We have all been at the whim of this pandemic to some degree. Australia has been relatively untouched in the literal sense by the virus itself with the total deaths at 1,448. As a comparison the USA has had 751, 535 total deaths due to Covid. This story parallels a professional account of a trauma therapist in North America and my personal viewpoint of the pandemonium that has befallen us all.
Behind these four walls is a personal account of my interaction with restricted movement, social distancing, physical isolation and the shock of sudden unemployment and lack of social interaction. This is something many of us have never encountered before to such a degree before. Having had Covid myself (I think the brain fog is real) and having endured lockdowns in two countries, I felt compelled to share the fallout from this period. The immense psychological pressure has been trialling, an unprecedented form of mental Olympics that manifested in bizarre behaviours.
Rolling lockdowns and pandemic restrictions have created tension and outright chaos for many as we sought to renegotiate our day to day lives and the ongoing changes and challenges presented to us. If we hadn’t acknowledged our shadow selves before, we have all certainly experienced a dark night of the soul now. The Australian bureau of statistics reported an increase of emotional turmoil over the pandemic, ‘In June 2021, one in five (20%) Australians experienced high or very high levels of psychological distress in the last four weeks, similar to March 2021 (20%) and November 2020 (21%). The black dog institute states that common pandemic mental phenomena include panic, depression, confusion and anger at increased levels of 25% to 33% within the community.
The fallout from this period is expected to be ongoing in many facets of society in varying and unknown quantities but as Dr Pucci expresses, ‘this is a time for shift and change’. She offers us a glimpse into the mindset of many clients in North America that have had to adapt to confronting circumstances and remains positive that this period offers us a chance to renegotiate how we operate within our day to day lives and perchance decipher what we regard as valuable.
Jane BAMBI Drew 
Leave a comment