By Sandy Smith
The session The Psychosocial Impact of COVID-19 and Social Unrest opened with a loaded question: “How has your overall well-being been affected by the past year?”
The chat responses started to fly: “More stressed.” “More confused and uncertain.” “More fearful.” “Paranoid.”
“Fun fact: Even therapists feel these things,” said psychotherapist John Im, MSW, ACSW, one of the panelists. He was joined by Sandra Valdovinos-Heredia, MSW, ACSW; and Raymond Lamb, MSW, LCSW.
“We’ve never been here before, with everything that is going on,” Lamb said. “We are in such a new place.”
Valdovinos-Heredia discussed what mental health is, presenting a drawing of a person beneath an umbrella. “Everything that happens around you impacts you. We have big drops and small drops and lightning. It can be anything from feeling anxious right now, sweaty palms, shortness of breath, trauma, grief and loss.”
The panels of the umbrella are “protective factors,” Im said. “They could be time with your family or friends. These are what bring you back and make you think, ‘I can do this.’”
Trauma can cause rips in the umbrella, and a “rupture in how we see ourselves and each other,” Lamb said.
There has been plenty of trauma in the past year, from the pandemic to social, political and economic unrest.
Lamb discussed two aspects of the brain: the prefrontal cortex and the amygdala. The prefrontal cortex is the “executive functioning” aspect, while the amygdala is “the most primitive part. It is our survival instinct.” When triggered, the amygdala turns off executive functioning. “Our ability for judgment, for memory, to make a clear decision, our impulse control, gets shut off a matter of degrees.”
Pausing, taking a breath or walking away from a stressful situation can help. Im led participants through a breathing exercise. “When cortisol gets released in the body, breathing could sometimes help,” he said. “If you’re in a fight with somebody and it’s gone too far, you need to give yourself a break of at least 20 to 30 minutes. That’s the amount of time it takes for the cortisol to be metabolized in the body so you can feel less triggered.”
Breathing is easily accessible and free, Valdovinos-Heredia said. “You have control of it and can use it whether you’re at your HTC, getting ready to be infused. You can use this technique anywhere you are. If you’re an adult and just starting to become aware of the importance of this, that’s powerful. If you practice this, great. Continue to do it.”
While breathing may be free, it may not suffice on its own. In that 20-minute break, “sometimes we need 10 solutions for coping, depending on who you are and what makes sense to you,” Valdovinos-Heredia said. “We wanted to start with breathing, but pay attention to what makes sense to you.” ■