How to Support Everyone’s Mental Health Needs During COVID-19
“The key thing is to be able to listen carefully and not assume what it is they are dealing with,” says Dr. Alan Krohn on managing mental health during COVID-19.
The coronavirus pandemic has proven to have profound impacts on the mental health of communities across the world.
“The problem with the pandemic is that our mind can’t very well contain it.” — Dr. Alan Krohn, clinical psychologist
The crisis has brought about feelings of loss, grief, anxiety and confusion. How are individuals and communities managing this shared trauma and what can we learn from past global tragedies?
Listen: How to take care of your mental health during a pandemic.
Guest
Dr. Alan Krohn, a clinical psychologist and psychoanalyst in private practice in Ann Arbor, says that the coronavirus pandemic is unique in that it represents a complex trauma rather than a simple trauma.
“There are people who are under-worried about infection and people who are over-worried about infection.”
“With a flood, it has a beginning, a middle and an end. The problem with the pandemic is that our mind can’t very well contain it,” says Krohn. He says to expect and embrace the fact that individuals are going to have varied responses to an event like the COVID-19 pandemic. “There are people who are under-worried about infection and people who are over-worried about infection,” says Dr. Krohn. He adds that no matter the response, there are measures everyone can take to tend to their mental health.
“It’s useful to separate things that are rational when thinking about things going on in the world versus things that are not rational,” says Krohn.
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