While in the midst of a stay-at-home order due to the coronavirus, many of us are experiencing intense emotional swings, perhaps even feelings that we are unfamiliar with and are unable to identify. We are under unprecedented stress with all of the change going on in our personal lives as well as all the change in the world around us. You have lost so much, including but not limited to your normal routine, your ability to do just one role at a time (e.g., just working, or only parenting, not both), and your alone time. You’re also facing anxiety about the future, what will happen when this is all over, and how to get through the next few weeks to months.
Prioritize Your Mental Health During Coronavirus
Being able to prioritizing your emotional well-being during the coronavirus pandemic will help you get through this once-in-a-lifetime experience mentally healthy, stronger, and more prepared for the future. Going to therapy and getting your own emotional needs met means that you will be better able to support those around you, including your own family, and continue to flourish in your job while staying sane.
If you’ve ever thought of going to therapy, now is the perfect time, as most counselors are offering online counseling. If you are experiencing any of the following issues, it may be time for you to go to therapy:
1. Nothing works
You’ve tried many things to try to feel better, and nothing is working. You’ve read self-help books, you’ve listened to experts, and you still are not able to apply what you’ve learned to your own situation. The deep, emotional connection between you and a trained therapist can be part of the healing process.
2. You are feeling worse daily
Your mood is steadily declining daily and even weekly, with few if any bouts of feeling normal. Whether you are more angry, sad, anxious, or down, you are noticing that these negative emotions are taking over your life. Counseling can help you understand, identify, and process your inner world so that you can start taking steps to feeling better.
3. Relationships are suffering
Because of how you are feeling, your relationships are suffering. Perhaps what was once a solid relationship with a spouse or partner is now extra-strained, or you are not able to connect to your children the way you once did. Discussing the relationship issues with a trained counselor can help put things into different perspectives about your relationship.
4. Increased depression
The isolation of stay-at-home orders from the coronavirus is causing you to feel down in the dumps, in a rut, or even depressed. You are not finding any joy in things anymore, and every day just feels like Groundhog Day, repeating itself over and over again. Working with a therapist for depression treatment can help stop the negative thinking and feeling cycle that is part of depression.
5. Uncontrollable anxiety
Your anxiety has hit an all-time high and while you once were able to control it, your anxiety is now controlling you. Or you’ve never had anxiety before and now it is introducing itself to your life, and the result is not fitting in with your life. Counseling can help you learn coping skills to manage your anxiety and change your negative thinking patterns.
6. Intense grief
Hearing and knowing about how the coronavirus is affecting others in your area, state, or even the world is weighing you down. Your sadness and grief from all of the loss is difficult to understand and process, and is getting in the way of your productivity at work and connecting with others. Processing your grief and identifying your losses with a counseling is how you get to the other side of your grief, and can move forward with your life again.
7. Overwhelming stress
With the multiple roles many of us are juggling, such as employee, parent, and remote learning teacher, the stress of trying to do everything every day for weeks on end is getting to you. In the past, you used certain tools you used to manage your stress, but now they are no longer working, and you need something more. Therapy can help you better manage and cope with your stressors through stress management treatment.
8. Increased emotional outbursts
Some people are having more anger outbursts and are inadvertently taking out their emotions and stress on others, usually those who are closest to them. You may find yourself snapping at your children more often, or being annoyed more frequently by your husband, since you’re all in the same house now, all of the time. A trained counselor can help you make sense of what is going on internally and help you overcome it.
9. Lonely
For those that live by themselves or with just one other person, loneliness is a very real hazard of social distancing and stay-at-home orders. The physical isolation and lack of in-person connections has a significant impact on our mood. Connecting with a therapist will help ease your loneliness, and together you can come up with a plan to feel less lonely.
10. You’re an Introvert or an Extravert
You are an introvert, and all of the sudden your daily down-time is absent with your entire family at home, all of the time. Or you are an extravert and need people around you to feel good, process your emotions, and talk about things, and you live alone. The coronavirus pandemic is a challenging time for both introverts and extraverts. Therapists can help you come up with innovate strategies for getting your needs met, whether you’re an introvert or extravert, so you can feel more like yourself again.
How to Seek Therapy with Catalyss Counseling
If you are having any of the above issues, it may be time to consider going to therapy. Getting counseling to help support your emotional health is easier than ever during the coronavirus pandemic, as most therapists are offering online telehealth sessions in lieu of in-person sessions. Online group therapy is another great option for you right now, as groups help like-minded people connect on a deeper level to others who understand your experience.
Catalyss Counseling offers both individual and group therapy options, all online through a secure telehealth platform, during the coronavirus pandemic. You can contact us for more information, or schedule directly online with a therapist of your choice, or you can check out our online group counseling options. We can help figure out the best therapist to meet your treatment needs and you can get started with us this week!
Author biography:
Shannon Heers is a psychotherapist, guest blogger, and owner of Catalyss Counseling in Englewood, CO. Shannon helps adults in professional careers manage anxiety, depression, work-life balance, and grief and loss. Follow Catalyss Counseling on LinkedIn and Facebook.