So many of us are focused on the angst we’re feeling NOW…I’ll tell you what freaks me out a lil more – what happens when we, as a society, start to go back to our offices/work.
I’m guilty of seeing the world more clearly in pics & analogies than in words alone. Why’d I choose this pic? What’s got me very concerned is, I see where “we” as a society are right now, & where “we’ll” be going, as very similar to the transition that many/most of us made going from being sr.’s in college – to entering the real world at 21, 22.
Why’s that scary? The age grp of 18 to 25 has the world’s highest rate of suicide attempts. Anecdotally of the calls I get, I’d say roughly half are from kids or their parents coming right out of college. Why that age? And why the fear based on the analogy?
Like you see in this pic, my sr. yr, a table full of alcohol…here’s what sr. yr looks like for many/most: You’ve worked so hard the past 3 yrs, you feel like you can take an exhale bc grades from this semester likely won’t affect your ability to get a job/even show on your transcript for grad school, you deal w the pressures you do have, & the angst you do feel by – sleeping a TON, skipping early morn classes, drinking (or using other substances), lounging on couches, etc.
Sound similar at all to the way as a society in general, we are handling this quarantine period?! Sleeping a little more? Boozing a little more? Lounging a little more? Little less focused?
Then what happens after college? Smack – real world hits. A job. Bills. Deadlines. A boss. All the while, all the stress/trauma built up from our pasts, that we never addressed – especially not sr. yr when we did anything to avoid those factors, combine w the new stresses of the real world, & bam, you see the negative MH trends in the age grp listed above. In fact the transition from HS to 1st yr of college is similar, which is why 18 is in that range.
PLEASE consider how similar this is & WORK on the releasing & rewiring our “stuff” from the past, now. Combined w our stress when we return to work, we’ll want to be in the best place possible to handle it all…not collapse.