Items

• 
  2022-10-16

  One Last Trip With My Old Face

  This is a story about my first trip out of state after the pandemic began. During lockdown, I reconnected with an old friend and was later invited to his wedding. It was my first time going to Chicago and I had a wonderful time.
• 
  2020-10-22

  Julian Adventure

  Julian Adventure My story takes place in the fall of 2020 while many travel restrictions related to Covid-19 were still in place. Like everyone, my girlfriend and I, who are residents of San Diego, CA, had undergone lockdown for a period of time, only leaving the house for essential reasons. We worked from home, ate at home, and entertained ourselves at home. We avoided people as much as possible. Needless to say, after months of isolation, we needed to get out of the apartment. We decided to book an Airbnb in Julian, CA–a mountain retreat about an hour away from San Diego. Upon arriving at the Airbnb home, I remember we felt a bit nervous. How clean was it? Were there germs about? What if the owners did not disinfect the countertops? Driven by anxiety, we had brought our own cleaning supplies and went to work wearing gloves and masks. The place was already spotless, but cleaning it ourselves gave us a sense of control, a little certainty that we had done everything we could. The place sat on twenty-five acres of land with mountain views and horses about. We tried to feel at ease in our new environment and maintained limited, if any, contact with others. We avoided Julian town, but driving through it revealed significantly less people than usual. Although it was a nice getaway, the trip within the milieu of Covid-19 prevented us from fully relaxing.
• 
  2023-07-13

  Post-Pandemic Trip to Seattle

  Like it did for many people, the start of the Covid-19 pandemic canceled multiple travel plans for me. I applied for my passport in 2018 with the intention of going on a study-abroad trip my junior year of undergrad. Instead of travel memories, I have a memory of sitting in my PoliSci class and discussing the news with my classmates that the university might shut down for a few days. We didn’t go back, and I still haven’t used the passport. Once travel restrictions were lifted it still took me a while to get back out into the world. The first trip I took was in July of 2023. I traveled from Minnesota to Seattle, Washington with some of my friends from high school for a week of sightseeing. We chose it because most of us had never been to the Pacific Northwest. It was my first time in an airport since December of 2018. I remember having quite a few lingering anxieties related to Covid, to the point where I was actually dreading the trip before we left (even though I ended up having a wonderful time). I had some struggles with health anxiety during the pandemic. Before tests were widely available I remember frequently being so paranoid I had Covid that I would convince myself I did and actually make myself feel sick with anxiety. Since restrictions have been lifted this has stuck around, and now takes the form of me getting excessively anxious about getting Covid before important events (like the trip, and my wedding just a few weeks before it). I also was nervous about going to the airport because I didn’t know what to expect in regards to how many restrictions would still be in place. It turned out there were no restrictions remaining in the MSP or SeaTac airports beyond some signs reminding people to not enter if they felt unwell (I am certain most people who make it far enough to see the sign still enter). Once the actual boarding of the plane went fine, I entertained myself with anxieties about the odds of someone on the plane having Covid and all of us breathing circulated air. I actually had Covid once in the fall before the trip, and got the highest fever of my life but was ultimately okay. Interestingly, this didn’t really ease my fears during the flight. Nobody got Covid from the Seattle trip (though we were probably just lucky) and instead I got some of the most precious memories of my life so far. I also had a surprising lack of anxiety once we got there. We visited a long list of places including most notably the Space Needle, Chihuly Garden and Glass Museum, Seattle Aquarium, Pike Place Market, and the National Nordic Museum. There were no Covid-19 restrictions remaining in any of these places. I had packed one reusable mask in my backpack in case I needed it, and it turned out the one time on the whole trip that I entered a space where masks were required (a small independent bookstore) I didn’t have it with me and had to borrow one. I still thought about Covid every time we pushed through a packed crowd in Pike Place Market, but more so than being afraid I thought about how during the peak of the pandemic I was convinced it was something I would never do again. I don't believe the pandemic is truly over even now, but I drastically felt how much things had changed in that moment. The picture I included to tell my story is of my friend Carlie and I on the top of the Space Needle (I am sitting on the right). We went back twice, and spent literally hours sitting on the glass floor and watching the city go by as it slowly rotated. It's one of my fondest memories of the trip. I’ve heard some people say the Space Needle is overrated, but as small-town Midwesterners we were pretty fascinated. I’m grateful to those who spent the pandemic under harsher restrictions in bigger cities like Seattle so that I can visit these places now. It was nice to feel so small looking down on Seattle after the world felt so small during restrictions just a few years earlier.
• 2020-04-11

