Got COVID burnout? How to cope with ongoing pandemic stress

WOOSTER – After a one-hour New Year's Eve yoga session at Flex Yoga, Sara Fuqua felt refreshed. She rolled up her mat and walked to the edge of the room where she gathered her belongings next to a friend. 

"Yoga is such a good stress reliever," said Fuqua, who has attended yoga lessons for more than one year. "I love it here, and I would definitely recommend it."

She is religious about her yoga sessions, going as often as she can make a class. It helps her stay in shape and forces her to push herself a little more each lesson, she said.

While the physical side helps burn off stress, the mental aspects of yoga have helped Fuqua battle depressive symptoms when she was stuck at home during the pandemic.

Yoga is meditative, she said. "It helps you stay in touch with your body and mind and breathing."

Attending yoga classes pushes her to be social, which also aids her fight against depression. 

While yoga isn't for everyone, Fuqua finds it helpful in a time of isolation and anxiety. Others find solace in hobbies, exercise, work and pets as ways to cope with the now nearly two-year-old pandemic.

An outbreak of depression and anxiety

Following the outbreak of COVID-19, depression and anxiety among U.S. adults spiked. The pandemic threw lives into disarray as people worked from home and children learned via a computer. 

Adults reported a jump in depressive symptoms from 8.5% before the pandemic to 27.8%, according to a study from Boston University.

A follow-up study by Boston University in 2021 shows this higher rate of depression has persisted and worsened. Now, nearly 33%, or 1 in every 3 U.S. adults report symptoms of depression, the study indicates.

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Another study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention shows the average anxiety symptoms in U.S. adults increased by 13%  between August and December of 2020.

These symptoms fell by nearly 25% in June 2021 before returning to 2020 levels during the holidays, the study reveals.

While reported symptoms were not persistent, according to this study, it shows the pandemic could give rise to anxiety and depression.

Physical and mental benefits of yoga

On the outside, yoga might look like stretching exercises, but for Andy VanDeusen, there is much more to it.

As the assistant manager at Flex Yoga, VanDeusen sees people getting something different out of the exercise each week.

He boiled yoga down to three exercises – community, challenge and relaxation.

When the pandemic first hit, Flex Yoga moved classes online. First to YouTube and then to livestreamed lessons, VanDeusen said. While Flex Yoga has returned to in-person classes, it still uses a hybrid format for those who stay at home. 

"Yoga brings people together, and it was helpful when everyone was stuck at home," he said.

VanDeusen used the terms "challenging oneself" and "uncomfortability" to express the second type of exercise they practice at Flex Yoga.

"There are benefits that I see from practicing discomfort," he said. "You can push yourself and see how long you can make a breath last or how far you can take position."

In this way, participants push their flexibility, breathing and bodies similar to how bodybuilders increase weights to build muscle.

"If you can do something that hard or push yourself that much farther, it's a confidence boost," he said. "It helps you do other things outside of yoga."

The final exercise is relaxation, which invokes aspects of mindfulness and meditation, which often helps to keep the body healthy and the mind at ease, he said.

How to cope with pandemic-induced anxiety, stress or depression 

The staff at the Counseling Center of Wayne and Holmes Counties saw worsening mental health symptoms and an increase in those with anxiety or depression as the pandemic progressed, said Dawn Carter, vice president-chief clinical officer of the center.

Carter noted that people who didn't have a mental illness developed anxiety or depression following the outbreak of COVID-19. These trends have grown as the pandemic continues without an end in sight. 

"I can only speak broadly but I think people are tired of it all," Carter said. "I think people are tired of being stressed or anxious about this virus and are just exhausted."

From greeting someone with a handshake or elbow bump to asking if family members were vaccinated for a holiday gathering, the pandemic added a layer of anxiety to most interactions, she said. 

To cope with the stress, anxiety and depression of the COVID-19 pandemic, Carter encourages people to think about what they can control. 

It's impossible to control the virus itself or how other people act, she said, but anyone can wear a mask and social distance. 

Physical activities like yoga or hobbies that allow the body and mind to decompress can also help, she said. 

"One thing that I highly encourage is for everyone to find someone they can talk to, whether it's a good day or a bad day," Carter said. 

Of course, this is easier said than done, so Carter encourages those suffering to seek help for any and all forms of anxiety, stress and depression.

To learn about what services the Counseling Center of Wayne and Holmes Counties has to offer, visit their website at www.ccwhc.org. Anyone can also call their 24-hour crisis hotline at 330-264-9029.