Can't Cope With Coronavirus? Counseling Can Help

LOGANVILLE, GA — Does the threat of being infected by the new coronavirus have you stressed? You’re not alone.

“You’re having to be hypervigilant to something you can’t see,” says counselor Mandy Miller. “That’s scary.”

Miller, a licensed clinical social worker who runs the nonprofit Creative Center for Wellness in Loganville, says she’s seeing almost as many clients now as she was before shelter-in-place restrictions shut down society. She counsels most via online video. While few patients address the coronavirus pandemic directly, most clearly are affected by it.

“If you’re talking about a system that’s already stressed, this just adds more stress to it,” Miller says.

Surprisingly, not everyone is struggling through the pandemic. Miller divides her patients into three groups: some who’ve actually thrived from family contact, some whose anxiety has skyrocketed, and some who are philosophical about it. “We’ve got better, we’ve got worse, we’ve got ‘eh, life’” she says with a laugh.

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Some children especially are doing well, in part because of being removed from a chaotic classroom, and in part because of more time with mom and dad.

But mom and dad — who now have to be “therapist and teacher and parent” — don’t always share the joy, Miller says. Her sessions with parents may be “the only time they are getting a break from their child.”

Even that video meeting for work you just joined can be a source of stress, Miller says, because studies have shown that people connect with each other biologically as well as visually. One study, for example, showed that a group of people who watch a horror movie report feeling more fear if they watch it together than if they watch it separately.

“We have a physical impact on each other,” Miller says. “We’re expecting to have an experience when we connect, but it’s dampened by the distance.”

If you recognize yourself here, call a therapist. Most of the major insurance companies have waived copays for counseling during the pandemic, Miller says. In addition, the Creative Center for Wellness — as well as many other therapists — offers a sliding fee scale according to one’s income and family size for those who are uninsured or underinsured.

Miller’s best advice to those stressed is to connect with your anxiety, own it and accept it. “Acknowledge that it’s scary but recognize that it’s just a moment in time,” she says.

Then, take a deep breath and pace yourself.

“A lot of the conversation in politics and the media has been about the next two weeks or the next month,” Miller says. “But when we look at what the science says, the reality is this is going to be more of a marathon than a sprint. It’s OK to take a break today. It’s OK for me to relax today. This is a marathon.”

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