  A story under the pandemic

  The sudden outbreak of the epidemic in 2019 caused me to experience many more firsts in my life: my first online class, the first time I needed to wear a mask when I went out, the first time I had to take my temperature to be sterilized when I went to the doctor, and the first time I graduated high school in quarantine. In just a few short months, the outbreak spread across multiple countries turning into a global resistance, with new cases and even deaths increasing every day. Schools were closed and students were told to stay home. When I saw these real and ever-growing numbers, it was not easy to feel good. But after all, I was just watching the data on my cell phone refreshing, in fact, I have not really felt the seriousness of this virus. Until I saw a video: a girl's father because infected with the virus, due to the development of too fast, the father in just a few days time passed away, the girl looked at her father's funeral car drove away, which really found that the father is really gone, never come back, the girl through the mask towards the police on duty at the roadside disappointed and helpless shouted out a sentence: I have no father! That was the first time I felt the horror of this virus. In addition to my automatic daily tracking of the latest progress of the case, social media was flooded with all sorts of bad news about the outbreak, including how it was spreading, the misery and agonizing struggles of the infected and their families, and so on. I was so worried about myself or my family members and friends being infected that I was constantly urging the elderly members of my family not to go out, so as not to be infected. At the same time, the frantic buying of masks, goggles, sterilizing alcohol, and so on, by many people was increasing the fear of the disease. As a result of the epidemic, I know that many people are suffering from mental health problems such as insomnia or anxiety. I am one of them.
• 2023-10-12

  No Longer a Traveler

  The pandemic has altered the way I view and interact with people and places. Although I have always been cautious of germs, illness, personal space, and keeping healthy, the pandemic has heightened my awareness. I am now turned off and disgusted by the thought of crowed spaces, movie theaters, gyms, airports and other places with heavy traffic. I no longer have interest in activities I once enjoyed and participated in. This has affected how I travel and how often. I once loved traveling, visiting new places, trying new restaurants, interacting with communities, and just being a “tourist”. After the pandemic restrictions were lifted, I had no interest in traveling and enjoyed being at home. Home was comfortable and safe. The first time I traveled after the pandemic was in 2022, I traveled to California to attend a conference, visit some museums and to do touristy things. I did enjoy my experiences, but it was truly exhausting. I was constantly worried that I had caught COVID or that I was going to catch it. By the end of the week, I was ready to go home and recover from the anxiety I had. It has been a year since that trip.
• 
  2021-04-28

  Til' Death Do Us Part

  I've included a text story and video of the first time I traveled since the the massive Covid lockdown in March 2020. This text and video are important to me because not only was it a brave thing to do after being confined for so long, but it was also a defining moment in my adult life. I am now married as a result of that trip.
• 
  2020-08-24

  First Day of School Picture

  The picture I chose to add to the archive is my first day of school on August 24, 2020. In this picture, I was laying in bed with my laptop because everything was online. If you were lucky, you got a professor that taught class on Zoom. That is the closest to being in a regular classroom as it got. You were able to see your classmates (if they turned their camera on), you could have discussions with everyone, ask the professor questions and get immediate answers. On the other hand, you could get stuck with a professor who chose to use youtube videos and websites instead of teaching. These were the worst, poor to almost no teacher-student interaction, just discussion boards and Google. It was impossible for me to learn like this, I felt like I was not being taught! It was always stressful when trying to do assignments for classes like this because I did not understand the curriculum. If I needed to contact my professor, I just had to send an email and hope they would email me back soon with answers. Sometimes, I would not get a response until days later, a few times I never got a response. After a while of this, I started to feel miserable, stressed, and depressed. My grades started getting lower and lower and knowing how much school costs, knowing that I was going to lose my grants and scholarships because I was failing, I started having anxiety attacks. In my head, I kept saying, “I cannot learn like this, I know I am going to fail, so why keep trying?” Things got to a point where I would open my laptop, look at my assignments, cry, and then just close my laptop back up. I lost all my motivation and I lost sight of my dreams to be an optometrist. I remember the day that I dropped out, the defeat that I felt, feeling like a complete failure.
• 
  04/11/2020

  Talitha Brandel-Black Oral History, 2020/04/11

• 
  12/10/2021

  Shae Havner Oral History, 2021/12/10

  In this interview, Shae Havner discusses her experiences as a mental health therapist during the pandemic and the changes in her career and her clients. She talks about how the pandemic affects mental health, both positively and negatively, and the rise in domestic abuse cases. She also gives insight into how COVID-19 affected her home life as a mother and how the pandemic has affected her sons as well as what her family and friends did to have fun during the shutdown. She lives in Fall Creek, Wisconsin, and works in Eau Claire, Wisconsin, and compares how the two cities responded to the pandemic. She also brings up vaccinations, the booster shot, and getting her children vaccinated.
• 
  February 13th, 2023

