At war with the unseen enemy. Covid 19

A submission describing a person's struggle with their mental health during the pandemic and resulting lockdown, detailing how isolation has negatively impacted their mental health.

May 16, 2020

Florence Akinremi

Florence Akinremi

Text

Emotion

Health & Wellness

Public Health & Hospitals

mental health

anxiety

isolation

stress

motherhood

English Motherhood

English Mental Health

05/16/2020

12/17/2020

05/16/2020

Anxiety and panic attack was one of my big concern during the pandemic lockdown. I was diagnosed two years ago with PTSD and corona virus pandemic was not doing any justice . As fears of the pandemic continues and the news articles and the internet was flooded with deaths and positive cases. I felt so saddened for all the life lost. My concern was for my family while they are equally worry about my high risk status. I have two children that are first responders and a child with chronic illness. I started having a panic attack and started jumping at every little noise. Mental health is a major illness facing our society and the lockdown also was creating more stress. Each time I go to the store, it seems to me like going to the war zone. People are hurting the most essential things like toilet paper and hand sanitizer. It's like the world is ending. Many are afraid to make eye contact because everyone was a suspect of having the virus. Even wearing a mask for me is a struggle. It felt like someone is suffocating me on purpose. I wake up everyday worry about what to do if my son or myself go into pain crisis as Sickle cell patients because of the fears of going in and not coming out. The world is dealing with a virus that makes everyone panic and it seems like the world stand still. We have a killer virus that many carries around without knowing and I was scared. Each day I started watching the news less and started using relaxation videos to go to sleep as my insomnia get worse due to fear. The activity that brings pleasure becomes a scary thing to do like going to the grocery store because that is where people gather during the pandemic. My spirit feels weary due to the isolation. I wrote in my journal on April 2nd, 2020 ” The unseen Enemy(monster) It spread quickly but made itself known slowly. This is COVID-19 virus Today you will think things are getting better but knowing that the monster is still alive and spreading faster like wildfire than before. There's a new stay home order for another month. People are worried about their jobs, paying bills, and their mental health. We are all under house arrest as it seems except that we can go to the grocery stores. This situation is very stressful most especially for me when it comes to anxiety. Many of my worries is getting sick and not able to get help on time or My son getting sick and his body is too weak to fight the virus. What do we have to do? According to experts right now, wash our hands and not touch our face and don't go to the ER unless you can't breathe. One thing about this unseen enemy is that it does not discriminate.it does not care if you are rich or poor. Everyone is affected. One thing I see in this is that this is a way, God is bringing people together to fight the battle of Corona Virus.

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