K-State professor says each individual has their own ‘facts’ related to pandemic
MANHATTAN – Americans are cautiously approaching this summer with hopes that the worst of the COVID-19 pandemic is in the rear-view mirror, but a Kansas State University professor says there is still much that needs to be done to heal from the effects of the worst public health crisis in more than 100 years.
“This pandemic has been filled with change, loss, some grief and some positive things,” said Elaine Johannes, the Kansas Health Foundation Distinguished Professor of Community Health at K-State. “So, the meaning of what has happened really needs to be our focus now. The meaning helps us understand how, mentally, we move toward the recovery phase.”
Over the past 16 months, Johannes has talked publicly on such topics as resilience, mental health, the pandemic’s impact on children and families, and more. For more than two decades, she has worked in mental health, well-being and helping people to understand and recover from many kinds of trauma.
“We’ve been through a disaster,” Johannes said. “The pandemic has created crisis and stress…Now we are in the recovery mode.”
In March, the American Psychological Association released a report titled Stress in America that indicated 46% of Americans are not comfortable going back to living life the way they did before the pandemic.
Johannes said each individual should consider four points to keep in mind when making decisions on how much of their former life they are going to return to. They include:
●Acknowledge that we’re unsure. It’s okay to feel unsure, and maybe even afraid.
●Tolerate the uncertainty. Be willing to talk about your unique experience of living through a pandemic, maybe even with a little bit of pride. Johannes quotes former Pres. Harry S. Truman who once said that the reward of suffering is experience. “Own that experience,” Johannes said. “Though we’ve made it through some really tough times, we now will learn to tolerate the uncertainty. We’re a tough group and we’ve learned from this.”
●Take it easy. Acclimate slowly to return to life’s activities. Decide what you will resume doing and maybe things that you don’t want to continue. “Maybe there were relationships that weren’t healthy before the pandemic; this may be a good reason to let them go,” Johannes said. “As we re-enter life, take time to reflect what is good and what is not.”
●Re-focus on the facts. The reality of the pandemic is different for each person because we all experienced the pandemic uniquely. “We do that by telling our stories (to others) and acknowledging we that we had some difficulty, but yet we are a community supporting each other.”
“These four parts of re-entry will help get us to recovery,” Johannes said. “They can help us adapt, gain control, reflect and eventually get ahead.”
Johannes also noted that adults should make an effort to help children recover. Many youth may seem resilient, but helping them fully reflect on their experience and move ahead is important in building healthy attitudes that prepare them for future disasters.
“There is another disaster heading our way (at some point in the future),” Johannes said. “It may not be a pandemic, but it could be a fire or flood or something else, man-made or natural.”
Some adults or children may need professional help to fully recover. In any case, Johannes said, we should acknowledge those people in our families, household, work environment and other places may need our support. It could be as simple as asking, ‘How are you doing?’
The American Psychological Association also has mental health first aid resources online to help.
“It’s a mental health process,” Johannes said, “but it’s also a process to keep us going as a society.”
Two interviews with Johannes on the mental health aspects of living through and recovering from the pandemic are available on the weekly radio program, Sound Living, produced by K-State Research and Extension.
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