COVID and Mental Health Issues Continue into 2022

COVID

COVID

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to change our lives. For many, it has magnified our anxiety over potentially contracting the virus. In Chicago, mental health providers say they are also seeing an uptick in activity. They say they are seeing more patients with anxiety, depression, stress, or other issues that have been brought on or become more severe because of COVID and the consequences of the virus.

Healthcare Workers on the List of Those Impacted

Sadly, those who are the most affected by these mental health issues that have been caused or magnified by the pandemic are healthcare workers and first responders. This is because these frontline workers are caring for COVID-19 patients, which brings a huge amount of stress. The job is overwhelming at times when you consider that the case count and the number of deaths keep climbing and makes the situation look hopeless. The pandemic has brought on other stresses as well. People grieving the loss of loved ones, contact with family and friends, a job and income loss, world security, the unpredictability of the virus, and more have all added to the average person’s anxiety level.

What They Had to Say

According to Soo Lee-Samuel, MD, a child and adolescent psychiatrist at Rogers Behavioral Health, “The pandemic and all of the stressors that have happened with it have triggered new illnesses of anxiety and depression.” Although her caseload has not shown a significant increase, Lee-Samuel has seen a slight shift in the severity of mental health symptoms she has treated since COVID-19 became a major news item. She says that there appears to be more struggling for people trying to cope and that “everything that the pandemic has touched has caused a ripple effect in the stress that people are feeling.”

Some People Have Had Anxiety Rebounds

One of the most interesting things to come from the impact coronavirus has had on the mental health of many is that it has harmed individuals in recovery. The pandemic has caused people with depression, trauma, anxiety, substance abuse, or eating disorders to rebound to the point where treatment has to be repeated. The triggers that have been identified as contributing to this rebound include COVID protocols on social distancing and determining which ones are safe and which ones are not considered effective. The vagueness surrounding some of the protocols leaves room for questions, and this leads to COVID anxiety.

For those seeking personal mental health help, you can do so at private sector practices opening around the city of Chicago, like Geode Health in the Lakeview area.

The Impact on Health Care Workers

Health care workers have been identified as showing signs of many issues ranging from anxiety and depression to irritability, exhaustion, eating and sleeping disorders, family conflict, and substance abuse. According to Clifton Saper, Ph.D., “Healthcare workers tend to be self-critical and think they should be superhuman. They don’t allow themselves to be aware of or feel the anxiety that everybody feels. I’m often saying to them, ‘It’s okay to not be okay. We’re all in this together. We’re all feeling anxiety.’”

Underserved Communities Require Better Access

As for Chicago’s underserved communities, access to mental health care has become even more difficult during the pandemic. It did not go unnoticed as Chicago Mayor Lori Lightfoot did provide $1.2 million in funding to four city health organizations to spend specifically on mental health in the South and West sides. The city also increased its mental health services budget by $9.3 million to help individuals impacted by COVID-19.

However, the city continues to be underserved regarding mental health. According to DuPage Medical Group chair of psychiatry and behavioral neurosciences Ronald Wuest, MD, the problem for the underserved comes from a different source. He says many of Chicago’s psychiatrists do not accept insurance or only accept a controlled number of carriers. “Providers tend to be polarized toward well-insured individuals or the indigent. But it’s that middle range of people who may have difficulty finding the help they need.”

Help Is There, but Just within Reach

COVID-19 protocols put patients and mental health providers in touch, but typically that is in a virtual format. Social distancing has forced technology to play a bigger role, which has all but eliminated the opportunity for connections to be made on a personal level—something that helps with mental health. Technology has also removed many who do not have the tools to connect from accessing the resources they need now more than ever. Will things improve? We’ll have to wait and see.