We Need to Look After One Another’s Mental Health During This Pandemic

Social distancing can easily lead to social isolation — a potential contributor to mental health issues.

Photo by Dustin Belt on Unsplash

I am feeling a lot of fear right now and it’s not because of the possibility of contracting COVID-19, it’s because of the possibility of my mental health deteriorating to a point which is unmanageable. I’m worried that I’m going to return to some of the dark places in my mind that I frequented when Clinically Depressed five years ago.

I am currently doing my best to be socially distant from the world, something which required no effort to do when I was Clinically Depressed, but now that I’m not it’s a whole lot harder.

I can’t deny that social distancing is the logical approach to suppressing this pandemic and savings lives. But the trouble with logic is that it doesn’t take into account emotions and emotions play a big part in mental health.

In my efforts to abide by social distancing and do my bit to help humanity, I am distancing myself from all of the things that have helped me to overcome my mental health issues in the past:

Going to public places every day and mixing with other people, striking up conversations with strangers, smiling at those who…