Coping With Covid-19 & Domestic Burden

In the last month or so, I have been reading so much, not only books but also a variety of interesting articles. This habit makes my mind wanting to expand, to comment on, to share what is going on, and as we have common issues- the most evident that we are at home most of the time- I realized  that for many people this have become a “domestic burden.”

These are times when changes happening in the few months are part of a world phenomenon. Before this crisis many have spent most of the days outside home, but it is difficult to feel “locked” in the domestic surroundings.

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What is Your Family Made of?

There are many families at this time that are home together for the longest they have ever been together. There are many people who are finding out just what their families are made of – good, bad and ugly. Through the difficult moments we are facing today with Covid-19, it’s important to focus our attention on the things we can control. 

While you are at home with your family, this may be the perfect time to stop and take a pulse on how your family is functioning. I mean, really being honest and considering your family and individual strengths and the features you can take time to work on in order to become even stronger.

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Social-Isolation: Using Hygge To Care For Yourself

In the past couple of weeks, Canada and the world have gone through a constantly shifting experience. I kept my eye on the news as new information seemed to come at us hour-by-hour, from general sanitary recommendations all the way up to social-distancing and self-isolation. To date, this has brought new eye-opening experiences as well as many new stressors.

One experience that may be impactful is the stress of being in self-isolation. During this time, we may be struggling with changes to our routine, the feeling of disconnection with others, extended proximity to others, or even struggling with the uncertainty of how long we may be in this experience.

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COVID-19: Some Thoughts by Psychotherapist Mark Laing

As a psychotherapist, I see many people struggling to deal with the day to day stressors, worries and concerns. They struggle to stay emotionally intact and find it difficult to make decisions. They are often further injured by well meaning but poorly informed people who suggest they should think happy thoughts and just “let it go.”

As I watch the conversation on social media, I see under the current new stressor of the Corona Virus, people responding in similar ways. There appears to be a polarization that is becoming much more divisive. On the one side you have those who are minimizing this pandemic saying the media is exaggerating this virus and that this is no big deal. On the other side are those in great panic struggling to stay emotionally intact and making panicked decisions.

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How to Survive Being at Home (Dealing with the threat of COVID-19)

We are facing a situation this generation has never had to face: staying at home for long periods of time with family – terrifying.  At Christmas, as soon as the holiday is over the malls and theatres are jammed with people trying to find something to do besides be alone with each other.  Now, over the next month families are being forced to spend more time with each other at home than ever before since all outings are encouraged to be kept to a minimal.  

This means we will be spending the next month in close quarters with the very people who have a gift for getting on each others’ nerves.  Hospitals might be filling up for reasons other than the virus: (child looking at brother) “I don’t think his leg should be bent that way… maybe I shouldn’t have pushed him down the stairs.”

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Covid-19 & Healthy Anxiety

Several weeks ago my wife was at a baby shower for her sister and two days later she woke up in the middle of the night with the flu (I’m assuming you know how we figured that out).  Later that day, we found out her sister, brother-in-law, and mom all ended up with it along with seven others from the party. This was a particularly nasty flu that lasted longer than the usual 24 hours.  While my wife was sick, I helped where I could, but basically continued on with my life almost as if I was impenetrable. 

Our two year old daughter soon caught it (that was an unpleasant discovery), but I remained healthy.  I’ve always been a good hand washer (like we all should be) and became a little cocky about how I was able to not get sick… guess who was proven wrong?

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