COVID-19 has been part of our everyday reality for most of 2020. If you’re over it — and feeling less up for coping with the many challenges the pandemic has created — you’re not alone.
When we thought this health crisis might last just a few months, we psyched ourselves up to cope with it, says Paul Nestadt, MD, assistant professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. “Now that we understand there’s no definitive end, that is causing widespread ‘pandemic fatigue.’”
By “pandemic fatigue,” Dr. Nestadt is referring to the exhaustion you may be feeling after months of spending extra time and energy dealing with our new pandemic lifestyle and all the struggles it’s brought on.
You may have lost loved ones or jobs. You may have missed out on experiences and life milestones, like graduations, weddings, and funerals. You may be feeling cooped up or cut off from usual hobbies or ways of socializing. You may be tired of the safety protocols that take extra time. You may be feeling tired of trying to make “good use” of this time.
“If I hear one more time that Shakespeare wrote King Lear while in quarantine during a pandemic, I’m going to lose it,” he says. It’s more likely you’re feeling worn out given the big and small strains we’re all facing.
Being mentally and physically exhausted tends to lower resilience and boost feelings of dread and helplessness. But because you’re exhausted and your ability to cope may be lowered, you’re less motivated to do anything about those negative feelings. So you end up feeling more on edge, anxious, and exhausted by all of those feelings. (It’s one of the well-known consequences of chronic stress). It’s a vicious cycle, Nestadt says.
It doesn’t help that there’s no defined endpoint for these problems. If we knew of one, we might be better able to pace our stress, he explains. “Without that, it’s just much harder.”
Continue reading this article in its entirity: Pandemic Burnout