PTSD and COVID: Coping with Stress

Prior to a recent snow storm here in the Denver area people visited their local grocery store to get some extra items just in case the storm prevented safe travel for a day or two.  What was unusual, however, was that instead of picking up the typical pre-snow items, a large number of residences wiped out large sections of many grocery stores and even bought up all items in some meat departments.  It was very reminiscent of when the pandemic began in early 2020 and store shelves and inventories were emptied out (i.e., we all recall the lacking toilet paper stocks!).

It turned out that the storm was a good, heavy, Spring snow storm in the Rockies, but nothing most Coloradoans aren't used to handling well.  And though it came with high accumulations in inches, it was also melting rapidly and on its way out within a day or two.  At the same time, what many residents did "not" handle well was something they had no idea was lingering just under the surface of their fifteen-month long physical and psychological endurance of the COVID pandemic.  And that is something called Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, along with the hypervigilance that accompanies it.

Hypervigilance is one of several symptoms of PTSD.  The American Psychological Association defines it as:  A state of abnormally heightened alertness, particularly to threatening or potentially dangerous stimuli.  So, after the initial cleaning-out of store shelves in 2020, and a year or more of pandemic-reported loss of life, jobs, and businesses, as well as the dangers requiring social distancing, mask wearing and hand washing, all it took was the report of a pretty heavy duty Spring storm coming to the area, and many people panicked. 

There is plenty of reason to believe that people all over the world have been traumatized by this pandemic in one way or another.  And trauma is not too dramatic of a word to use when it comes to the daily exposure to threat that the world has seen in regard to the COVID-19 pandemic.  If you have not been frightened by the deadly potential of the virus itself, you've definitely been impacted by the various threats and results of multiple outcomes that have come from its presence.

So, we are all going to be a little hypervigilant and cautious for a while.  Our mask-wearing might continue for some time, and a guarded stance is not going to be all that uncommon when it comes to our PTSD and heightened anxiety.

What this means is that ongoing stress management is in order.  It's more important now than ever to have a regular relaxation system and schedule built into your daily life.  Be that meditation, journaling, soaking in a hot bath, gentle music, aromatherapy, a daily walk in the park, yoga or tai chi, or whatever it is that helps you maintain and monitor your stress response and stress symptom levels.  We are all going to be a bit hypervigilant for a while when it comes to risk of viruses and illness, but countering it with relaxation methods can prevent running on high idle with chronic anxiety that takes a toll on the body and mind.

Here are some great ideas for building stress management right into your daily schedule:

• Start or end your day with a scheduled meditation
• Fit a walk into your lunch hour
• Stop a couple of times in the day to journal about what's bothering you
• Add 5 or 10 min of gentle stretching to your morning wake time
• Take a warm evening bath to help you prepare for sleep
• Listen to gentle relaxing music during your work commute 
• Use a diffuser to add aromatherapy to your day
• Spend some time with your pets

It's easy to go about our daily lives now without awareness of our heightened state of hypervigilance which stemmed from the pandemic.  Because of this, it's important to make sure you are taking good care of yourself and fitting in as many relaxation exercises and techniques as you can.

Thanks to G Yancy for the great photo (cropped), https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/