Stress in the Pandemic

If you're anything like me, then you would know just how debilitating anxiety and stress can be. It is something that I have dealt with since I was ten years old and has changed the course of my life. I can't remember the last day I didn't feel like I was stuck on a hamster wheel moving nowhere.

If I am being honest, the pandemic has not been very helpful for my mental health. For me, it began as a fear of getting sick and not recovering from the unknown disease. Next, I developed a fear of spreading the disease and potentially infecting family members/friends. Then, if that wasn't enough, the social isolation I experienced led to bouts of depression and eventually panic attacks. Now, seven months later, I am still struggling with unprecedented panic attacks and more recently, social anxiety. I could speak more about these issues, but what I really wanted to touch on was this class that I am taking at my University... Stress in the Pandemic.

I joined the class because I thought it would be a great way help myself during these times andddd my favorite psychology professor is teaching it! For one of our assignments, we are completing a coping journal that touches on the topics covered in class. I have found it to be very helpful for myself and I thought I would share what I have written so far. So, in follow ups to this post, I am posting my journal entries because perhaps reading them may also help you.

I have placed the questions and outline of the journal below! ;)

COPING JOURNAL

Your major semester-long assignment is to complete a written coping journal, in which you use the scientific research we discuss to 1) identify specific strategies with the potential to help you cope with the current pandemic crisis, and 2) look back and critically assess the effectiveness of these strategies. Questions you might address in Part I of this entry include (but are not limited to):•What is the specific coping strategy you want to try out?

• With what outcome(s) do you believe this strategy might help, and on what science are you basing this belief?(Linking to a specific study is not required, but a good idea!)•How, specifically, will you implement this strategy and stick to it?• Have you ever tried something similar to this strategy before? If not, why not? If so, did it work? • How will you know if this strategy is working?(Some sort of empirical data collection/rating scale is not required, but a good idea!)• What specific challenges or obstacles do you foresee in the success of this strategy?You then need to implement the strategy! You might want to take notes as to how it goes, because sometime before the end of the next week of the course, you will need to write another entry that looks back at this strategy and offers a critical assessment of it.

•How did it go? Were you able to implement and stick to the strategy? If not, why not—what were the challenges? • Was this coping strategy effective? How can you tell?• What surprised you about the implementation and outcomes of this coping strategy?• Was there anything about this strategy that seemed inconsistent with scientific conclusions or findings that we have talked about?• Did trying this coping strategy give you anyideas for future research studies that should be conducted on this topic? If so, provide details.• Now that you have tried this strategy, would you consider continuing with it? Could it potentially be helpful with any other circumstances in your life?