Depression

My friend’s phone call left me stunned and shaken. She had just been released from the hospital, where she had been admitted for suicidal ideation. “Suicidal ideation” was an unfamiliar term to me, but I could easily figure what it meant.

Steve has served as a police officer for 24 years, including being a SWAT team member for years. He and I have worked together on his traumatic experiences. He has told me that in a given day a police officer might have to deal with two to three overdoses and do CPR.

If you engage in some positive distracting activities during this crisis, then the flow of the day will move like a steady stream rather than a slow drip.

In an already challenged, and often under-resourced mental health care system, the COVID-19 pandemic has led to an increase in mental health needs across the globe^1,2.

Telling oneself not to be anxious during the COVID-19 pandemic is like trying to tell water not to be wet. These are anxious times.

I’ve heard from friends countless times that they have considered therapy, but their lives were just too busy for it. Maybe when they had more time, they’d say.