Afraid Yes Powerless No

We all feel fear. We don’t all feel powerless. The way we experience this crisis is not the same, and we have power to change our response.

We are in this together. I am not alone. I can do my part.

We have the actual facts of Covid-19. It is an airborne virus that has been confirmed in more than 2.5 million people worldwide. Health professionals have some facts about how it spreads. There is no vaccine. People with compromised immune systems are more vulnerable and at risk. People can unknowingly carry the virus without having symptoms themselves. Because it is so new, there is a lot we don’t know. We don’t know what will happen to ourselves and others.

We all have an elevated level of alarm in response to this real life and death threat. This shows up as more hypervigilance in our nervous system, catastrophic thinking, anger or irritability, trouble sleeping, and disconnection from ourselves and others. We hate feeling powerless. How are you experiencing what is happening?

People in a freeze response might be binge watching Netflix. Alcohol sales are up. Domestic violence is up. Depending on where people get their information, some don’t believe there is a threat. Conspiracy theories are spreading faster than the virus.

These are all understandable trauma responses. For some people, this pandemic is…