  Status of Mental Health During Lockdown

  I was overwhelmed and stress when we went to online classes. The photo I posted is a representation of how I felt during that time
• 
  2022-03

  Yesteryear

  Yesteryear is the product of pent up anxiety, confusion, loss, depression and hopelessness, painted in 2022. It is how I would describe life before and after Covid-19. Separated into two pieces the anterior canvas is multicolored, to represent the carefree state of life. It can represents the high points in my life pre-pandemic, inclusive of freedom and family. The oil protrudes in some parts and is flat in others signifying the highs and lows of everyday life. The posterior canvas is quite the opposite if viewed closely, some of the colors used in the painting above have been covered in dark colors. It is smooth to the touch. No high points in this instance. All lows. Dreary. Dark. The red bordering both , represents the vitality of human nature. At the top it was uncontrolled, bleeding into all other aspects of life pre-Covid. As it travels south, it becomes thinner, more rigid, more linear. It then starts to completely disappear and despair has taken its place.
• 
  2021-08-21

  HIST30060: Family Texts

  This is a screenshot of a family text conversation in August 2021. The mother, nicknamed “mrs matriarch” on the Facebook Messenger application, is relaying rumours of an intensification of the lockdown restrictions, including the involvement of the military. She also encourages the popular practice of hoarding or panic buying. This conversation encapsulates popular anxiety around the suddenness of government responses to the pandemic. The user alerts their family based on a rumour that the 8pm Victorian curfew would be moved earlier to 5pm. In hindsight, the 5pm curfew never eventuated. Instead, the 8pm curfew became 9pm, before it was later removed. The user’s fear that the military would be involved further shows the anxiety felt by Victorian residents and the sense of entrapment. The conversation also indicates the popular phenomenon of panic buying and hoarding. The text reads, “get whatever you need for today now” and “buy a bunch – we are heading for tighter restrictions in lockdowns,” even for a perishable item like strawberries. Rumours had a very real effect on the population, prompting atypical economic behaviours, including the infamous toilet paper hoarding. The low price of strawberries reported by the user also illustrates the strange supply and demand for groceries during the pandemic and excess of fruit that year.
• 
  2020-08-18

  HIST30060: Negative Test Result

  This is a screenshot of a negative PCR test result from August 2020. At this time, test results would typically take 24 hours to process, with the government requiring that the patient isolate until they received the result of their test. I, like most residents in Melbourne, suffered a profound emotional impact from the bombardment of public messaging about the pandemic. The advertising campaigns by the state government as well as opinions expressed on social media suggested that a failure to follow health protocols would result in tremendous negative effects. For example, failing to get tested could be the reason that someone's grandmother died from exposure to the pandemic. With such high stakes attached to my everyday behaviour and compliance to health orders, whenever I felt even slightly unwell, it would trigger a barrage of intense anxiety. The health order to self-isolate for a week after a positive test result, as well as the Andrews governments' policy of reopening contingent on the number of positive test results in the community, further increased anxiety around any form of cold symptoms. To the day, this image evokes feelings of fear and relief. Something so mundane as a text message represented either a ticket to freedom or a binding health order. In this case, the text message represented a reassurance that my sickness was the regular, boring sort, and that I was not an accidental killer of grandmothers. It represents the use of everyday technology, both sophisticated and mundane, in the pandemic response.
• 
  2021-04-15

  COVID-19 Changed Education in America

  The pandemic has completely changed education. Students' views and attitudes towards school has changed, as well as been impacted by trauma and lack of normal school routine. School districts and teachers have been scrambling to accommodate to the new change while also trying to maintain a feeling of being "normal" during a pandemic.
• 
  2022-05-04

  Erika Groudle Oral History, 2022/05/04

  Erika Groudle is a resident of Monroe, Washington. She lives in a tiny house with her partner on her mother’s property. In this oral history interview Erika discusses working with kids during the pandemic and her opinion on how they handle mask wearing. Additionally, Erika discusses her “pandemic garden,” caring for her grandfather, staying connected to friends and family during the pandemic, how she first realized the pandemic was close to home, and the realities of living in a state that not only had the first case and death of COVID-19 in the United States of America, but also highly publicized protests in Seattle. Interviewer: Jason Inskeep Interviewee: Erika Groudle
• 2020-09-02

