Christine Fallabel, living with type 1 diabetes since 2000, shares her thoughts about managing this chronic disease during the pandemic, especially with concerns around it making her higher risk with COVID-19.
These times are anything but normal; with the entire world tilted on the coronavirus axis, people and families are scrambling to assemble some new type of “normal.” Add to that living with a chronic condition, and it can create a recipe for disaster. I’m often asked how I maintain a “normal” life (what is normal, anyway?) with type 1 diabetes, especially in the time of riots in the streets and a global pandemic on our hands, and the simple answer is:
I don’t. But, I try.
There are a few things that I’ve had to acknowledge as the months of 2020 (and our relative lack of normalcy) have unfolded, and I’ve developed three ways in which to cope with my situation.
First, it’s OK to ask for help.
Living with a chronic condition puts me at a greater risk of serious complications should I contract COVID-19, and that has affected my whole family. Long gone are the days of endless summer BBQs and hanging out at the pool. I’ve had to ask for
Author: Imported Blogs
We’re suffering a collective trauma, but members of the Black community, who are already inherently raised alongside that trauma, are getting hit the hardest. While mental health resources have historically been out of reach for many Americans, a number of organizations make them accessible, affordable, and as simple as pressing a button. Inspired by Jesse Sparks, who shared a wonderfully comprehensive list at Healthyish, we’ve compiled a brief explainer on the services offered by different collectives.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness points out that only 30 percent of African Americans with mental illness receive yearly treatment compared to the national average of 43 percent, due in part to a combination of socioeconomic issues. And then there’s the lack of diversity in the mental health profession; according to the American Psychological Association, 86 percent of psychologists are white, while only 4 percent are black. This can make finding a therapist who understands the unique struggles of racial trauma even more difficult.
There’s a long way to go to alter systemic inequality in mental health treatment. As we fight for that, these mental health resources for the Black community hope to help the healing begin.
Accessible mental health resources for members of the Black community
1. THERAPY FOR BLACK GIRLS
Therapy for Black Girls
If you would have been asked a year ago if you were concerned about a global pandemic grinding life as you know it to a halt, you probably would have raised your eyebrows and laughed. There is no doubt that the world we are in is not the world we knew then.
The ongoing threat of COVID-19 on health, employment, economy and social connection rolls on with no real end in sight. The overall sense of uncertainty is pervasive across the entire planet and especially in the U.S. where the virus continues to seep into even the small towns of all of our states. This is no longer a crisis of cities only. On top of this is the division in attitudes around this pandemic and a lack of uniform approach to it. We need to continue to stay buckled in here because apparently nobody is getting off this ride any time soon.
With trauma, it used to mean that we could work through the past to feel safer, to live a “life after trauma.” But the world we live in is traumatic. According to trauma expert Janina Fisher, PhD, we are “living in a war zone.” A COVID war zone. Whether
Richard Nicastro, Phd, takes a closer look at some of the obstacles to forgiveness in intimate relationships.
Imagine this scenario:
Your spouse/partner has wounded you in some way. S/he has now expressed what feels like genuine remorse to you. Maybe you’ve even said you accept the apology you were offered, but now you’re wondering whether that was just lip service, because you don’t feel forgiving at all. Quite the contrary. You feel frozen in an anti-forgiveness stance.
However, you really and truly want to forgive. You don’t think your partner is going to repeat the behavior that caused the hurt. You know that forgiveness is good for you, that holding onto resentment will ultimately rob you of peace.
And yet, you can’t forgive him/her. Why?
What’s holding you back? Obstacles to forgiveness
The mind is powerful, complicated, and incredibly nuanced. And to make it even more complex, there are different levels of mind: there’s the conscious mind that we’re in touch with, but there’s a whole ’nother level that’s at work beneath the surface, while we’re carpooling the kids or weeding the garden or prepping for a work presentation.
We don’t need to stop what we’re doing to zero in on what’s going on in our subconscious,
Does your emotional status depend on the day, hour or possibly minute? You are not alone.
If you’re like me, you’ve noticed an increase in online content around COVID19 and psychological health. Because there is such a range of experiences in this pandemic, the topics are vast and what may speak to one sub-group, will be off the mark for others. I’ve noticed myself challenged when attempting to write helpful pieces, feeling sensitive as to how they might be read by those who can’t relate. In this country (and world) there are so many in survival mode while others, at least for now, are secure enough to “only” be facing the massive changes in family, work, school, social and community dynamics. But there is one thing we are all doing during this pandemic.
