Stress

Let’s first acknowledge that going back-to-school is harder this year. As you write lesson plans, you’re trying to figure out how to execute them online. As you set up your classroom, you’re dodging the new partitions that have been installed.

My client Tom had been working from home since the pandemic hit in March, but now his boss had set a date for returning to the office, in only three weeks. Tom felt anxious about prolonged exposure to his co-workers, as his partner had an underlying health condition.

The COVID-19 pandemic has rapidly and abruptly changed human life in unexpected ways. In the last few months, since the COVID-19 stay at home restrictions came into place, millions of people have been working from home and practicing social distancing.

Today I said thank you to the staff at the senior living facility where my 97-year-old grandmother lives.  At the outbreak of COVID-19, she found herself hospitalized with bacterial pneumonia – nothing related to COVID-19.  Just poor timing.  

Racial and related inequities have immensely traumatized Black and Brown citizens of the United States for centuries.

There is a lot of anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic. Not only is there concern about getting sick, but financial strain, social isolation and uncertainty of the future are contributing to an increasingly concerned and nervous society.

As many in the United States (US) stay home and practice social distancing to protect themselves from COVID-19, individuals from lower socioeconomic status (SES) backgrounds face heightened barriers and risks.

Most of us started out playing sports for fun. Practices and games were a chance to meet up with friends (old and new), to get away from our work-a-day lives, and take on an athletic challenge that got our hearts pumping and our endorphins firing.  

It’s easy to feel unsettled when we hear unsettling news on television or social media, particularly when several events happen at once.

Let’s face it.  The holidays can be stressful for anyone with all of the expectations for joy, gift giving and getting together with family, friends and co-workers.