Ask Amy: Pandemic’s long-term effect worries reader
What’s your take?
– E. D.
Dear E.D.: Yes, people do report that the pandemic has changed them. In fact, I can hardly imagine passing through these recent years without being changed.
Your description of feeling as if you were aboard a spaceship is memorably vivid.
During the years of the pandemic, your ever-present anxiety had an effect on your body’s chemistry. Stress hormones flooding your body, without relief, can have a profound effect on your physical and mental health.
Some of the reactions and feelings you report having now would otherwise be seen as familiar signs of depression – or at least passing through a depressive phase.
I suggest that you do some research on the long-term effect of stress, and make sure you see your GP for a thorough checkup. Describe your current mental posture. Seeing a therapist could help.
My own prescription for you would be to spend as much time as possible outdoors, and to double up on your art and music – both of which are extremely healing for your soul and exceptionally good for your cognitive and mental health.
Dear Amy: About four days a week, I hang at a wonderful local coffee spot. I bring my laptop and have my regular spot.
There is one worker, “Clara,” I’ve developed a crush on. She’s, well – a ray of sunshine.
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