The Impact of the Pandemic on Mental Health
The COVID-19 pandemic brought many changes to daily life. Life during COVID brought uncertainty, disruption, financial pressures, and isolation. It forced jobs and schools to adapt and find a way to accommodate at-home work. All of these unknowns, paired with uncertainties and anxieties associated with getting sick and information overload, contributed to negatively affecting many individuals’ mental health. According to the Mayo Clinic, there was a “major increase in the number of U.S. adults who report symptoms of stress, anxiety, depression, and insomnia during the pandemic, compared with surveys before the pandemic.” During this time, many people also increased the use of substances, like drugs and alcohol, as a coping mechanism, which can worsen anxiety and depression. Even though there have been considerable strides made to return from the pandemic, the mental health impact of disasters like the pandemic historically outlasts the physical impact. That is why it is important to understand how the pandemic affected mental health, why prioritizing mental health is important, and the different ways that you can prioritize taking care of your mental health.
Why Prioritizing Mental Health is Important
Access to mental health and substance use care was a concern before the pandemic. Today, it is apparent how valid these concerns are. Prioritizing mental health is important because your mental health is detrimental in all aspects of your life. For example, mental health can affect a person’s physical health and well-being, and the health and well-being of interpersonal relationships. When magnified on a wide societal scale, negative mental health can pose a threat to society as a whole.
Health:
Prioritizing your mental health is an extremely important way to look out for your overall well-being. When some people think about the ways mental health affects their well-being, they think of psychotic disorders or other mental illnesses. While these are aspects of how mental health can affect a person’s well-being, there are other ways in addition to the more obvious examples. Declining mental health is linked with substance abuse, difficulty eating, change in eating habits, and worsening of chronic conditions. All of these factors can affect your physical health. This can lead to a downward spiral effect where declining mental health leads to habits that negatively affect physical health, which in turn can further worsen an individual’s mental health.
Relationships:
Throughout the pandemic, many people discovered the link between their mental health and interpersonal relationships. Stress and anxiety from the pandemic placed a strain on all relationships. At home, the pressures of navigating these uncertainties, as well as all of the demands of sharing work and home spaces, as well as home-schooling children, have resulted in a notable increase in the divorce rate during covid. In December of 2020, almost a year into the pandemic, the BBC reported that the pandemic divorce rate inquiries had increased by 122% between July and October of that year.
Society:
On a higher level, the trend of worsening mental health can have a serious effect on society as a whole. In 2021, the Council on Criminal Justice released a report detailing the changes in crime rates during the COVID-19 pandemic. The study concludes that “Homicides, aggravated and gun assaults and motor vehicle thefts increased, while residential burglaries, nonresidential burglaries, larcenies, and drug offenses fell.” This reinforces the link between mental health and crime rates. Poor mental health has been linked with increased substance abuse and crime. It is important to emphasize that not every person with poor mental health will commit a crime. However, when viewed on a larger level, the link between poor mental health and the crime rate becomes visible.
How to Prioritize Your Mental Health
Knowing that mental health has a massive effect on personal well-being, interpersonal relationships, and societal concerns like crime rates, it is apparent that taking care of your mental health should be a priority (if it isn’t already). Mental tracking is an important way to evaluate your current mental health status. If you recognize that your mental health is declining, these are some tips and self-care strategies you can use to prioritize your mental health.
- Get enough sleep: Sleep is an important part of physical and mental health. It is important to stick to a consistent sleep routine. Try to go to bed and wake up at the same time every day and aim for eight hours of sleep each night.
- Get regular exercise: Exercising regularly can help reduce anxiety, boost self-esteem, help concentration and improve your mood.
- Eat healthily: A well-balanced diet provides your body with the nutrients it needs to stay healthy and function well. Avoid or limit eating junk food and caffeine, as these can aggravate stress, anxiety, and sleep problems.
- Avoid alcohol and drugs: Many people mistakenly use alcohol and drugs to change their mood, but these effects are only temporary, and when they wear off, people often feel worse.
- Connect with others: Building support and strengthening relationships by reaching out to others reduces feelings of isolation. Talking about your feelings can help you stay in good mental health and deal with times when you feel troubled.
- Limit screen time: Not only does turning off electronic devices an hour before bed help promotes healthy sleep habits, but unplugging from the constant barrage of information can help decrease feelings of stress and anxiety.
- Seek help when needed: Hoping mental health problems such as depression or feelings of suicide and anxiety will go away on their own can lead to worsening symptoms. If you or someone you know is feeling this way or experiencing worsening mental health symptoms, do not hesitate to seek help. Depending on the severity of your experience, help can take many forms. From reaching out to talk with a close family member or friend to getting treatment from mental health and wellness experts, prioritizing your mental health is important.
To Recap
The COVID-19 pandemic drastically changed the way we had to live our daily life. All of these changes lead to an increase in feelings of anxiety, stress, and depression in people all across the world. Effects of the pandemic on mental health will continue to be felt long after the pandemic itself. Poor mental health has many adverse side effects and is linked to other health problems, can put a strain on relationships, and– when scaled to a societal level– can result in increased crime rates. For these reasons, it is important to prioritize your mental health. Individuals can use mental tracking techniques to identify barriers to managing anxiety or other covid effects on mental health and take better care of themselves. Maintaining good mental health is a never-ending process, and there is no shame in seeking help. It can be impossible to predict when another event, like the pandemic, will happen or how it will affect our mental health. At Antol & Sherman, we specialize in divorce & family law, criminal defense, and DUIs, so if your mental health was affected by the pandemic and you need an experienced attorney to look out for your best interests, contact us today and schedule a free consultation.