Professional

Like stress, anxiety can be useful in the right scenarios. It is the byproduct of what psychologist Stephen Porges calls “our biological imperative toward safety.” The discomfort it makes us feel was designed to alert us of something, precisely so that we listen up and protect ourselves. Luana Marques, an associate professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School and president of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America told me, “Although anxiety is uncomfortable, it may signal that something’s not working.

We’ve endured almost a full year of the world turned upside down. When we’re not concerned about our own health or our family’s health – it’s concern about finances, missing seeing friends and relatives, being isolated and wondering if life as we know it will ever get back to normal. ADAA Member Jenny Yip, PsyD, ABPP shares her insights in this podcast.

“Give kids hope. With the rollout of the vaccine, at some point in 2021, our world will open up again. Kids will be able to go back to school and have face-to-face time with their peers. We’ll be getting back to some sort of normalcy sometime in 2021.” ADAA Member Jenny Yip, PsyD, ABPP.

Being in isolation and living in restrictive conditions can lead to “quarantine fatigue.” According to (ADAA board member)  Dr. Luana Marques, quarantine fatigue is an “exhaustion associated with the new restrictive lifestyle that’s been adopted to slow the spread of COVID-19” and the symptoms include:

“It’s a step-by-step process which begins with facing your fears,” says (ADAA board member) Ken Goodman, a licensed clinical social worker in the Los Angeles area, a board member of the Anxiety and Depression Association of America, and author and producer of The Anxiety Solution Series. “The strategy is not complicated, it is challenging, but people can do it if they're really determined.”

When Columbia cancelled face-to face-classes for undergraduates last fall and announced its transition to online platforms, students reacted with an array of emotions, from disappointment and sadness to frustration, anxiety, and fear.  ADAA Member Anne Marie Albano, PhD, ABPP shares that the first year students she has spoken with are "afraid they will never experience campus life, and that their personal, academic, and professional goals could be derailed.”

ADAA Member Mary Alvord, PhD, said it is critical that parents remain calm when talking about the day’s events because kids will pick up on unspoken cues and body language. Without that calmness, “we perpetuate fear, anxiety and outrage,” she said.

There are different messages for different age groups. For younger kids, up to 7 years of age, reassure your children that they are safe.  “For younger kids, maintain your routine, make sure their life goes on,” she added.

ADAA Member Mary Alvord, PhD shares her response to the Capitol Riots in this USA Today article which provides 5 Strategies to manage your mental health.

While medical experts continue to develop vaccines and improved treatments for COVID-19, they grapple with how to convince the public that immunizations are safe. The proper messaging is the new puzzle that doctors and health officials say they must confront to end a pandemic that has claimed more than 19,000 lives in New Jersey and 353,000 in the U.S. ADAA Member Shane Owens, PhD ABPP shared his insight on the challenge of communicating with the public regarding the pandemic and the vaccine.

“Not talking about our experiences with COVID-19 is a way to avoid loneliness, even if it’s more helpful to talk about it,” ADAA Member Shane Owens, PhD ABPP adds in this article on why sharing your coronavirus experience on Instagram, Facebook or Twitter is vital to fighting the pandemic.