COVID Fatigue

I bet I don’t have to define or describe my title, do I? My guess is that every single one of you out there is feeling some amount of weariness from this pandemic.  This topic has started creeping into the media discussions, so we know that makes it a real deal!

This next statement is going to sound a bit weird or “out there” but bear with me as I flesh out the idea.  Back in March when things first started to get serious, I felt a heightened sense of adventure or intrigue or even an adrenaline rush as I processed the pandemic news. Of course it wasn’t an exciting sense of adventure or intrigue – more of an ominous one!

It definitely felt like a big deal and I figured I would batten down the hatches, do my every-six-day trip to the grocery store with the other “old people” and we’d all get to the other side of this “crisis adventure” by summertime.

Anyone with me on this?  Maybe not the adventure part, but at least the sense that we could deal with whatever this threw at us over the short-term. And I believe we all found positives in those early days such as more family time, appreciation for the teachers, the freedom of working from home and lots of other personal “upsides” for each of us.  I even wrote a blog post about that back in April.

But now it’s September and I, for one, am not feeling the adventure, intrigue or adrenalin rush any longer. I’m weary of this pandemic and all that it has taken from my life and the lives of my friends, including death of loved ones. I don’t see a clear path to its elimination and that makes it hard to foster a sunny disposition. Some of the “positives” from earlier don’t even look as good now!

To a certain degree, it feels like we have “paid our dues” and we should be getting back to our ORIGINAL normal any day now.

People across the board are feeling the weight of the LENGTH of the pandemic. It’s becoming cumulative and the mental health of many people is likely heading towards discouragement or even depression.  Not a pretty picture, is it?

Before I look at how to best deal with this dire outlook, I want to draw a parallel between the relentless outlook of this pandemic and one of the realities of suffering a deep loss.

Here’s the parallel I want to draw. In the early days after my losses, I felt that my mind and emotions were somewhat tied up with dealing with the immediate. The immediate tasks that needed to be done. The immediate emotional self-care. The immediate “what does my life look like now?” discussions. Etc. Etc.

And in some ways, it looked like the early days after the pandemic hit us. Certainly not a sense of adventure, but I’d say the adrenalin was definitely higher!  Overall, I dealt with the grief as the crisis it was.

Then as time passed and the reality of the loss began to settle into my soul, I found myself realizing that this loss was PERMANENT!  Of course, I knew that, but I hadn’t really faced it head-on in those early days. Now I had to acknowledge that my loved one wasn’t coming back. I could grieve this loss for the rest of my life. This wasn’t just a crisis anymore. This was a long-haul issue.

Sound familiar? While the pandemic still has some crisis elements associated with it, hasn’t it taken on a whole different flavor lately? It’s now nearly fall and there’s no end in sight. It, too, has become a long-haul issue.

I wondered if the lessons I’ve learned about dealing with my long-haul grieving could also be applied to this long-haul pandemic and associated emotions. Maybe we could all apply them to our lives during the pandemic.

Here are the coping parallels I discovered:

• Acknowledge the difficulty of the situation. Pretending it doesn’t exist or isn’t really THAT bad may not serve you well. We’re just grieving different things. But there is grief associated with the pandemic just as there is with the loss of a loved one.  You don’t have to sugarcoat it.
• Look for the blessings. I know, working from home isn’t the blessing it used to be! But there are surely some changes in your life that are positive. Maybe even just a greater appreciation for the things you used to take for granted. Surviving the loss of a loved one virtually demands that we look for how God continues to bless us. Otherwise it’s a dangerous spiral downward.
• Be cautious about over–exposure. I’ve talked about this before, but try to limit how much news you take in about the pandemic. Yes, stay informed, but don’t be a news junkie on this topic. It can only make you feel worse. With a loved one’s death, yes, grieve the loss, but don’t stay in your pity party for days and days.
• Talk to someone! When the dire outlook of the pandemic becomes too much for you, consider talking it through with someone you trust. It could be a spouse or a good friend, but it could also be a counselor or a pastor. Don’t be ashamed that you’re struggling through this. These are some MAJOR changes in our lives. The uncertainty alone can be enough to cause feelings of helplessness. Ditto for grieving the loss of a loved one.
• Reach out to others. One of the very best antidotes for discouragement is to find ways to bless others. If you have enough gas left in your tank, then look for someone who needs you to bless them through this pandemic. Likely we can all find someone struggling with it more deeply. Even reaching out in the midst of our grief can take the edge off our pain.
• Remember Who is on the throne. Undergirding all the practical advice is the fact that God is still in charge; he’s not surprised by any of this; he knows the outcome and what our future holds. And maybe most importantly, he loves us and will walk through it with us. Ditto again for grieving.

I hope and pray that some of these suggestions will be helpful for you as we continue to deal with COVID fatigue. If you’re not struggling with it, then find someone who is and be a blessing to them!

Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God.

And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:6-7