Tips to Help Battle Anxiety and Depression Through a Time of Crisis

The current international crisis is mentally taxing for everyone. But those of us with mental health issues are struggling even more.

Surely everyone feels a sense of anxiety when they walk into the grocery store and see what feels like miles of empty shelves. Maybe even a little depression. For most, it’s as simple as jumping in the car and running to the next store to see what’s available. For a person with an anxiety disorder, it can take minutes or even hours before a simple decision like that is made.

As a kid growing up, I watched my single immigrant mother struggle to provide for us and make sure we were in school every day. Some of those days were better than others. The worst days sometimes coalesce into a single memory that creates panic in my mind. A panic that is heightened by the sight of empty shelves and knowing that we must acquire food to feed our kids at home.

Now, instead of shopping every two weeks, as our family is accustomed to, we are shopping every couple of days or so trying to find food to carry us for a few days at a time. People are hoarding not just toilet paper, but meats, poultry, fruits, vegetables, frozen foods, diapers, you name it, they’re hoarding it. And nothing breaks my heart more than seeing seniors or parents struggling to find what they need just to get by.

Frankly, it’s depressing.

All of the same emotions regular folks feel are amplified by volumes for those of us who struggle with mental health issues. It’s not out of the ordinary for some of us to jump from panic to depression at the drop of a hat. Especially under these circumstances. Many of us have no semblance of balance during times like this. A senior citizen struggling to find food, despite our helping them, brings on huge bouts of depression that are sometimes tough to tackle.

I am a stroke survivor. At the age of 40, I suffered a stroke that amplified all of my mental health issues into what they are today. Although I have not been able to work for several years, I do not collect disability. My job is writing. And despite what some folks may think, I’m not exactly swimming in a pool of cash. In fact, I’m about as broke as it gets.

With so much uncertainty about the near future, I lose sleep wondering about being able to survive through this crisis; about ending up homeless; about being able to eat; about caring for our kids. I’m not saying these things will happen, but our family lives dangerously close to these things because of my health. However, with anxiety and depression, it’s entirely too easy for many of us to fall into the trap of thinking like this.

It’s a cycle of thinking that’s dominating much of our lives right now. So we struggle. But what can we do to cope during these times? I put together some ideas based on how I cope with my mental illness every day that have proven to be especially helpful in the last two weeks.

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