Covid and Coping

The Covid pandemic has brought an ever-changing landscape of variants—and with each of them, new uncertainties to which we are forced to adapt. Old normal is not coming back; we have a new normal.

The challenges of adapting to an ever-changing landscape, however, are not new. They are the same challenges we have evolved to meet over time as a species. Humans have always had to adapt to changing environments provoking uncertainty, unpredictability, and threats to survival.

We know that coping has the power to reduce feelings of powerlessness and helplessness. Identifying and controlling the things that we do have power over, and figuring out how to put that knowledge into practice, is a key element. There's much all of us can learn from the model of chronic disease management.

In many ways we are fortunate that, when we first began the restrictions of lockdown in March 2020, we didn’t know what was coming. Thinking of the measures as short-term, and simply facing a crisis soon to be over, rather than a chronic state, helped us rally resources to cope. An incredible amount of support and goodwill was directed at healthcare workers, first responders, essential workers, and others on the front lines. In NYC, where I live, we rang bells and clanged pots every night at 7 pm to demonstrate our regard for the healthcare workers who were putting their lives on the line every day.

Over time, however, despite a very brief respite when we were advised we could take off our masks if inoculated, the reality of Covid spinning out variants has forced us to shift our expectations that the coronavirus might leave the planet anytime soon..

Rather than using crisis management as a model for rallying defenses, supports, and measures to deal with the Covid emergency and a quick return to normal, we are better served by using chronic Illness management as a model, at least for safeguarding our mental health.

That means making a shift in our expectations and attitudes. We need to expect periodic disruptions. Travel is one domain where the requirements—masking, social distancing, testing, proof of vaccination, even entry or departure from the location—change frequently. It is not only far more complicated now than pre-pandemic, the rules are constantly changing. At the very least, travel now demands that we build in extra time, extra costs, and itinerary flexibility.

Letting go of return-to-normal thinking that works in crisis management in view of the chronic Covid we all seem to be living with has the potential to bring us joy. One example: hosts who deal with the continuing threat of Covid not just by providing rapid antigen tests for guests so that everyone can be comfortable eating and drinking together, but by sitting with each guest for the requisite waiting period and using it as catch-up time.

Figuring out how to incorporate new requirements into our lives, rather than waiting for a return to normal because things “shouldn’t be this way,” can help use socialize and celebrate, something especially needed this holiday season.