Please, Take Care of Yourself.
By: Kennedy Montecue
Tags: Health, Mental Illness, Self Care, Mental Health, Covid 19

At this moment in time, I feel angry, anxious, and a bit frustrated. I seriously thought that we’d be on the mend by June, but I personally think that was me putting too much faith in humanity. I know there are people making a strong effort to stop the spread of this horrible virus that’s taking the lives of so many by not going out if it’s not essential, nor hanging out with those not in their households and staying away from pubic places without masks. But there are others in this world that act like this world isn’t in a state of emergency.

The reality is life will not be like it was pre-covid19 and those who keep acting like everything’s fine are the reason we’re falling back into the worst tier on the west coast.

What also angers me is the media showing only people around the ages of 18–35 out partying and acting like they have no moral compass or compassion for other’s well-being is not only repulsive but telling a half-truth.

I’ve seen more and more people way older than the ages the media is showing not covering up, having get-together’s, and being totally oblivious to the reality of our lives today.

When I was in my early 20’s, I had a clear moral compass and knew that I could die. I am not God nor some super-human being that could live forever. I thought about life often and how fragile it was. I often thought to myself that with one false judgment or move, it could be over for me.

It pains me to watch the news and see how privileged people think they are when it comes down to having to wear a mask. No one has the right to infect people. So in some ways, you can say many are killing people for the sake of wanting their “rights” and “freedom,” which in my opinion, is an evil way of thinking and being.

I wish more people thought about the many nurses, scientists, and Doctors that are risking their health and lives every single day to protect and save ours. Or even people like me that have an autoimmune disease that doesn’t get the privilege of a healthy system that can fight sicknesses off as well as many young people.

As for so many alike, the reality of right now has taken a huge toll on my mental health. My depression has spiked and I have been feeling more alone than I ever have in my adult life. Feelings of past traumas have come forth in my brain again even after all the therapy and coping skills I’ve learned and used to help deal with it.

I know this year is only but a second in time, two years from now, we’re going to look back and remember all of this madness and it will be a distant memory. But for now, while we’re in the thick of it and it seems like this will never end, please take care of yourself.

If you need to call someone or see their face on zoom or google hangout, please have them make time to do so. Make an appointment with your therapist as much as your wallet and insurance can afford or as much as you need.

But also, please give yourself a moment to breathe. No one in our generation has ever experienced something like this. This is new, strange, and scary for all of us, so the best thing to do is turn off the news, Twitter, or however you digest your media and rest your mind.

Try to keep yourself busy by watching a ton of different movies, read books that you wouldn’t necessarily read if you didn’t have all this time, or maybe try to learn a new language; my goal is to be advanced french at least by June 2021 which keeps me pretty busy for a few hours at a time.

Even though it feels like this time will never end, I believe we’ll get through this. We just have to take it one day at a time.