October 2020: The Critical Importance of Psychotherapy

The critical importance of psychotherapy has become especially clear during the Covid-19 pandemic. In the US alone at least 209,600 have died, according to a New York Times database on October 5th, 2020. Those can be dry statistics that create numbness as we spin the daily news. Yet these seemingly empty numbers reflect the deaths of babies, adolescents, young and old and their families who feel the unbearable pain of loss in their hearts. There are the many thousands of people who became ill and had to isolate without loved ones either at home or in the hospital while they suffered through pneumonia and worse.

Our President and his wife were confirmed positive for Covid-19 on Oct 2, 2020. Due to his falsifications regarding risks, disseminating misinformation about the disease, his refusal to implement safe practices, which include wearing a mask, and social distancing, rather he promoted activities that encouraged others to congregate in close proximity defying all established safe practices. He thumbed his cocky nose at scientific evidence resulting in disastrous consequences.

Lives are not statistics as each person has a story: regardless of age or circumstance; their lives are held hostage by a disease with, for some, lifetime effects. Or death. Now the President, flaunting his stupidity, has been bitten by the venomous snake of his own making.  There will again be a coverup, lies and deceit as to progression of events leading to his Covid-19 diagnosis. All his corrupt practices we have endure but in the face of the pandemic, his lies have costs us everything.

Psychological Pain of the Pandemic

There has been extreme stress throughout his presidency that have added to the effects of the pandemic: the extreme isolation that endures month after month; the fallout of loss of jobs, loss of institutions we counted on; the feeling of chaos has heightened. Research cardiologists at the Cleveland Clinic have referred to “broken-heart syndrome as “stress cardiomyopathy” and have found significant increase during the pandemic: from 1.7 percent pre-pandemic to 7.8 percent between March and April 30., 2020. The symptoms of stress cardiomyopathy are chest pain, and shortness of breath that can mimic a heart attack. (AARP Bulletin, September 2020) Please consider psychotherapy to help you weather the extreme stress of our situation.

The economic fallout borders on the Great Depression, 36 million unemployed as of May 18, 2020. Again, these sound like dry statistics, yet each is attached to a human being who is panicked, filled with chronic anxiety, without resources, and a sense of security as she faces the dread of being unable to feed her family. Many are losing health insurance and homes as the economy craters.

I opened the NY Times May, 17, 2020, and saw a quote from a doctor on the front lines. Dr Mark Rosenberg, chairman of the emergency department at St. Joseph’s Health in Paterson, N.J. said: “There is a wave of depression, letdown, true PTSD and a feeling of not caring anymore that is coming.” The article is entitled I Can’t Turn My Brain Off —As Medical Workers Bear the Unbearable, the Burnout Is Smoldering. Doctors, nurses, medical aids, first responders are holding up the healthcare system as waves of critically ill people fall into their hands. They are struggling not just with lack of equipment, testing and other failures of the system but are desperate for psychological help. Some have committed suicide. Now more than ever we must lean into psychotherapy to help those on the front lines (Hoffman, May 2020).

The Cost of Emotional Trauma

The population has been in shelter-in-place mode and only recently have areas opened up in selective ways.  These individuals have been struggling with profound feelings of isolation, loneliness, and longing for contact as physical proximity, hugging and relaxed interactions are not allowed except for within your pod. Social distancing and masks further emphasize distance. Those in couples and families are tense, stress shows in fits of anger and irritability and domestic violence is increasing. Elders are lost and goodbyes are never spoken except at rare times when a nurse holds an iPad in front of a dying face.

Some families are enjoying the time of togetherness and that is a good thing. But stress, tensions and exhaustion are the norm.

The fear of getting the virus panics many and reveals itself in a myriad of ways from compulsive rituals to panic attacks at night to repetitive thoughts about the day and what one touched.

Vigilante groups are on the prowl with rifles representing the margins that are defending the freedom to open up. Gun violence, a chapter in my book, rears its ugly head along with extremist fanatism from the fringes of society that are more legitimized in the current political situation.

Many defy the odds of getting sick, become angry and refuse to wear masks while risking lives as they flaunt the limits.

Young people are suffering from heart failure—a severe inflammatory reaction. Symptoms multiply and mutate into newer versions one more lethal than the next.  Most survive but not without challenging physical and psychological trauma. Most organ systems are undermined and we have no idea of the duration of impact.

Importance of Psychotherapy for Recovery

We need guidance and this book can help you and your loved ones find the therapist’s door or utilize the ubiquitous telehealth option. We are all here to offer our services and keep you safe.

We need hope and a transformational paradigm that therapy can bring, promoting solace, presence even in the face of disaster. There are many survivors of the holocaust that demonstrate grit and endurance, the 1918 influenza survivors gleam in the sun. Therapy diminishes anger, helplessness, despair and anguish while fostering resilience. We face the demons realistically while bringing the best of ourselves forward in challenging times. This book will help more people get good therapy and work through the hard times ahead.

References:

AARP Bulletin. (2020, September). Vol 61/No.7. https://www.aarp.org/bulletin/

Hoffman, Jan. 2020, May 16). ‘I Can’t Turn My Brain Off —As Medical Workers Bear the Unbearable, the Burnout Is Smoldering. NY Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/16/health/coronavirus-ptsd-medical-workers.html

New York Times. (2020, October 5). Covid in the U.S.: Latest Map and Case Count. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/us/coronavirus-us-cases.html