But several months in, the tide has turned. Early on in the pandemic, that wasn’t necessarily the case: Saulsbury says numerous clients dropped out of therapy due to financial insecurity or the lack of privacy in tiny New York apartments (at least one of her patients had to conduct therapy in the bathroom). More good news: Therapy has become a bigger priority than ever. Mindfulness practices, meditation, and yoga - especially practiced first thing in the morning as a tone-setter for the inevitably stressful day ahead - help people be more present, even taking the edge off anxiety symptoms, Saulsbury says. A sense of hopeful desperation amid a complete absence of certainty is also leading people to rekindle old spiritual practices, or start new ones. "The pandemic is the great accelerant," she says, citing a strange blend of boredom and anxiety that can fast-track plans to fruition. She chalks this up to people having ongoing feelings of restlessness and being "stuck." Dowd says a crisis of this scale can enable people to pull the trigger on major life decisions they had been putting off, such as moving in with a partner, quitting a job they hate for a more satisfying one, or getting married or divorced. For example, some people are taking stock of their lives and rearranging priorities to match their values.
Ednesha Saulsbury, a therapist at Be Well Psychotherapy in New York City, reports that many of her Black clients are dealing with PTSD symptoms, anxiety, hypervigilance, and avoidance since the death of George Floyd in May.Īpologies if reading this has so far created more anxiety in your own life, but we promise, there is good news: Stress has spiked for most of us, but therapists say personal growth has too.
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