I have been sitting on this post for quite some time. To steal the most overused phrase of 2020, these are truly unprecedented times. I initially reached out to a friend to draft a contributor piece, and planned to release it this past summer. Something told me to hold onto the piece, as it did not feel like the right time to publish. I now understand why.

We have been living through a pandemic much longer than I think the average person imagined. Cases are continually on the rise, and there have been over 200,000 Covid-19 related deaths in the United States alone. The morbidity alone is scary and hard to process, but we also must factor in the long term health effects (if you are recovering from the virus) as well as the economic and social effects.

It is clear to me that our lives are far from returning to '“normal”. It is important for me to address not just our collective needs, but also our individual needs as best we can presenting the circumstances. If you are reading this, you deserve to be gentle with yourself. You have had to adjust your entire way of life these past eight months. I know that a simple blog post can not repair the hardships over this past year, but I do hope that it can help offer applicable coping skills as we prepare for the many months to come.

I have enlisted the help of a family friend, and professional counselor to provide you with tips for surviving Covid-19.

Be honest about your feelings.

Know that WHATEVER you feel is normal and natural. These are very scary times and there can be a lot of feelings coming forth and some of them may be in conflict with each other. That’s okay. Allow the feelings to come without judgment about what you “should” or “ought” to feel or believe. Validate yourself and know that all of your feelings are valid and justified. 

If possible, stick to your “normal” routine as much as possible.

If you were someone who worked out several times a week, try to maintain a modified version of that. Continue to engage in daily routines including showering routine, bedtime routines and eating habits. Keeping some semblance of your regular routines will help to create a sense of normalcy and help you to acclimate to things once all of this is over. We tend to be creatures of habit and if you can maintain some of your habits, it may be easier to endure.  

Limit your news consumption.

Between 24/7 news channels and social media, you can literally watch news or be updated with news all day and all night, every minute of every day. While staying in the know and abreast of what is important and good, too much news can be a bad thing. Hearing disheartening or troubling news over and over, day in and day out will eventually have a negative affect on your mind. It can cause anxiety and depressive symptoms and feelings to increase. It can create a sense of hopelessness that things will never get better. This is counterproductive because the truth is, things will get better. Better does not always mean a return to how things were before. Speaking of news, please make sure that the news that you consume is not biased because news from biased sources can also contribute to difficulty in dealing as the truth is being told from a slanted angle. Be on the watch out for that. If watching news all day long is causing your anxiety to increase, set limits. Maybe it is one hour a day from a reputable news source. Maybe it is 30 minutes in the morning and 30 minutes in the evening so that the important highlights are caught without the repetition that can come from listening to the same thing over and over again.

Be mindful about the expectations that you put on yourself (and others).

Recently, I’ve seen several memes and posts on social media about how people should be using this time to start and grow business, clean and organize homes, spend lots of time with family, learn new hobbies, skills and languages. While for some, these are excellent ways to fill their time and distract themselves from what is happening, for others, it adds stress because it’s something else they are “supposed” to be doing and can trigger feelings of failure because they are not “doing” things. These memes and posts can insinuate that an individual is being “lazy” or “unproductive” if they are not doing all of these things. And that’s simply not true. Surviving each day is enough. If you can sprinkle a little something extra in, great. If not, that’s perfectly fine as well.

Give Space For Grief.

For many, the invasion of the Coronavirus has completely derailed, ruined or canceled plans. From birthday celebrations to graduations to weddings and even funerals. Be sad about the limitations that this virus has put on your life and the lives of those you love and care for. It’s sucks that family reunions, baby showers, brunches with friends and ball games with buddies are not options for connecting right now. Allow yourself to grieve and be sad and disappointed about what you can’t do and where you can’t go. If possible, reschedule the plans so that there is still something to look forward to after all of this has passed. If it’s the connections that you are missing, it’s okay to connect with those you care for through other avenues including social media, virtual meetings and conferencing software. Stay connected as much as possible even if it isn’t in a physical sense. 

Be a little ray of sunshine.

For many, there is a feeling of hopelessness because it seems like there is very little that can be done to help others. This isn’t true. There is always one thing that can be done to help someone else. Maybe you reach out to a friend or a relative to just say “hi.” Maybe you post a funny video online because it made you laugh or smile. Maybe you tip your delivery driver more than you normally would. Maybe you just tell someone “thank you” for some gesture that they did for you. A little bit of kindness goes a long way. Sprinkle what you can because every little bit helps.

Seek Counseling and Therapeutic services.

If you find that you are struggling to cope and deal and it is becoming significantly intrusive in your life, seek counseling and therapeutic services. There are many avenues for Telemental health where you do not have to go into an office and sit across from someone physically. There are apps and programs specifically designed to allow you to communicate with professionals either via text or video chat. There are also therapists who offer Telemental health services as apart of their practice. 

Things are different right now, for everyone. Please be gentle with yourself and others around you as a new “normal” is coming forth. 

-Toni Jones, LPC 

Meet the Author

Toni Jones is a professional counselor who works with her clients to recognize the impact of both their thoughts and feelings on their behaviors, identify ineffective patterns of behavior and supports them to making lasting and impactful changes through the use of effective coping skills. 

She has worked in a variety of settings including residential treatment, community outpatient, intensive family interventions, as well as through agencies that provide therapeutic services through virtual telehealth platforms. She is the founder and lead therapist of A Sound Mind Counseling, a concierge therapy agency located in Atlanta, Georgia, where her clientele includes children, adolescents, adults, and families.

Toni is a graduate of Mercer University where she obtained a Master’s in Clinical Mental Health and North Carolina A&T State University where she earned a B.S. in Elementary Education. When not in professional mode, Toni enjoys spending quality time with family, reading and cooking.

Toni Jones is a Licensed Professional Counselor. If you feel you are in need of counseling or therapeutic services visit www.asmcounseling.com or email toni@asmcounseling.com, for more information.