  Horrible Online Testing experience during COVID

  Online testing during COVID is definitely horrible, especially if you need to write the answers on paper and be monitored only by zoom. For me, I had a pretty important trial exam in August. But on the test day, the sound of house renovation on the floor above is so loud that it is impossible for me to concentrate. Thus, I was forced to hop on a taxi to travel to my parent's friend's home, and since there is no table left for me to write my test, I had to sit and write the test on a piano. Moreover, since I don't have much preparation in summer as I focused mainly on my personal statement, many questions on the test seem unfamiliar. Even worse, when I finally complete the exam in a scratchy manner, the internet connection broke so I couldn't upload my answer for 10 minutes straight! With these circumstances, it is foreseeable that my score come out miserably. After that day, I started hating online testing to guts.
• 
  2022-04-29

  Social Drought

  Social Drought is a text story about how the pandemic erased all hopes of maintaining an active social life and how I had to find ways to fulfill my need for social interaction.
• 
  2020

  How the Internet Saved My Mental Health During the COVID-19 Pandemic

  Prior to the first major COVID-19 breakout in the US, I was already doing online school. I had some health problems that led me to take my senior year of high school online; this was already a little hard, as my school had many senior year traditions that I, unfortunately, missed out on, so my general motivation was already pretty low. The main thing that really helped was being able to hang out with friends in person and talk to people using social media. I remember very vividly when COVID-19 first hit. It was sometime in March; I remember it so vividly due to a joke that my friends and I made. Senior skip day happened right when the news about the virus started to spread everywhere - my friends and I started joking about whether or not they skipped the last day of high school they would ever attend. This joke eventually came to fruition; first, it was a two-week "vacation." Then it was a month. Eventually, the rest of the year was called off, and my friends joined me in the ventures of online schooling. The beginning of quarantine was relatively easy from a mental health standpoint. We were too busy being excited over the "vacation" we were given, and all the time we had to play video games with each other. This excitement soon began to fade, however, mainly when the weather began to get warm again (I live in Massachusetts) and the seasons started to change. The feeling of being trapped inside during the only time of year truly worth being outside for is pretty suffocating. It is no surprise that my mental health started to suffer, mainly in the form of motivation issues and increased anxiety, and depression that was normally seasonal began to manifest itself in the only season it usually didn't. If not for the internet connecting my friends and me, I would have had a much harder time throughout quarantine in general. Despite my mental health being worse than usual, it was not nearly as bad as it could have been given the circumstances. The horrible statistics and lack of hope for a vaccine that clouded my thoughts when not distracted disappeared while I was in my own world talking to friends through a computer screen - escapism was my main source of comfort, and I have the internet and my friends to thank for that. Eventually, the feeling of hopelessness went away. Vaccines started to be distributed, and life returned to (slightly) normal. We got used to wearing masks in public, and avoiding crowded areas, but this was a small price to pay considering how bad it was before.
• 
  2022-01-14

  My First Pandemic Concert

  Since the pandemic has commence, I haven't done many public outings or attended big events. This January, I had finally got enough of the courage to go to a concert for the first time in three years. Overall, I would argue that the outing was fun and safe, but I could not help but still feel anxious and scared of what was yet to come despite it being a good time. Part of this was because the concert did not require anyone to wear a mask, nor did that enforce social distancing with the seats like I thought they would. Most of this was because COVID-19 cases had started to climb down despite the onset of the new variant OMICRON at the time. I wore my mask regardless since we were sitting so close to people and still enjoyed myself despite these bypasses. I feel that this concert represents how I and other people felt confident enough to do big social outings again despite the pandemic still going on. I also feel like this concert illuminates how people still seek entertainment and enjoyment in their lives and how the pandemic impacted the way people use to be able to go out and enjoy themselves. Now that things are starting to slow down with the pandemic, people like myself are starting to use this opportunity to go enjoy ourselves, which honestly brings me much hope and optimism about the future now.
• 
  2021-06-27

  Pandemic lockdown gives a new opportunity towards homeless mental health. A study from Spain

  While the COVID-19 pandemic has drastically altered mental health, see https://covid-19archive.org/s/archive/page/mental-health, I hope that there could be benefits to mental health as COVID rates around the world drop. It is now more convenient than ever to partake in counseling services from the comfort of your room, especially if you have social anxiety or pandemic anxiety. Unfortunately, statistics are not out as of March 2022 that demonstrate that mental health is improving with waning COVID rates, instead counselors, psychiatrists, and psychologists seem busier than ever. While telehealth meetings are convenient, wait times and schedules are full of the backlog of people whose mental health was affected by the pandemic. I wanted to find an example of a positive outcome on mental health through COVID's global sweep, especially as COVID wanes. Attached is an example of a study in Spain that focused on a group of homeless in Spain that were in lockdown. "More than 60% of them presented mental disorders and within 8 weeks they were visited in person 2–3 times...Finally, 51.8% were linked to social and health care services and 37% to mental health resources, which can constitute a step forward in their reintegration and normalization." They argue that if it was not for COVID and these efforts, these homeless people may not have been diagnosed and helped. The paper concludes that this study is useful for the future because it shows how under immensely stressful situations, primary and secondary interventions worked. This can be repeated without a pandemic. While the pandemic was very stressful, it reaped some benefits such as a new focus on mental health, new methods of talking with trained professionals, and studied like this that show data of improving mental health in times of stress.
• 
  2022-03-26

