COVID-19 has taken toll on mental health

There are few who doubt the COVID-19 pandemic has taken its toll on the nation and the world as a whole.

The physical toll? Well, that’s pretty obvious. In the United States alone, 700,000 people have died of the disease and millions more around the world. That’s not even counting the millions battling long-term side effects from the disease — also known as “long haulers.”

The economic toll? That’s pretty obvious, too. Because of lockdowns and other restrictions, the economy hit a nosedive that arguably was one of the worst since the Great Depression. Even now, many businesses have not recovered and businesses also are struggling to find workers in many cases.

However, there is one effect of the pandemic that is not as obvious, but might be every bit as brutal and intense. I’m talking about the toll the COVID-19 pandemic has taken on mental and emotional health.

Believe me, I have firsthand knowledge of that.

Because of my own health issues (I am obese and may or may not be diabetic) and the health issues of others in my immediate family (age, obesity and/or diabetes), I spent roughly a year from March 2020 until March of this year on a virtual self-imposed lockdown. I did not go out to eat in any restaurants, I did not attend sporting events (other than a handful I covered for work) and I spent a big chunk of last fall and last winter getting my groceries exclusively via curbside pickup.

After leaving self-imposed lockdown in March because I had received both doses of the COVID-19 vaccine, I ended up going back on self-imposed lockdown roughly two or three months ago because of the Delta variant surge. Hopefully, now that I have received my third shot/booster, I can start to ease that lockdown a little bit. Maybe.

The good news is that I did not get sick and die from COVID-19. That’s good — after all, that was the purpose of my lockdown.

The bad news is that it has taken a major toll on my mental health. While I have battled depression on and off since I was in college in the late 1990s, it has arguably been much worse the last year and a half.

And I’m not the only one whose mental and emotional health has been put under strain the last year and a half.

The suicide rate has increased, as has the rate of murder and other violent crimes. There are few people who think that is a coincidence. While there is pretty strong evidence that lockdowns and other medications have reduced the death rate and the physical toll of COVID-19, the toll those lockdowns have taken on mental and emotional health has been overlooked by many.

On one hand, I think there are too many that want no precautions or mitigations whatsoever. That approach does not take into account the physical toll of this pandemic.

On the other hand, I think there are also too many who would be perfectly content if lockdowns had been in effect since the start of the pandemic with no relaxation. That approach ignores the mental and emotional toll of this pandemic.

The last 19-plus months have been hard on all of us in one way or another. One of the best things all of us can do is to take care of ourselves. Physically, that means getting vaccinated and taking appropriate precautions. But in doing so, don’t neglect your mental health and emotional health.

It’s a tough balance to find, but it’s one we all need.

Mike Buhler is a staff writer for the Daily American Republic. Contact him at mbuhler.dar@gmail.com.