The ones who didn’t test positive will never understand what pandemic fatigue is about! Each morning when you switch on the news channel or browse through your social media profile, you will read about how people are trying to cope with the COVID-19 infection. Even though people follow rules of social distancing and wearing a mask in public, they face other challenges.
People who have been affected by the virus will eventually get recovered. But what will stay back for a while is the exhaustion and total burnout. They might not feel like working, or even if they work, they would want to call it a day at the earliest. However, there are times when fatigue sets in, even when people don’t get infected by the virus. If you face this, go no further to detect what it is – you are a classic case of pandemic fatigue.
Some people thought that the vaccine could be the cure for this! But no one can say anything for sure. It is because the vaccine might prevent a person from contracting the virus and lessen the suffering.
It can only be determined if it can remove all the scopes of the pandemic fatigue as our immune systems function differently. That doesn’t mean you shouldn’t get vaccinated, thinking it will restrict your freedom. According to a recent poll by MyBioSource, 36% of people in Alaska and 61% in Georgia believe that the vaccine doesn’t affect individual freedom.
Understanding pandemic fatigue
As the virus attacks and waves were on the rise, most people felt it was safe to remain home and bring down the spread of the virus. And today, when we look at the present, the initial urgency calmed down a bit.
Pandemic fatigue is the true feeling of tiredness as an outcome of the pandemic’s impact on our lives. From following the quarantine rules to the lost jobs, there is plenty one has to manage. It is difficult to comprehend, but all these factors have an essential role in the pandemic fatigue and impact how we respond to the situation around us.
According to the leading psychiatrists, a little we learned from the earlier quarantines and the available research is that you can predict a few patterns for people. People often say that the news is getting overbearing and ignore it altogether. Many become very tense; they all get angry and snap at small things together. Some people get depressed and anxious as well. All these feelings can enable a person to bend a few rules and downplay the present risks.
Managing pandemic fatigue – The way to go about it
Things will not turn out for the worse now that the virus continuously mutates and will be here with us longer than we imagined. It can get challenging for you to move out of the state of mind that you are experiencing. The concern is how to take your pandemic seriously when you cannot cope well.
Most patients are stressed out more than ever. The challenge here is they aren’t able to make use of ordinary coping mechanisms. Simple coping mechanisms are available for entertainment, exercise, and similar activities. The truth is that humans need to take care of themselves mentally, physically, and emotionally.
Learning to acknowledge the feelings
At times, it can appear that things will never get better. But that doesn’t mean you have to bury all your feelings. Identifying the blockages, you are feeling and your suppressed thoughts are necessary. Once you do that, you can start addressing it by writing or sharing it with a therapist or a friend. It will enable you to manage your thoughts better and reduce your anxiety.
Reframing the overall thinking
Chances are you feel that your life is restricted. It could be that you don’t wish to stay home anymore and keep wearing a mask as and when needed. Here it would help if you took the time to reframe your thoughts. Know that adhering to specific protocols can help you stay safe and not incur any breakthrough infection.
Address the physical health
Even though it’s true that stress and anxiety can lead to mental and physical fatigue, but still, you need to opt-in for medical intervention when there is a need. At times, you might prove to be asymptomatic or have the virus infection in a mild amount, which can result in extreme tiredness.
Take time to get in touch with a doctor, get the medical tests done and follow a protocol that will help you to heal the physical symptoms so that it doesn’t lead to any other ailment.
Pandemic fatigue is different for different people. You need to address what ails you and pay heed to your recovery process. Visit the doctor at the earliest.