  Coping with the Pandemic--A Personal Look at Mental Health and COVID-19

  According to the Center of Disease Control, in June of 2022, US adults reported considerably elevated adverse mental health conditions associated with COVID-19. Out of a survey they did on 5,412 people, 40.9 percent of respondents reported at least one adverse mental or behavioral health conditions, including symptoms of anxiety and depressive disorder which were around 31 percent. One of the causes of this is due to increase sedentary behaviors and low levels of physical activity due to quarantines and lack of business operation. Over the past two years, government mandated quarantine, work from home, and online schooling has caused me to stay at home for longer periods of time than what I use to. Because of this sedentary behavior, I had dealt with the negative effects of isolation, stress, and anxiety on both my mental and physical health. According to the World Health Organization, 150 minutes of moderate exercise or physical activity is usually recommended per week, however, with working a full-time job and being in school, the question that remains is how that is possible? I have learned to accommodate these physical needs indoors, by taking active breaks during the day and exercising at home. While this does not necessarily help with isolation and loneliness sometimes, I have learned to take these matters one day at a time and not shun myself for feelings them. CDC argues that from a recent comprehensive review that the impact of COVID-19 on mental health particularly seems to affect more young women disproportionally than any other group. Therefore, I recommend any young adult or women facing severe mental health to take advantage of online support or mental health services through telehealth such as ZocDoc. It is important to highlight COVID-19's impact on mental health in the United States and my personal life because it shows how the pandemic changed the means and the ways we received mental health services in the past. As the pandemic ventures on, people like myself will continue to have to find ways to cope and receive services for our problems. Thanks to the pandemic, much of our mental health problems have come more to the forefront due to us having ample amounts of time now to navigate and deal these issues unlike never before.
• 2022-03-24

  Covid-19 Cuts Senior Year Short

  As a 2020 senior, I went on Spring Break and never came back to the high school that I thought I would enjoy for 2 more months. I cried at the fact that I wouldn’t get to experience my “lasts” of high school; no senior trip, no senior field day, no senior prank, and no graduation. I felt like my senior year had been ripped away from me in a matter of seconds, and I felt that I had worked hard in school for nothing. I questioned if I would ever get to go to college or travel again. Covid-19 turned my happy senior year into a nightmare. I remember feeling so discouraged and depressed; even my town’s streets were completely empty. It was a time of utter darkness that I never want to live through again. The unknown scares me, and Covid-19 sent my fear into full force.
• 
  2022-03-20

  A Day In The Life

  Every day things that run through my head that have changed since the start of the COVID-19 Pandemic
• 
  2022-03-16

  School Shootings, I don't miss them.

  This is a ParentSquare message from the superintendent from the school district that I work at. A student from the Online school that our district provides as an alternative for students because of COVID-19 decided it was a good idea to shoot at fellow students. This is particularly frustrating for me as a school employee because this student put other students in danger and ended the life of at least one student. Actions like this also put the school employees or outside civilians in danger if they get caught in the crossfire. Gang activity has become an issue in this town and I fear there will be more retaliation and the cycle of violence will continue. This will likely interrupt the student's education even more because of fear or fascination, probably just as much as COVID has. It has become increasingly difficult to engage some students with their students because they are behind maturity-wise after a year of being online due to COVID and this school shooting is not helpful.
• 
  2020-03

