This pandemic has created a situational problem I call Quarantine Depression.
It is much worse than feeling stir-crazy, sad and blue during a winter’s cabin fever. The lack of physical contact we must endure and experience for an extended period of time could result in a deep sense of loneliness. Groups of people we depend upon for support, celebration, and nurturing are not going to meet as we are accustomed. Even extended families and friends are discouraged from gathering.
All over the world, people creating virtual gatherings.
We are told to practice almost unbearable social distancing. Recently, Rabbi Moshe Scheiner of Palm Beach Synagogue broadcast a short video on FaceBook called Don't practice SOCIAL distancing! Practice PHYSICAL distancing! He says that “now is a time to be socially engaged and helpful with one another. Physical distancing, absolutely. Social distancing, never. This is the spirit with which we will all get through this together...better than ever.”
I love how clearly he communicates the importance of connecting in these hard times of change. Those who fail to remain socially engaged face critical suffering. But even as the spectre of depression becomes incontrovertible, the fact remains that each of us can be resilient.
Depression is something with which I am pretty familiar. My professional counseling career and personal experience with depression is extensive. To start off, it is important to know that feeling depressed is not clinical depression. What we might feel related to being more isolated from hunkering down is quite different than the chronic psychological disorder. It does not necessarily require medication intervention, but rather, calls for resilient behavioral, spiritual, and emotional changes in order to alleviate it. Letha Warden, Psychologist and Law Enforcement Crisis Chaplain of Brownwood, Texas recently published a very thorough Guide to Social Distancing for ChaplainUSA.org. It gives timely and important measures for all of us to follow. The problem with any kind of depression is that it can escalate into desperate feelings of hopelessness. Many mental health professionals are worried about increasing rates of suicide ideation.
Richard Rohr wrote that “We’re not pushing the panic button. We ARE the panic button.” His point is well taken. None of us has experienced such a uniquely unsure and distressing time as this one. When things feel like they are beyond personal control and power, it eats away at our serenity. Instead of pushing a legitimate panic button we become the catalyst of that panic. What we do and say will impact how we feel. The good news is that we have charge and command of our words and actions. When we exercise that ability we are building resilience.
Resilience is the ability to adapt and bounce back. Becoming a resilient source of calm strength and composure sends a critical internal message as well as a signal to everyone else that we can overcome hard times. We create a kind of resilient zone where we can clearly think through options and make rational decisions. We are neither reactive nor impulsive. Quarantine Depression need not win the day. We are not alone. God walks beside us, in front of us, behind us, and within us.
Austin Fleming (The Concord Pastor) offers this little prayer for us; "Deepen my trust in your presence, Lord. Restore my faith in your power and strengthen my will to do all I can to make my way, with the help of your grace, to a time of healing and health."