The Coronavirus Pandemic

[Blueberry]

When people are dancing on their balconies in Canada right now where it's still very much winter in most places, you know they're getting desperate    

But also creative, upbeat and good at grassroots mobilisation 

[Gromit]

I saw your post on Twitter Kizzie, we are better than most at surviving, although, I must admit the sights in the supermarkets do discombobulate me so that I forget what I was there for and what I was meant to be doing.

On a positive note it has made me change my DD's fort nightly delivery of essential medical supplies to a month's supply with a week's buffer on top. Having a fortnightly delivery with a courtesy call from the delivery company to check my existing supplies beforehand was not helping my anxiety. They invariably reduced the amount of equipment when I told them what I had and then, when the delivery came and I worked it out I was ending up short and panicking and needing extra deliveries. Now I have it under control, I know what is on order, and I know not to give them information, I will just say I am not at home when they call me so I cannot check my stock.

My main worry is that with everyone home I will be stressed, I can cope with children at home and it will help not having the school run to do, but having my OH home can trigger me.

As I have had to cancel all my classes I am now trying to record some so I can share stuff online with those who have already paid me and maybe get some business from former students who have not been able to attend. It's a whole new learning curve. I managed to do one recording before my DD went into hospital but I haven't tried doing anything since.

I am glad there is this thread.
G

[Kizzie]

Validating video for trauma survivors from Dr. Karen Treisman about triggering/dysregulation/trauma responses caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. https://twitter.com/dr_treisman/status/1242437803021131776

[Boatsetsailrose]

Hi all
Checking in from the UK here...
We have had lovely sunshine this past week in line with going into lock down..
I was living a semi isolated life with M. E /cfs and fibro so in some ways I now don't feel as isolated but of course wouldn't trade my feelings for what is going on..
The UK are offering so much community support to each other... The government are paying 80% of peoples wages Inc self employed which is just incredible...
Everywhere has gone onto zoom and there is so much to keep occupied with..
On a personal level I feel OK, some days I get waves of fear but in general I have a lot of support esp from my recovery groups...
I hope u are all. Ok and sending my v best wishes to u in these times

[Kizzie]

The UK are offering so much community support to each other... The government are paying 80% of peoples wages Inc self employed which is just incredible... Everywhere has gone onto zoom and there is so much to keep occupied with..

                   

Same here in Canada. This pandemic is traumatic but I find one thing that's different from what many of us experienced with relational trauma is that there is a lot of love, care, concern, support, etc - something most of us did not have with relational trauma.

It was the same when I had cancer - proper treatment, care, support, etc and while very traumatic I came through it fairly well all things considered. I had the necessary protective factors to come out the other side. I didn't as a child and that made a world of difference to how I fared.

[Kizzie]

Came across this article this morning and TW, it does present a dire picture - "Coronavirus pandemic could inflict emotional trauma and PTSD on an unprecedented scale, scientists warn".

Neria said that given the global scale of the current pandemic, it is likely that millions will need mental heath care. Right now, he said, the focus was not on mental trauma. But that could change.

This may be a turning point in terms of trauma treatment, services and support.  Everyone everywhere will know intimately what it's like to live with ongoing, overwhelming trauma and feel its impacts - physically, cognitively and emotionally.  As a result, it may be that much more funding will be made available around the world.

Those of us w/CPTSD have been an underserved trauma population, but things may indeed change as a result of this pandemic and that's a sad but oddly hopeful underlying note to the article. 

[sanmagic7]

very true, kizzie. i've been reading more and more posts by emdr t's that trauma t's are needed around the world to minister to the health care workers now. this pandemic is blowing up mental and emotional stability like we haven't seen on such a scale in our lifetimes, i think.  sadly, yes, it is bringing to light how such ongoing trauma is affecting so many worldwide.  hopefully, some good will come from it.

[Kizzie]

We know better than anyone just how debilitating ongoing trauma is sadly. I've been doing my best to tweet about the toll ongoing trauma takes on front line workers, particularly those in health care, and encourage MH professionals to step up along with the rest of us to support them. I follow quite a few MDs on Twitter and even before the pandemic they were talking about problems with burnout, depression, suicide ..... It's going to get worse I fear. 

I know I am painting them with a broad brush but my impression is that they are generally perfectionistic overachievers with exceptionally high expectations of themselves and others in the profession, and hold themselves to a much higher standard than others. It's a recipe for disaster in this unprecedented global crisis.  They won't be able to maintain that in the relentless, life threatening trauma they are facing daily. 

I love seeing videos of people doing their level best to let them know we care about them and appreciate what they are going through. Every night here in many cities, police, firefighters, etc turn on their lights and sirens and drive by hospitals at shift change.  Heard one doctor saying how much it meant to him and his colleagues so we need to keep doing things like this because it's going to get worse before it gets better.

[Blueberry]

This pandemic is traumatic but I find one thing that's different from what many of us experienced with relational trauma is that there is a lot of love, care, concern, support, etc - something most of us did not have with relational trauma.
...
I had the necessary protective factors to come out the other side. I didn't as a child and that made a world of difference to how I fared.

