Quarantine Depression Part 1
While we have lived with Quarantine for almost a year of our lives now, its longevity doesn’t make the experience any less stressful or draining. The ability to sit down at a restaurant for a meal, to watch a movie with a bucket of popcorn at a movie theater, or even to gather around a candle-lit birthday cake to sing Happy Birthday to each other, all seemed like such natural pleasures of life that remain out of reach for us today. The unexpected and the enduring loss of our way of life can undoubtedly influence our mental health, and some of us may be experiencing Quarantine Depression as a result.
Depression can look different for everyone. Some people may be ‘high functioning’ while experiencing Depression, whereas others of us may find Depression debilitating in different areas of life. High functioning Depression might look like extremely low moods or feelings of sadness, and yet performing at a high level at work, or going above and beyond meeting the needs of your family. Debilitating Depression might leave you feeling so exhausted and drained, it’s a huge achievement if you’ve been able to get out of bed and brush your teeth in the morning. No matter how Depression manifests for you, it is a very real companion for many of us during Quarantine, and it’s important to address it in order to pursue total wellness and health.
First, what does Quarantine Depression look like?
Most notably, Depression can affect our mood. Some common emotional states associated with Depression are feelings of sadness, hopelessness, emptiness, and tearfulness. Maybe we’re more irritable than usual, or feeling easily annoyed. We might be quick to be frustrated and snap at our partners, and generally feel agitated throughout the day. Depression can also affect our mood by taking away joy or interest in the things that used to bring us happiness. If you used to enjoy going for walks around your neighborhood with your kids and lately don’t find that appealing at all, that might be Depression popping up in your life. Quarantine Depression may also drain you of your energy - so the things that used to seem really easy or routine for you, like brushing your teeth or getting properly dressed in the morning, may seem like monumental hurdles.
Quarantine Depression can affect your body in physical ways too. Our sleep, for example, is an easy target for Depression. Whether it’s difficulty falling asleep, staying asleep, or getting too much sleep, if during Quarantine you find that you are sleeping significantly more or less than usual and your sleep patterns have been disrupted, that might be Depression in your life. In addition to sleep, Depression can affect our physical bodies by increasing or diminishing your appetite. Some weight gain to a change in lifestyle is absolutely normal, but if you’ve experienced significant weight changes during Quarantine, or find that you are not relating to food in a healthy way, that might be something to pay attention to.
Quarantine Depression can affect our thoughts too. Depression may lead to excessive self blaming for things out of our control, or an overt fixation on perceived failures in the past. Taking appropriate accountability for our responsibilities is healthy - but blaming ourselves for everything that happens is an unnecessary judgment and punishment of ourselves. Depression can also sound like negative thoughts about yourself. Thoughts like “I am a failure”, “nobody likes me”, and “I’m worthless” might be Depression talking to you. And if in general, you experience difficulty concentrating and your thinking seems slow and muddied, that might also be Depression interfering with your thought processes.
Lastly, Depression can show up somatically in our bodies, especially for those of us who may find it difficult to be attuned to the state of our wellbeing. In order to be noticed, Depression might manifest as body aches, back pain, headaches, irritable bowel syndrome, and the like. And of course, any thoughts of suicide or hurting yourself can be telltale signs of Depression.
Of course, this is not an exhaustive list of what Depression looks like, and they might be tied to different causes rather than Depression. But if you related to any of these possibilities, make sure to come back next week to learn what you can do about it.
If you are having thoughts of suicide or hurting yourself, please call 911 or a hotline, like the Access and Crisis Line at 888-724-7240.