  Dealing with my anxiety

  As most young adults my age, I suffer from severe anxiety. Dealing with anxiety daily, can be very challenging at times, especially during a pandemic. I have been fighting a battle with anxiety most of my life. At this point, I am really used to the extra thoughts in my head. I have learned to help manage it, but not completely get rid of it. I believe that anxiety has made me who I am, in a way, because I do not remember a time where I was not struggling. In 2020, a pandemic instantly flooded the world. This completely impacted my entire life. I was not able to experience my last year in high school, I was not able to be around the one person that helped me with my anxiety, etc. I was forced to wear a mask that I could barely breathe in. I lost touch with most of my friends that I developed over my lifetime. This instant wave of depression suddenly hit me. I was so nervous on what would happen next, and how long will this last. People were dying from this pandemic. I constantly worried about if the sickness would hurt one of my family members or someone important to me. Over the time of being in quarantine, I thought to myself ways on how I could relax and not worry so much about the pandemic. I told myself every day, “Everything happens for a reason”. This is what I truly believe and for some reason it really does calm me down. I am Catholic. I am a very deep believer in God. To me, trusting in the Lord is the best anxiety reliever around. Covid-19 is still around today. Without Covid-19, I would not be where I am today. Although this pandemic has an abundance of negative impacts on my life, it also had some positive ones, too. I would not have attended Duquesne University, met so many amazing people, and made a plethora of memories that I would not trade in for. I believe talking about my anxiety, especially during the pandemic, is very critical because I am not the only one who is suffering, too. Everyone is nervous about what is going to happen next. To me, this is HUGE on helping me with my anxiety. I can finally think to myself that I am not alone. I believe that people who suffer from anxiety, especially from the pandemic started in 2020, can have a place to go if they are nervous. When I was struggling, I felt alone, and I was the only person who felt this way. My story will allow people to realize that they are not alone. Everyone is dealing with this stress and anxiety that I suffered from. My story tells people that I have worries and doubts, too. The pandemic not only had negative impacts, but they also had positive impacts. Focusing on the positives, will distract you from the anxiety and worrying. My story should help prove that. My story should allow people to see and find new ways to cope with the stress. I hope my story leaves a positive impact on people who did or are struggling. Everyone is in this together, and nobody will be alone in this major impact on the world.
• 
  2020-03

  Suffering from Anxiety

  As most young adults my age, I suffer from severe anxiety. Dealing with anxiety daily, can be very challenging at times, especially during a pandemic. I have been fighting a battle with anxiety most of my life. At this point, I am really used to the extra thoughts in my head. I have learned to help manage it, but not completely get rid of it. I believe that anxiety has made me who I am, in a way, because I do not remember a time where I was not struggling. In 2020, a pandemic instantly flooded the world. This completely impacted my entire life. I was not able to experience my last year in high school, I was not able to be around the one person that helped me with my anxiety, etc. I was forced to wear a mask that I could barely breathe in. I lost touch with most of my friends that I developed over my lifetime. This instant wave of depression suddenly hit me. I was so nervous on what would happen next, and how long will this last. People were dying from this pandemic. I constantly worried about if the sickness would hurt one of my family members or someone important to me. Over the time of being in quarantine, I thought to myself ways on how I could relax and not worry so much about the pandemic. I told myself every day, “Everything happens for a reason”. This is what I truly believe and for some reason it really does calm me down. I am Catholic. I am a very deep believer in God. To me, trusting in the Lord is the best anxiety reliever around. Covid-19 is still around today. Without Covid-19, I would not be where I am today. Although this pandemic has an abundance of negative impacts on my life, it also had some positive ones, too. I would not have attended Duquesne University, met so many amazing people, and made a plethora of memories that I would not trade in for. I believe talking about my anxiety, especially during the pandemic, is very critical because I am not the only one who is suffering, too. Everyone is nervous about what is going to happen next. To me, this is HUGE on helping me with my anxiety. I can finally think to myself that I am not alone. I believe that people who suffer from anxiety, especially from the pandemic started in 2020, can have a place to go if they are nervous. When I was struggling, I felt alone, and I was the only person who felt this way. My story will allow people to realize that they are not alone. Everyone is dealing with this stress and anxiety that I suffered from. My story tells people that I have worries and doubts, too. The pandemic not only had negative impacts, but they also had positive impacts. Focusing on the positives, will distract you from the anxiety and worrying. My story should help prove that. My story should allow people to see and find new ways to cope with the stress. I hope my story leaves a positive impact on people who did or are struggling. Everyone is in this together, and nobody will be alone in this major impact on the world.
• 
  2022-02

  Ripple Affect from COVID 19

  My personal experience with COVID 19
• 
  11/27/2020

  Cristiano Favazza Oral History, 2020/11/27

  C19OH
• 
  2021-12-13

  meme

  This meme shows how physically distant we stayed away from people during the beginning of the pandemic, and now the effects are seen now. Us humans are meant to interact with others always, and when we were stuck in our houses for months, it affected us a lot. We see high amounts now of depression, anxiety, suicides, etc. This is important to me because I believe that mental illnesses are just as serious of a problem that we should focus on.
• 
  2020-10-06

  Bernd Geels Oral History, 2020/10/06

  C19OH
• 
  2021-10-04

  Support during the pandemic

  This photo shows support that was available during the pandemic for those who were needing that extra support or developing coping skills. I'm sure it was a great feeling to know that these services were available for those who were needing this extra support during COVID-19 pandemic.
• 
  2020-03-26

