{"id":1834,"date":"2021-06-20T14:00:16","date_gmt":"2021-06-20T20:00:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=1834"},"modified":"2021-06-20T06:05:54","modified_gmt":"2021-06-20T12:05:54","slug":"mental-health-tips-for-adjusting-to-post-covid-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/?p=1834","title":{"rendered":"Mental Health Tips for Adjusting to Post-Covid Life"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t
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Mental Health Tips for Adjusting to Post-Covid Life<\/h2>\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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It Takes a While to Adjust’: Recognizing the Pandemic’s Long-Term Mental Health Impacts and How to Find Help<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t

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\n\t\t\t\t\u201cIt takes a while to adjust to things, and we\u2019ve been living with the pandemic and the fear of the virus… for such a long time.”\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t
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\n\t\t\t\tThe COVID-19 pandemic isn’t over just yet, but with the June 15 reopening day that dropped many state restrictions, California is on the way out.

\n\nDespite the joy of that victory, 21% of U.S. adults reported feeling “high levels of psychological distress” as a result of the pandemic, according to a March 2021 report from the Pew Research Center.

\n\nAccording to the California division of the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the organization “reported a 65% jump in HelpLine calls, callbacks and emails” between March 1 and April 30 of 2020, when compared to figures from the same time span in 2019.

\n\nThe past 15 months have forced people worldwide to confront job losses, economic instability, disability, illness and millions of deaths. That unprecedented mental load is in addition to the stress of political, environmental and social upheavals that occurred in the same time period.

\n\nEven as Californians are now able to enjoy indoor dining and the ability to go without a mask in many situations, some people may still feel anxious about their safety \u2014 even if they know they’re protected with a vaccine.

\n\nAccording to Dr. Bridget Callaghan, UCLA assistant professor of psychology and director of UCLA\u2019s Brain and Body Lab, that hesitation is normal.

\n\nThe changes everyone had to make at the beginning of the pandemic, such as bringing a mask everywhere and washing and sanitizing hands more often, were “very habitual,” Callaghan said.

\nThe process of habit-forming is part of why people may have initially done things like forgotten a mask before heading back home to grab one \u2014 now, the “habit” is normal life.

\n\n\u201cIt takes a while to adjust to things, and we\u2019ve been living with the pandemic and the fear of the virus… for such a long time,” Callaghan said.

\n\nIntellectually, people may know their vaccination means little to no risk of getting or spreading COVID-19, but habitually and emotionally, it’s been a worry for a long time. It’s natural and expected “to feel weird” going back to normal, Callaghan said, even in cases where you and the people you’re seeing are fully vaccinated.

\n\nFurthermore, not everyone will feel the same about the impacts of the pandemic. Where an introverted person may have been relieved to have more time alone at home, an extroverted person may have felt isolated, and a person who lost loved ones may have felt intense grief.

\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s impacted people in an enormous variety of different ways,” Callaghan said, and a variety of reactions are normal.

\nSomeone in acute, immediate distress who wishes to harm themselves or others can call a hotline, such as the LA County Crisis Line at 1-800-854-7771, or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255. Those who do not wish to call can text “LA” to the LA County Crisis Line Text at 741741.

\n\nBut someone who simply feels overwhelmed can try and find a therapist to help work through the stresses and grief they’ve been feeling during the pandemic.

\n\n\u201cThe first thing I would say is definitely to get professional help,” Callaghan said. “If you feel impaired\u2026 the best thing to do is to reach out.”

\n\nAnyone who feels overwhelmed by new mental health problems can go to their primary care physician, local psychiatric society, medical school or community mental health center and get a referral to see a psychotherapist.

\n\nAnd for people who are coping but may like some extra, non-professional support, Callaghan said, reaching out to a friend or family member and rebuilding your supportive social network may help.

\n\n\u201cIt\u2019s really good to be open and upfront with people,” she said, and discussing pandemic stress with someone else may reveal that you’re not the only one feeling that way.

\n\n\u201cThere\u2019s a doorway where those feelings are reciprocated.\u201d

\n\nMore than anything, when it comes to the psychological impact of the pandemic, Callaghan said, “it\u2019s really important at this time in particular to be really gentle with ourselves.\u201d

\n“It\u2019s going to take a long time to adjust” to the not-quite-post-COVID period, she said. \u201cIt\u2019s not just going to go back to normal easily.\u201d


\n\nContributor: Maggie More, NBC Los Angeles<\/i>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/section>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Mental Health Tips for Adjusting to Post-Covid Life It Takes a While to Adjust’: Recognizing the Pandemic’s Long-Term Mental Health Impacts and How to Find Help<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7,4,9],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1834","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-health","category-lifestyle","category-news-and-information"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1834"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1838,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1834\/revisions\/1838"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1834"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1834"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/claremontcoloniccenter.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1834"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}