Covid 19’s Impact on Families and Mental Health in the Gorge.
Covid 19’s Impact on Families and Mental Health in the Gorge.
By: Hanna Carnes -
Originally Published: October 13, 2020
March 13, 2020 was a life-altering day for the entire U.S. population. It started towards the end of December 2019, with a simple report of a new virus detected in Wuhan, China. Soon the news reports were addressing the spread of this virus as it travelled to new countries, and eventually throughout the world. On March 11, 2020, the virus grew into a pandemic. Shortly this was followed by March 13, 2020, when President Donald Trump declared a national state of emergency.
At this point, for students, their two day escape from school (depending on what schools had already closed) became a six month period of trials and tribulations from home. Per order by Gov. Kate Brown, all Oregon schools were to close. This includes 177 public schools between North Wasco County, Hood River County, and Multnomah County. This means thousands of students had to start learning from home, and more importantly, adapt to a new everyday way of life.
In 2020, mental health is more prevalent than ever before. It’s becoming more and more regular to figure out our emotions and needs, and how to handle them, Therapy is normalized, and even encouraged. During these times, anxiety and depression statistics have skyrocketed, as the population is faced with the unknown, and their own mortality.
When asked what may be causing initial panic or fear, LCSW Nicole Ford explained “The whole world is in a new position, and people have started to focus on their mortality.” referring to the possibly deadly pandemic.
While these feelings are happening, students also have to worry about still passing their classes. Zoom, an online video conferencing platform has helped make “distanced learning” possible.
Here you can see the increase of downloads following the start of the pandemic and school/work closures
Zoom has become useful to those who also have to work and maintain careers from home. Unfortunately not all have this luxury. Following the initial announcement of the pandemic in March, unemployment rates spiked in April. According to Federal Reserve Economic Data (FRED) the unemployment rate was at 14.7% in Wasco County, 15.9% in Multnomah County, and 14.2 % in Hood River County as of April of 2020. To put things into perspective, The highest unemployment rate before this in Wasco county was at 13.8% in January of 1993. 15.3% for Hood River County in March of 1997. Currently, as of September, Wasco County is at 6.6%, Hood River County is at 5%, and Multnomah County is at 8.7%.
Wasco County unemployment rates throughout the years
Hood River County unemployment rates throughout the years
Multnomah County unemployment rates through the years
As mentioned earlier, this has all brought in a great deal of anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. In a socially distanced, over the phone interview with Nicole, several points were addressed. When asked about the impact the pandemic may have on our brains and futures, Her overall response that this is a major struggle and growth opportunity.
“Mental health was the first to go” She stated. While most clients kept their appointments with her, just switching to at home methods of communication, Nicole explained that feelings of financial worry immerged. “When stress levels go up, coping skills go down.” People were also being faced with a virus that could potentially be harmful or deadly to anyone. Nicole explained this to be a “universal call to pause” in relation to the whole world being affected. “A chance to go inward when discomfort comes up. Everyone on this planet is facing the same thing in the big picture.” She then went on to discuss the importance of working through this and really looking to ourselves, to self soothe and build a model for those who may need it. “Luckily, human brains evolve slowly” she stated when asked if generations to come may be different due to this. She did mention that “the long term impact will be greater than the effects of the virus itself.”
Humans are social creatures, and she speculated that those growing and living in this time will be affected simply due to lack of socialization. The reasoning behind this is that while it's good for our minds to mingle, socialization also helps build immune health. Young kids grow up around other children, going to school, and constantly being around each other, and right now we don’t have that.
Moving onto the subject of role models, and kids in school, we get the take from Chris Pothier, and his family. Both him and his wife are self employed as an artist and a photographer, and currently working from home. Throughout the pandemic, Chris mentioned that there wasn’t necessarily as much disruption as anticipated by many others. In relation to careers, he stated “I think for most people, it has been difficult… my business (artist) has taken a huge economic hit… but I think we are not alone in this and there is a certain sense of camaraderie in going through bad times together”. In their home life, in regards to adapting, distanced learning has been a small challenge, but nothing life ending. “We have three children… one in college, one in high school and one in middle school… i would say that, in general, distance learning is a challenge… our children are pretty independent so, other than reminding them about their work, we don’t participate much in their day to day schooling… plus, my wife and i work from home already, so we are pretty used to the home/work/school shuffle”. Overall, Chris explained that they already lived a pretty simple life, and the pandemic has pretty much just brought maskes, and an opportunity for them to grow their own food. “I’d say the only thing we’ve changed is wearing masks… and not going to restaurants as much… but we usually do not eat out that much…. So, other than the mask issue, things are pretty similar. We have adapted by learning how to preserve the food we grow… be economical in our resource use, etc.”
During the interview, Chris said “I think the pandemic has taken a toll on emotional aspect of all of us… being cooped up inside for long periods of time creates a feeling of being caged” and while Chris and Nicole did not interact at all, she in a way offered a resonance to this challenge many may be facing with a simple ending note. “Use this time to find comfort within yourself and go within yourself to heal. Get comfortable with the unknown, and you’ll learn to conquer anything, truly.”