We are all riding on our own personal emotional roller coasters.
No matter who you are, you have feelings about this situation and how it impacts you now and how it might impact you later. The collective trauma yields different feelings depending on circumstances and how you typically deal with emotions. You might be angry in one minute, sad in the next and even hopeless the next hour. Perhaps you
Linda Graham, MFT and author of Resilience: Powerful Practices for Bouncing Back from Disappointment, Difficulty and Even Disaster, explores ways to tap into your own resilience to be able to cope with the most challenging of circumstances, even a global pandemic.
Resilience is always needed. The current pandemic of COVID-19 is a new disease, and a deadly one. So far unpreventable, untreatable. It’s easy to be scared and wise to be concerned.
Resilience – capacities to deal with any stress and bounce back from any adversity – is as necessary to our well-being as the new virus is disruptive to it.
Resilience really means our learned capacities to cope with anything, anything at all.
We can cope with disappointment now, as we all are, when restaurants and bars are closed, trips are cancelled, sporting events and cultural events are postponed, and workshops at Kripalu and other venues are re-scheduled.
We can cope with difficulty now, as we all are, when schools, day care centers, and libraries close and colleges shift to online learning. And when so many closures threaten the livelihood of almost everyone we know.
We can cope even with disaster, as many of us are now, as we and loved ones are in danger of falling disastrously ill, as people we
The mental health crisis unfolding against the back drop of the pandemic is a story of its own. The worries of people are vast and steeped with layers of anxiety, numbness, stress, lack of control and the unknown. Feelings of joy, optimism and aha moments are also swirled in this emotional cauldron. Anger too.
Something I’ve struggled with when writing pieces to help support emotional health and relationships during this pandemic is how to be helpful while honoring everyone’s experience. Many are relatively comfortable while sheltering in place as they weather the storm and have the “luxury” of time to practice self-care or contemplate silver linings. But others are in serious crisis wondering how they are going to pay for food to feed their families or living in logistically challenging circumstances.
I read something speaking to this recently.
We are Not in the Same Boat
I heard that we are all in the same boat, but it’s not like that. We are in the same storm, but not in the same boat. Your ship could be shipwrecked and mine might not be. Or vice versa.
For some, quarantine is optimal. A moment of reflection, of re-connection, easy in flip flops, with a cocktail or coffee.
“Why did I do it? I love my wife, I have so much to lose, why?!”
Many of the men I work with are seeking answers to questions like the one above. They’ve acted in ways they later regret and, at some point, they had to face the painful fallout of their actions: a devastated loved one who might end the marriage/relationship; the shame of behavior that conflicts with their values; the despair and humiliation of losing a job or getting into legal trouble.
In each instance through the acting-out experience, these men have built a secret reality where they escaped to again and again, a dream-like existence that allowed them to feel and experience things they couldn’t imagine feeling in their “real” lives.
Some have used their secretive world as an escape, an exit from an un-namable (and therefore un-manageable) malaise they cannot shake. Others sought relief from an overly constrictive sense of self, a self subsumed by fear and inhibition.
But the “solution” sought through acting-out isn’t realized (and therefore isn’t a solution at all). In fact, as many have discovered, often more harm is caused to self and others through acting-out; and acting-out ultimately prevents one from going inward in order to
We are in unprecedented times. The impact of the pandemic is significant on multiple levels, including psychological, as it contradicts what is familiar and expected in the world leading to confusion and uncertainty. For some, it may be impairing your ability to cope with all that is happening leading to strong emotional responses like grief, panic, anxiety or depression.
Trauma experts Dr. Peter Levine, PhD and Dr. Bessel van der Kolk, MD, recently sat down together (from afar) for an online webinar to discuss the pandemic from the perspective of psychological impact. They shared their thoughts on some of the primary risks of the COVID19 pandemic as well as what can be done.
A Few Pandemic Psychological Risks
Unpredictability
Immobility
Not being sure who to trust or they know what to do.
No one really knows what’s going to happen or the full scope of impact to our society and world at the hands of the virus. We are wired to asses threat and not knowing what’s coming makes our brains unable to do that accurately which can lead to chronic stress. Our lack of ability to move around in ways we are used to has hindered and removed normal social activities. These are unnatural states
To the Spouse who Happens to not be the Parent, Please tell me you understand. For starters, it was an overwhelming day. You see, I had 2 interviews for a position I was eager to fill, a workshop I had facilitated, and only half an hour between all 3 of these tasks. Did I mention…
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