Coronavirus: Is It A Surprise That Some People’s Mental Health Has Deteriorated During This Time?

Due to what is currently taking place in the world, it has not been possible for a lot of people to behave as they usually would. To protect themselves, others and different services, they are only allowed to leave their home to do certain things.

If they need to go shopping, to exercise or to go to work, for instance, they may be allowed to go out. When they are not doing this, they are going to be confined to their home.

An Unprecedented Time

For most of the people that are going through this, it probably won’t be something that they have experienced before. What will have been normal for a lot of people is leaving their home every weekday morning to go to work and going out whenever they felt like it.

A lot of these people, along with others, will no longer be able to behave as they used to behave. Now, irrespective of how it used to be for someone, there can be how they felt early on and how they feel as time has passed.

Two Extremes

In the beginning, someone may have felt frustrated by what was going on and, as time has passed, they may have started to feel down. Or, they may have felt relieved that they were getting a break, only to start to feel edgy and down as time has passed.

Either way, they will have had enough of living in isolation and will want to carry on with their life. The trouble is they may have to carry on living in this way for a number of weeks, if not longer.

A Few Reasons

If someone’s inner world is not in a good way right now, it could be said that this it is to be expected. Firstly, they won’t be able to behave how they usually would and they will be cut-off from others.

What this shows is that they, like everyone else, are an interdependent human being, which means that they are not their own island. What they do and who they spend time with has a big effect on who they are and how they feel.

Another Factor

At the same time, there will probably still be things that they can do and they will be able to speak to people over a screen, for instance. Thus, it won’t be as though they are living in solitary confinement.

There is something else that might also be playing a part in what is taking place inside them, and that is trauma. As they are no longer able to behave as they usually would, it may have meant that some of their ‘stuff’ has come to the surface.

The Modern-Day World

For many, many years, they may have typically been able to avoid what was taking place inside them. This may have taken place by practically always being busy and on the go, something that was normal for a lot of people.

Not only was this the norm for a lot of people, it was typically seen as the right way to behave. They may have been seen as someone who was ‘hard-working’ and highly motivated.

No More Running

Now that they can no longer avoid themselves, they will have started to come face-to-face with their so-called shadow or dark side. Ultimately, this will be the emotional pain that they have pushed into their body over the years.

It may have seemed as though it had disappeared, but it will have simply been pushed out of their conscious mind. Considering this, what is taking place externally will have an effect on how they feel, yet what has been triggered inside them will make it even worse.

Self-Knowledge

Without this understanding, however, one is likely to believe that how they feel is purely the result of what is taking place externally. This will give them an even stronger need for their life to return to how it was.

Consequently, it won’t matter if they were fed up with how their life was, as the pain they are in will stop them from being able to think clearly. The structure that allowed them to keep it together will have fallen away, which will have caused them to come into contact with parts of themselves that they would rather avoid.

An Opportunity in Disguise

At this point in time, it might be hard for them to accept that they now have the chance to transform their life. This could be seen as an insensitive thing to say and something that has no basis in reality.

Nonetheless, if they face what has come up and work through it, they will gradually become a more integrated human being and their need to live a life of avoidance will start to subside. This will allow them to be at peace with themselves and to truly embrace the life that they have been given.

A Time for Healing

With this in mind, if someone can see that they are carrying trauma, and they are ready to change their life, they may need to reach out for external support. This is something that can be provided by the assistance of a therapist or a healer.

If working with a therapist or a healer is not an option right now, there is information available online that will help them. The main thing is that they take the first step and don’t suffer in silence.

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Oliver JR Cooper
http://www.oliverjrcooper.co.uk