As far as I understand it, not all potentially traumatising situations lead to ptsd or cptsd for all people. It depends on how much innate resilience the person has, something that we as children had had no means to develop. It depends on how the person can deal with the situation now, e.g. are they capable of doing psycho-hygiene and do they do it regularly? Many in the medical profession possibly have no time for psycho-hygiene and/or self-care, but if they are already well-versed in it, maybe they can do it for 5 minutes a day, and it's enough?

From the Embodied Trauma Conference: https://cptsd.org/forum/index.php?topic=13086.msg98100#msg98100 In the example earthquake, 80% recover immediately from the potentially traumatising situation.

I'm actually more worried that the reverse might occur, that as with wartime, people will say "we came through unscathed, why can't you get over your childhood?" without realising that the type of trauma is different. Ours is man-made, mostly committed by those who should have protected us.

Also the "love, care" etc. are mitigating factors, which the great majority of us on here didn't have. Or if we did have a little of it, it was far too little. The occasional caring words of a teacher or great-aunt don't make the trauma at home from FOO disappear.

[Kizzie]

True they are not suffering from the same kind of relational trauma we did BB, but the stress is traumatic ongoing, life threatening, extreme and none of us can escape it.  I don't think any health care workers save ER docs perhaps trained for this.

And even then, I watched a video of an Italian ER doctor last night who talked about how her team had only been able to save one patient and how profoundly it was affecting them. She goes home at night, sits on the couch, cries and cannot think or talk to her H and children. It sounded to me like she was dissociating because as we all know, it's what she needs to do in the face of overwhelming stress. 

I'm actually more worried that the reverse might occur, that as with wartime, people will say "we came through unscathed, why can't you get over your childhood?" without realising that the type of trauma is different. Ours is man-made, mostly committed by those who should have protected us.

I think Vietnam was the turning point when people began to understand that many don't come through war unscathed, and not just veterans but their families too (have read numerous stories of families living in fear and walking on egg shells because of the veteran's PTSD). That war was what prompted the APA and WHO to make PTSD an official diagnosis.

So my hope is there is already recognition/acceptance of PTSD and the pandemic will result in  greater awareness of how trauma like this pandemic impacts people because like the relational trauma we endured, it is ongoing, potentially life threatening and there is no escape. At the very least health care workers  are more likely to understand the conditions under which PTSD/CPTSD develop and they are an important group with respect to igniting change and to have in our corner.

I think of the anesthesiologist who asked me if I could leave my trauma in the past (i.e., where it belongs), and wonder if he will come to understand what it is like to be trapped in and exposed to trauma and never ask a question like that again when the pandemic subsides. 

[Blueberry]

Thank you for explaining it in more detail. You're right, nobody can escape it, nobody can think "I'm safe", especially not medical personnel since they face it daily.

You're right too, it would be good to have medical personnel in our corner, so we'll see what happens. Hope for the best outcome.

[Kizzie]

Yesterday I had a virtual therapy session with my new T to try it out.  She lowered the fee so now I can do a few more sessions for which I am grateful.  It went quite well (for therapy  ), and I'm going to keep doing it.  I feel safe with her already, moreso being at a distance than F2F so it's a good interim step.

Anyway, I mentioned the doctors & nurses I am seeing online talking about what they're going through and urged her to talk with her colleagues about providing mental health care pro bono because it does help to mitigate trauma and it is so needed. There have been a number of initiatives like this here in Canada but more is needed and not just here. She is very involved with ISSTD which is an international org so hopefully she will pursue it. Trying to do what I can is part of taking back power and control over this invisible enemy and I do find it's helping. 

How are all of you faring? 

[Kizzie]

Saw this article on twitter this morning and found it helpful - Guide to Staying Sane During a Pandemic

Of course, it's normal to feel anxiety right now, and while we need to allow ourselves the space to feel these feelings, we also need to give ourselves the space to let them go. Some anxiety is productive—it's what motivates us to wash our hands often and distance ourselves from others when there's an important reason to do so. If we weren't reasonably worried, none of us would be taking these measures, and the virus would spread even more. But unproductive anxiety— unchecked rumination—can make our mind spin in all kinds of frightening directions. Instead of helping us to stay grounded in the present—I'm safe and making dinner; I'm snuggled up with my family as we watch this movie; I'm writing this column—our anxiety spins stories about the future that go something like I or someone I love will get deathly ill from the coronavirus. This kind of anxiety causes us to futurize and catastrophize, both of which take up a lot of emotional real estate.

[Kizzie]

Another good article I read this morning: Agency in a Time of Pandemic.

Recognize your agency

We can better withstand ongoing trauma when we have more resilience and resources. We are more resilient when we perceive ourselves as having agency: the ability to take action.... We support our agency when we own our skills and knowledge. A sense of agency says, "I may not know what to do yet, but I will figure it out." 

[Kizzie]

And another article - 3 Ways The Coronavirus Pandemic Is Affecting Trauma Survivors and Victims of Narcissists (And How You Can Cope)

....during this pandemic, we have yet to discuss the unique challenges that trauma and abuse survivors may face when they are forced to self-isolate more than they already have and encounter barriers in accessing the support systems they had in place in every facet of their life. Nor have we discussed how the pandemic may be worsening the behavior of those who often terrorize others during particularly vulnerable times – as narcissists are prone to doing. Although this is by no means an exhaustive list, here are three ways trauma survivors are being affected, especially if they are survivors of narcissistic individuals, and tips on how to cope.