12/09/2021
COVID – 19 Long Term Effects & Social Change Worldwide
As we approach two years of the pandemic, the long-term effects are present already. As to the mental health issues, the life changes were beyond what many ever anticipated. Cancelling of plans, not seeing family and friends, loss of jobs and income, and children and young adults unable to attend school. The feelings of grief, stress, and anxiety in so many people were overwhelming. For the people who developed post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection, the long-term effects included fatigue, shortness of breath, difficulty concentrating, sleep disorders, fevers, anxiety, and depression. In some cases, there were other symptoms with unknown answers if they would resolve. And this list is not complete.
On either spectrum, mental health and physical health, the changes to our lives was unfolding as time marched forward. Healthcare was forced to develop new treatment plans or revise current ones to address the changes.
The amount of depression, suicides, addictions increased dramatically. So many people with no previous issues with mental health were experiencing changes in their ability to cope. Psychosis was identified as a sudden onset seen in people working from home and the increased amount of screen time. The brain was stressed to the max. Add in the parents who worked full time and then were to home school with E-learning lessons for their children. Even as the schools began to re-open, the parents were faced with the question, was this temporary, permanent or what. Childcare became an increased problem for the preschool aged children of working parents.
As we end 2021, school teachers are in the classroom but many have added responsibilities. Lack of bus drivers delays a child’s timely arrival. Custodians are scarce so some teachers are cleaning their rooms. Colleges opened but are closely monitoring Covid cases to keep education available to students. Extra-curricular activities at schools have been challenged as well.
Jobs in retail, fast food, and other places are plentiful. But not many people want to work for various reasons. Wages were increased to attempt to obtain workers. Still the hiring signage remains posted in majority of places. So, we learn to reduce our expectations when eating out, ordering take out and shopping.
Healthcare remains strongly effected by the pandemic. Emergency rooms, ICU units and other areas of the hospitals are limited. Demands for patient placement into beds and the decrease in staff is making this whole system backed up. Nurses, respiratory therapists and many other workers who are near retirement have left and there are many more to follow. Travel jobs escalated as the pay was a better option to being overworked.
These are only a few of the many side effects of the Pandemic. Society in the US and even worldwide have made changes that we may see as permanent. People have needed to shift their view points and expectations.
How will you embrace change in our world? Can you find your life manageable again?