  ‘This Is the Biggest Challenge We’ve Faced Since the War’: How the Coronavirus Crisis Is Exposing the Precarious Position of Museums Worldwide

  The article discusses the financial hit to museums caused by the pandemic and fear and anxiety over how long museums can sustain amid a global shutdown. Whereas federal aid has come to the rescue of some museums provided by select countries for example, Germany and Britain; however, the United States does not have the same relief plans in place for cultural institutions. The pandemic has revealed weaknesses in the current museum model in relation to funding and what the article describes as a “winners take all mentality”. These problems have been compounding for decades but is the pandemic the straw that breaks the camel’s back? What might a new museum model look like if the old one is no longer sustainable?
• 
  2021-04-07

  The Mental Pandemic

  The pandemic was difficult in more ways than one. Health and safety were covered by all news stations, but the deeper hidden pandemic was the struggle of mental health and staying mentally healthy during isolation and lockdown. These screenshots showcase that mental health was an important topic that people were struggling with but the university tried to give help to students and staff that were struggling. This screenshot is important to me because they were resources I utilized that helped me mentally go through the pandemic and I believe deserve more attention.
• 
  2020-07-15

  Tips for Managing Anxiety in the Midst of COVID-19

  A blog post from Banner Health about managing stress and anxiety during Covid-19.
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  2021-10-06

  Vet Visit During the Pandemic

  My dog has her yearly vet appointment coming up and this arrived in the mail. It says clients must stay outside and someone from the office will collect your pet. That's fine but when you have a giant 80 pound dog full of anxiety like I do, it isn't going to be an east task for them. Previously, one person was allowed to sit and wait while their pet received treatment because they spaced out their appointments accordingly and it wasn't an extremely busy place anyway. The room where the pets go for their check-ups was pretty close to the door so I would always talk to my dog to calm her down. I won't be able to do that for this visit and it's making me anxious because I know my dog will be upset. This is the vet's procedure and we have to follow it no matter our feelings. I know she'll be okay but it still makes me nervous.
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  2020-04-13

  Mental Health and the Covid-19 Pandemic

  Uncertain prognoses, looming severe shortages of resources for testing and treatment and for protecting responders and health care providers from infection, imposition of unfamiliar public health measures that infringe on personal freedoms, large and growing financial losses, and conflicting messages from authorities are among the major stressors that undoubtedly will contribute to widespread emotional distress and increased risk for psychiatric illness associated with Covid-19. Health care providers have an important role in addressing these emotional outcomes as part of the pandemic response.
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  2021-10-06

  COVID-19 and the Family Divide

  My submission details the drastic shift in the lives of the family unit after the emergence of the novel coronavirus, COVID-19. It is important for me to discuss the pandemic's effects within the household as they pertain to internal religio-political affairs.
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  2021-10-06

  Moving from Turkey to the United States During a Pandemic

  This story describes moving a family from Antalya, Turkey to the United States during the pandemic of 2020/2021. It attempts to enlighten the reader to the types of issues people are dealing with and how it can change a person and reveal who people are.
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  2021-10-05

  Pandemic 2020

  The pandemic affected many of our day to day lives. To start off it isolated us from socializing with friends, family, coworkers and others. It restricted us from doing our normal daily activities and routines. It made us miss important events and milestones that we can’t take back. For me the pandemic was very difficult, although the pandemic has not ended, the start of the pandemic was the biggest hardship. To start off, I had just started a new job that required me to help others get through the pandemic. I was assisting about 12 dr offices in scheduling patients. This was overwhelming to say the least and caused stress and anxiety. Many of us were facing challenges that can be stressful, overwhelming, and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Public health actions, such as social distancing, were necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19, but that could make us feel isolated and lonely and could increase stress and anxiety. I know for me it was very hard not to be around my family. I’m very close with my family and not being able to see them and hang out with them definitely took a toll on me. For starters I was not able to be in the delivery room with my sister who was pregnant at the time and I was not able to meet my niece in person for months. The first time I met her was through FaceTime, which was not the same as being able to hold my first niece. Adults struggled adapting to new social routines—from choosing to skip in person gatherings, to consistently wearing masks in public. Daily activities that one would normally do were taken. For me my daily activity was the gym and with the pandemic it caused a shut down and once it reopened it was difficult to adjust to the new “normal”.
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  2020-05-01

  Antibody Testing at the University of Arizona

  The University of Arizona offered antibody testing in April and May 2020 to a limited number of community members. The goal was to get a better idea of how many people had already been infected with COVID without realizing it. I signed up for the test which was located at the new Arizona football practice field. This was my first time venturing out of the house since everything shut down and it was a surreal experience, being on campus but not seeing anyone walking around. The university is usually full of people with lots of energy. It was also uncomfortable being around people in the testing site because I had avoided being around anyone other than my immediate family since March.
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  2020-03-28

