Community resilience is the key to getting through this pandemic. Only through togetherness, can we achieve any hope of recovering the global trauma the entire world is currently facing. Unfortunately, we cannot unify in our approach, due to the very literal focus on social isolation to protect our loved ones, our colleagues, our friends, community members, ourselves, and the rest of the world.
Social isolation is the psychological crutch that breeds a future of fear, anger, and resentment as it now becomes necessary to our survival. In isolation we are safe, but we are alone. Over time, we are not safe to ourselves in isolation as coping strategies become over depleted and we begin to question the stability of our mental health. Humankind is designed to be socially connected. We rely on each other to find and share resources, to provide emotional supports, and to make deep and meaningful connections as expressions of love. In solitude, we lose our ability to empathize and understand each other’s suffering as we focus on our individual needs and go into survival mode. This is completely fair, but not useful to a community as a whole. At some point, we need to check in with our neighbors and the most vulnerable members in our communities to see how they are coping. While we may be struggling, others may be struggling even more. This is relevant if we wish to move forward from this trauma as now more than ever, we need to support each other to move ahead.
At this point in the pandemic, we need to reconsider our approach to resilience so by the time more of us realize this is a global trauma we are facing, the rest of us can start building supports for those who need them most as more people become plagued with exhaustion and increasing mental health needs.
This trauma is going to bring changes that we are not prepared for such as increased levels of anxiety, changes in our brain development, difficulty understanding and expressing our emotions, lack of understanding social cues and how to socialize, poor self-regulation with behaviors, decreased physical health, and increased mental health illnesses. These changes will last for a very long time and may pass to future generations until someone has the strength to say, “no”.
The key to resilience is recognition and we need to recognize that we are facing trauma and we have choices to make. We need to consider if we are going to allow our fears and forced isolation to be stronger than our desire to get through this pandemic. Or, are we going to accept the situation as it is and find distractions to keep our minds busy as we focus on solutions needed now, and in the future for when this terrible trauma will eventually, end. I can say from experience that without a shadow of a doubt, many will not recover easily. Many may not recover in this lifetime. Unfortunately, this is the type of trauma that will follow us intergenerationally for years and the only way to stop the cycle of pain it will bring is to decide to make a stand now or at some point when you/we can find the strength.
To be resilient is to exercise the ability to focus on our strengths as individuals, and as a community. A strength-based approach will shift the focus from “what is wrong with us” to “what has happened to us”. Our resilience depends on our ability to cope with our traumas but also to express empathy for those who cannot cope. We are responsible to support those who have difficulties with coping just as much as we are responsible for our coping. We also need to understand that some may need time and may even be destructive as they figure things out. We will all be coping through this trauma and after this trauma in very different ways. Understand that things will take time and relapses are bound to happen. Often when we feel our safety is in jeopardy, we will become aggressive, on the defensive, and find ways to emotionally block out the rest of the world. It is not easy feeling vulnerable and change will not happen overnight for us all.
Always remember to shift the focus to, “I am in control of my outcomes regardless of the impacts of the pandemic”. We are not our circumstance and that empowers us to break free from the chains of trauma that bind us, and we all deserve happiness.
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