It’s important to keep in mind that post-traumatic stress is really a NORMAL reaction to an abnormal situation. The pandemic has hit everyone in the world, quite unexpectedly and at a rapid rate. No one has enough time to process or prepare for it before the nationwide and global lockdown. And if you have been infected or your family members were infected, you probably have just gone through a physical and emotional battle. Recovering from the physical infection is just one level of healing; many who have been infected or their family members were stigmatized and lost their privacy through social media. It can be very painful to reconnect socially if you have been targeted or ostracized by your own community for being associated with COVID-19. This happens every day, globally. So if you were feeling traumatized, you are probably NORMAL.
There is also something called secondary traumatic stress, which is a common occupational hazard among the frontliners – this could be healthcare professionals, case workers or therapists who have been working long hours treating or witnessing and listening to people who have been traumatized by COVID-19. Many healthcare professionals have to separate with their own families and some may have even lost their fellow colleagues who were infected. The sense of trauma and grief may not hit so quickly during the acute survival phase, but as the crisis gradually eases, more physical and emotional symptoms may emerge, which are signs that it’s time to seek support and healing for yourselves.
Just as how we would deal with any traumatic experiences in our lives, we must first grieve. This means we will have to allow ourselves to feel bitter, sad, angry and fearful for as long as we need. Feelings come up so that they can be released. If we do not allow them to surface, then they would keep harassing us by becoming louder and louder, making us suicidal even, until and unless we pay attention to them.
It might be very scary to do this grief work by yourself. Look for a friend or mentor with good listening skills, or hire a professional psychotherapist who can help you process your grief and trauma in a deeper way, so you can begin to heal and experience post-traumatic growth.