This article about COVID’s impact on Health Care workers was published yesterday. Has the situational experience of being on the front lines for Health Care workers impacted their MH? Absolutely.
In the midst of the pandemic, HBO just released a doc: “The Weight of Gold.” It was abt (non-Covid related), high performance athletes & how what they’re subjected to at young ages, lead to MH complications.
I was at my friend’s house last nt, & she/her husband shared how the uncertainty related to the return to school was taking its toll on their kids – not just w respect to how their school schedule’s been interrupted, but how uncertainty now generally, seems to be a cause for angst at a greater level than it’s ever been. The USA Today article from last post backed up their experience w many examples – anecdotal & hard #s.
Working w schools, teachers are feeling like they had no “summer break.” They’re deciding on returns where there is a “gap day” of Wednesday, where everyone works from home to break up the wk. This very topic of teacher fatigue/burnout was recently talked abt in a TIME magazine article.
These examples seem a little disconnected – front line workers, the experience of Olympians unrelated to COVID, teachers & students & the overall angst they’re experiencing outside of their return to school. There are so many others the media’s touched on: pro athletes & their return to play after long layoffs, the travel & tourism industry & the lack of jobs available.
These things are all talked abt. They’re even covered in newspapers, magazines, docs, etc. But they still are talked abt as obstacles unique to each group, instead of the larger takeaway: Situational stresses & traumas impact MH (get this) for EVERYONE.
We usually don’t see it bc it happens to the individual on their timeline: their loss of a fam member, their divorce, their job loss, their office bullying. When in the history of our world, has everyone been impacted by the SAME situational stresses & traumas, showing that – we’re ALL human, all face challenges that impact our MH?
Let’s get real that this is a #5in5 topic & discuss it that way!