Covid Anxiety.

A continuous worry and source of anxiety for the duration of the pandemic is near an end. My mother, in her 90s, lives in a long-term care facility, which have been incubators for the coronavirus.

I haven't visited her in person since March (she has advanced dementia) and as much as I wanted to, current restrictions and medical common sense prevented that. She and other residents of long-term care centers are scheduled to begin receiving the Covid vaccine beginning next week.

This is such a relief to me. Looking back I have handled my anxiety over this pretty well and have practiced good self care.

In a world where we already have so much stress and worry--along comes covid pushing those of us with anxiety issues over the top. I can remember past epidemics like SARS, Swine Flu and others yet covid is the one which most worried me. I just cant cope with so much stress like I could when younger. Fortunately I was not alive for the Spanish flu back in 1918. In the US we had 500,000 deaths and worldwide about 50 million died. What a nightmare that was. Thankfully we are better able to deal with pandemics now.

With the new vaccines I hope we are able to end this horrible disease soon. I just want to live the rest of the years of my life in peace.

My prayers are with you all.

Tim G,

I am glad that your mother is going to get the covid vaccine. It must be a relief to know.

Keep hanging in there.

Hugs, Karen...

OceanFisher,

If I were you I would contact a psychiatrist and see if they have anybody doing telephone therapy. You can use skype, zoom or facetime. Or just the telephone. Have you ever had therapy? Most regular doctors only try certain things because mental health is not actually their specialty.

I know you feel bad that you can't get out and help people. And the people you were helping are definitely hurting. There is probably no soup for the people that were coming to get it. No matter how bad it seems, there is usually somebody worse off than ourselves.

Try taking things slow, slow your mind down and try to make the best of things. I am sure that there are good things in your life you can reflect on. They may be small but they are very powerful when it comes to the way we are feeling at the moment.

Maybe you and your wife can start playing games. Board games or cards. Something to keep your mind busy. Do you belong to aarp? They have online events people can watch. Puzzles to do. You may have to look but if you have a phone or computer, there is a lot you can do online.

I know it is tough when we feel we are in the bottom of a pit. It is hard to see through everything to see the light at the end of the tunnel. Just know you aren't alone. We are all going through this together.

Hugs, Karen...

Oceanfisher
Here are some likes that might help.

https://www.mindful.org/how-to-be-mindful-about-consuming-coronavirus-news/

https://www.mindful.org/empathy-fatigue-is-all-too-real/

Peace