As post-lockdown normalcy returns, virus stress a worry

Jun. 9--As the state slowly re-opens after the COVID-19-pandemic-related shutdown and people get back to work in closer proximity to others, psychological effects of the past several weeks may make themselves known.

Isolation, fear of testing positive for the coronavirus, loss of work, essential workers' risk of being exposed -- all could cause trauma, short- or long-term, including Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.

"It usually relates to some sort of traumatic experience," Diane Knaebe, president of Memorial Behavioral Health, said of PTSD. "It could be from a house fire, when there's a death, or when you yourself have been in a horrific accident. For example, first responders in New York or healthcare workers here, on the front lines."

PTSD is known for affecting military personnel and veterans, but the disorder isn't limited to those who have seen combat, Knaebe said.

Signs of PTSD include anxiety, depression and having a hard time adjusting to a work environment or another public space, such as a doctor's office.

"It can be normal for one to two months for people to be traumatized ... trauma doesn't necessarily mean we're all going to have PTSD," Knaebe said. "But, six to 12 months down the road -- even when things are back to normal -- could be a concern."

PTSD is not considered a mental illness, though anxiety and depression are.

"However, PTSD can cause those illnesses to rise ... they can be similar," Knaebe said.

Trauma and PTSD can hit each person differently.

"It's the triggering of the reaction," she said.

Sexual abuse, violent crimes and experiencing natural disasters are other examples of PTSD-triggering experiences.

"For example, when someone hears a siren," she said.

Post-COVID-19, people could develop a fear of being trapped or isolated again, but the timeline for each person could be different, Knaebe said.

Derek Bennett, 49, of Jacksonville has been diagnosed with PTSD; he had been living with it for years without realizing what it was. It took his diagnosis to make him feel like he wasn't just going crazy.

"PTSD casts a wide net," Bennett said. "It's so different for each individual."

Bennett was living in Nashville, Tennessee, in 1996 when someone shot at him 16 times. The bullets missed, the memories not so much.

"I see his face at night, every night," Bennett said of the would-be shooter. "I truly believe that, if I had been hit, PTSD wouldn't have been this bad for me."

Until he was diagnosed, Bennett didn't know what he could do to help himself work through the panic attacks, claustrophobia, depression and self-isolation.

"I still get them now," he said. "Since I was diagnosed, I feel like there's a light at the end of the hallway ... when I do experience them, I have to get to an open space."

Bennett worries that, as people begin to come out of isolation and try to get back to their pre-pandemic normal way of life, they won't recognize that it could be a struggle.

"You don't have to be shot at have this," he said. "PTSD has a low bar to get into this club."

Bennett is able to tailor his therapy and finds martial arts, particularly Brazilian jiu-jitsu, works for him, he said.

Education also helps him, he said, noting he also has access to medications.

"I use medications as needed, but it's not my go-to," he said.

When dealing with trauma or PTSD, listening to lively, happy music; being outside and walking in nature are great ways to deal with symptoms such as anxiety or depression, Knaebe said.

"Literally, shake it up a little," she said. "Nature, especially if you can walk in the woods or sit somewhere next to a brook and listen to the water ... movement of any kind is helpful."

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Help is available for those dealing with mental health issues. The Warm Line can be reached at 866-359-7953; a Crisis Text Line is available by texting "home" to 741741; Memorial Health System offers its Emotional Support Line at 217-588-5509; and the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline operates 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255.

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