for dinner or date night can’t be in the middle of the week. Move things around, break the unspoken rules in your own house, see COVID as an opportunity to live outside the box.
Hold loosely onto projected changes - Whether it is the 50+ pages of reading put out by your district’s “Return to School Task Force,” your projected return-to-office date or version 7.0 of your work’s COVID procedures based on the latest CDC guidelines, the information is ever changing. Sure, stay abreast regarding changes and follow recommendations, but don’t get too attached. Before you know it, what’s in front of you might be replaced by yet the next best practice.
Without putting you or other people’s lives in danger, do activities that make you feel just a little out of control - While it helps for kids to be out of school, life has been super structured or otherwise restricted. Planning things out, wiping things down, following social distancing rules can make you feel in control, but it can also be exhausting. Since COVID, couples have been trying out new ways to pleasure each other. Similarly, with the nicer weather, think long bike rides, SUP or kayaking.
We’re here for you
If you need help coping with this phase of the health pandemic, we got you. Our caseloads tend to be lighter over the summer. Come in now so you can get a head start into fall. We’re here for you, 100% telehealth.
Ada Pang is the owner of People Bloom Counseling, a Redmond psychotherapy practice. She helps unhappy couples find safety and connection in their relationship. She also helps cancer thrivers and their caregivers integrate cancer into their life stories. She was looking forward to going out on her paddle board but slept in after catching Comet Neowise in the middle of the night. Next time.