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“come on ,” she said, a little too loudly. “you’re vaccinated, i’m vaccinated… (teeth) what’s the big deal?”
i was reassured of this later in the day when my hair stylist called to let me know she was reopening her shop. “your spikey hair is about to get a revival,” she chirped happily. her and i have a long history of wild colours, shaved masterpieces and self-designed hairstyles. and though i booked the appointment, i knew it wouldn’t be for spikes. or colour. or self-designed anything. in fact, i was going to only get a trim . basically, the look i am going for is the same pandemic hair, only without the split ends.
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the american psychological association recently released a study on coronavirus stress, reporting that “nearly half of americans (49 per cent) said they feel uneasy about adjusting to in-person interaction once the pandemic ends,” while 46 per cent said “they didn’t feel comfortable going back to living life like they used to before the pandemic.”
in a story in the globe and mail by adrienne matei , dr. alain brunet says he expects to see people experiencing adjustment disorders, a stress-related condition that can cause intrusive thoughts, difficulty concentrating and anxiety, among other things.
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“an adjustment disorder is like a little brother of post-traumatic stress disorder (ptsd),” says brunet , who studies the effects of traumatic stress on mental health at the mcgill university-affiliated douglas research centre. “it’s essentially a series of anxious and depressive symptoms that people might develop as a result of being exposed to a stressful but non-traumatic event.”
basically, if you have an adjustment disorder, you have trouble adapting to some kind of normal after a period of intense stress, even when the stressful thing is over. so instead of feeling relief, you continue to feel the same negative emotions and thoughts. it’s not comfortable, for sure, but according dr. mimi winsberg, cofounder and chief medical officer of brightside , a mental health telemedicine service, symptoms are usually temporary.
“unlike clinical depression, which does not require a reason or stressful life event to be associated with it, what triggers adjustment disorder will, in most cases, eventually come to an end,” she writes for fast company .”but reminding yourself that we will get to the other side of this can greatly help your mental state.” she does note however, that some people with adjustment disorder go on to experience clinical anxiety or depression. (if you are worried, brightside has a free scoring tool to help you evaluate your symptoms.)
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if you are finding that your pandemic recovery pendulum needs a bit of encouragement to swing in the right direction, there are a few things you can do, according to the experts , to smooth the transition, like set boundaries with friends and families (ya, mom), keep talking your feelings out, either with trusted friends or a professional, and be good to your body — eat well, get enough sleep and exercise. oh, and maybe get a funky hair cut.
