Experts have raised concerns about the growing mental health issues in coronavirus pandemic, especially the increase of fatigue, stress, and despair in people.
The increasing number of cases in California led the Governor, Gavin Newsom, to issue the order to close again certain theaters, bars, restaurants, and bowling alleys. The residents express their frustration and firmly blame the governor over this action.
Anger, distress, hopelessness, and anxiety has spread nationwide. Mental health experts worry that about half a year of coronavirus pandemic might have reached a point of emotional fatigue and overwhelmed a stressful crisis. Associate director of Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) Program at Ohio State University, Arianna Galligher states:
“We are equipped to manage a couple of crises at a time. But when everything is hitting us at a time, there comes a time all coping power become overwhelmed, and the result is crisis fatigue.”
The body is made adapted to deal with short-term stressful situations through the rush of stress hormone cortisol and hormone, which increases blood circulation for the fight-flight response, adrenaline.
These bodily mechanisms could help handle the temporary stress situation, but in overwhelming circumstances, it is a challenge. The body is not well prepared for such high stress, and a high level of cortisol could lead to problems like insomnia and anxiety.
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People even feel lost or numb at times; psychologists term this as crisis fatigue. Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences department at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, Dr. Firdaus S. Dhabhar said:
“The biological response to stress can be protected during crises. However, when stressful situations persist for weeks or months, it can have severe side effects and could result in crisis fatigue.”
A clinical research psychologist at US National Center of PTSD, Adrienne Heinz mentioned:
“Our bodies can’t sustain such a high level of nervous load. Things start to fail…we observe a host of consequences like depression, anxiety, relationship stress, and insomnia, to name a few.”
Experts believe people feel trapped in their homes with social distancing measures that have adverse effects on their physical and mental health.