  Life During A Pandemic

  Personal experience during the Covid-19
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  2020-04-03

  Light to the Darkness

  This picture I'm submitting is a picture of the rosary I've had hanging on the headboard of my bed since when I had covid. On April 3, 2020 I woke up to have some banana pancakes and my tea and discovered I couldn't taste anything and then tried to smell my perfumes and couldn't smell anything either. I knew it was covid. I was afraid and at night I'd cry and be anxious to the point where my anxiety made it hard to breathe and would think it was because of the virus. It was then that I realized my faith lacked. I got out of bed and went to get that rosary hanging with the rest that my mom had and I started praying. For the next couple of days leading to Easter Sunday, I'd pray and feel comfort knowing I had my rosary there. It made my days with the virus, bearable. A year and a half later, I still have my rosary hanging there. It has helped make everyday bearable and reminds me to continue having faith.
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  2021-09-24

  Mert Erden interviews Danny Rollo about Living Through COVID-19

  The contributor of this item did not include verbal or written consent. We attempted to contact contributor (or interviewee if possible) to get consent, but got no response or had incomplete contact information. We can not allow this interview to be listened to without consent but felt the metadata is important. The recording and transcript are retained by the archive and not public. Should you wish to listen to audio file reach out to the archive and we will attempt to get consent.
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  2021-09-23

  Advika Chaudhari and Matthew Bonfanti Oral History, 2021/09/23

  This is important because it provides the experience of students who had to adapt to several changes during the pandemic who may have had different experiences.
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  2021-09-09

  Lockdown Life with a Whippet

  Here in Victoria Australia, our pandemic experience has been easier than most. We live in a regional area and we have not had the angst of the long ongoing harsh lockdowns experienced by Metropolitan Melbourne . However going in and out of lockdown, hearing about growing exposure sites and increasing Delta virus numbers is disturbing and anxious making. The one constancy in our lockdown lives, is Pip the Whippet. Walking, sleeping, eating and loving is all she does. In lockdown her daily taste was to go into the local cafe and bring cheer to the Barista while my husband waited to pick up our takeaway coffees. Attached is a picture of Pip the Whippet waiting for our take away coffees. She has been a ray of sunshine in our lives at this point in time, and wearing her hound tee has brought a smile to all, as we progress through this, the strangest of times.
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  2021-09-17

  Sabrina Sakata and Emily Fink Oral History, 2021/09/17

  This audio interview shows how my friend, Emily Fink, and I have experienced the pandemic and how it has affected us.
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  2021-09-16

  How I Adapted

  Starting a new chapter in your life can always be a little stressful simply because of the new change it brings. Coming from a farming county, I had just begun becoming comfortable moving into a big city during my freshman year of college. Second semester rolled around and out of nowhere COVID-19 immediately impacted my life. My once comfortable lifestyle I have adapted to in the big city changed back to my home where I started online classes. This was quite unusual because I had never taken any online classes and found myself struggling to learn from a screen rather than in-person classes. Weeks went by where I struggled to pay attention and succeed in the “classroom”. Although challenging, I adapted to something unfamiliar in my life and found my niche to succeed in a new environment once again. Adapting to something new can certainly be challenging for people. COVID taught people to adapt to something new in their lives. It brought people together in the community in ways that I had not thought possible. One example of this is when I found out my grandma of 88 years of age became ill with COVID. It was an unfortunate event for my family that took a toll on all of us when we first heard about the news. It became real. Real enough to worry, real enough to take action. Real enough to show the importance of family in times of pain and struggle. Our family had to adapt to my grandmother’s lifestyle for the next couple of months. This meant no big grandma hugs for 5 months until her body recovered from this foreign virus. This took some getting used to as I had not realized the real impact of COVID and perhaps did not see it as dangerous as I thought. Again, I adapted. I adapted to realize that the people around you can make situations like this less painstakingly hard. The comfort and prayers received from family and friends made it comforting to know people cared and were there for me and my family. COVID was something that impacted everyone in different ways. Just remember people listen and people are there.
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  2020-04-03

  Coronavirus: Managing Your Mental Health

  A blog post from Banner Health about managing mental health during Coronavirus
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  2020-03-24

  How to Talk to Your Kids About Coronavirus

  A blog post from Banner Health Blog about talking to children about Coronavirus and the pandemic.
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  2020-03-20

  Managing Anxiety in Uncertain Times: Tips for Individuals and Families

  A blog postfrom the Banner Health Blog about managing anxiety during Covid-19