Crisis burnout

[Greg44]

I have a family member who lives north of Salt Lake City where they had a 5.7 earthquake. They previously had lived in Southern CA, so they are no strangers to earth quakes. Though she said this one felt stronger because the center was just 10 miles away. They still maintain an apartment NW of Los Angeles and travel back and forth for work. They had to be evacuated the summer due to the wild fires from both their homes once while in UT and once in CA.

Of course then add the corona-virus to that, she texted today and said she was experiencing crisis burnout.

I thought of our own family. Daughter's work has closed down for 14 days. Multiple teachers in our immediate family whose schools have closed until the end of April. Another family member their business has decided to work in shifts - he now works from 1:30 - 10:00 pm. A big change from 6:30 am, so not as many people together at the same time. etc etc. So many changes, all happening so quickly. Church services cancelled. Summer wedding planning. Elderly parents requiring more attention.

Couple that with the ever changing news and non-stop updates, it has become almost exhausting. How are people coping? What are you doing to reduce the stress?

[Gardnr]

And that's a smallish one. I remember the Idaho 6.9 and it wasn't publicized well because, well, it's Idaho and no one was killed. I watched the floor crack in our brand new Operating Room!

There is a gigantic fault through this part of the country. It's just not known outside of our region.

Coping? I am a quilter, a knitter and it's creative and soothing. I love to read. And it looks like I can get into the garden this weekend and start prepping.

I recommend: music https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-kIH...ature=youtu.be

Yoga: https://www.self.com/story/best-youtube-yoga-channels

Her strength will come from within. I would stay away from people in chaos when possible. And stop watching news reading only updates/instructions from the workplace.

Tammy is a psych practitioner. I'm sure she will chime in when she has a few minutes.

[iris lilies]

Focus on what is essential and what belongs to you. Let the rest float away.

Those who suddenly have no income— that is crises that must be addressed.Most other things here in your list are not your direct problems. I certainly feel sorry for the people who experience the earthquake, wildfires, and travel back-and-forth, but that isn’t you.

[Greg44]

She said her first impression after everything settled down was that she wanted to eat! Fortunately she is thin and can afford that luxury. I look as though I have been though many crisis if you get my drift. *sigh*

[iris lilies]

She said her first impression after everything settled down was that she wanted to eat! Fortunately she is thin and can afford that luxury. I look as though I have been though many crisis if you get my drift. *sigh*

About a week ago I was vexed and “stressed” if you will at the number of people who didn’t seem to understand we were going to have to change our course for the next few weeks. So there was a lot of emailing and convincing and chatting about activities that needed to be canceled.

But now, just a week later, everyone is falling into compliance and people are “getting it” that guess what—they cannot run around like they used to. And in many many cases, that is a good thing to be celebrated.

But even during my somewhat vexing period I kept coming back to the idea that I can only control my own actions, and it is easy for me to step out of the activities that others are going forward with. It’s fine if I don’t attend. My presence is not essential.

Today I booted my foster dog outside for longer than normal while I cleaned the floor and then clean it again with bleach. Upset that he had to stay outside longer than he normally does, he whined and barked and cried. I told him, through the door, this is a time of national emergency and we all have to make some sacrifices. I reminded him that it wasn’t much of a sacrifice for him to be outside on a mild day where it wasn’t raining and he needs to just chill.

[Tammy]

Here is what I just emailed my extended family, to keep them in the loop:



Hi family!

I’m doing well - every day feels like a week at work but I come home and take care of myself and sleep well. Below is a link that we shared with our staff today about how to manage the stress of all this.

Our kids are all good too. Aaron had a few days at home and now is going to the office part time. Jesse has lots of work and they might lay some off but they say they will keep him. His company sells concessions at big stadiums also, so they are cutting corners, but the workload is still there. Drew is now 100% working from home but fully employed.

Jim is so glad he retired last summer. His work was with the convention traveling public and would have been quite risky.

Love you all

https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019...%2Fcoping.html



I’m so busy. But I come home and eat a good meal and sleep. Last night was 10 hours, the night before 6, with me waking at 4:30 with details on my mind. It just depends ... my days are a constant barrage of multitasking with lots meetings cancelled and lots of others added. Our hospital is under incident command now for all operations. We just had our first confirmed positive covid19 patient today, but not in my dept. We are in the middle of a 2 year expansion in psychiatry, and our last 4 units to open might be dedicated to covid patients who also require psychiatric care. Conditions change hourly.

Strangely, I still love my job. All I do is work and rest. Not much time for other things but then I shouldn’t really go anywhere else anyway.

[Tybee]

How are people coping? What are you doing to reduce the stress?

We haven't been real successful yet reducing the stress, but we are trying. Been trying to comfort my parents in the nursing home by phone, and in touch with administrators to keep up with how they can best be reassured, and sharing information with the social worker. Trying to be a sounding board for both kids with children, as they have been extremely stressed themselves.

Two days ago was warm enough to work in the yard and that helped me, but it snowed again today, so that was off.

We are considering a home repair project to the bathroom, replacing flooring. Figure it is a great time to do it if we can get the supplies. I worry it might stress my husband a bit more.

Restructuring my classes so that my students can accommodate all the schedule changes we have had, trying to reassure them that they will get through our class. Trying to be more patient with impatient, stressed out students, because I know how they feel! I can work at making my little corner of the universe run smoothly for them, and be flexible to help them.

For me the hardest thing is feeling like I can do nothing, as I like to help others and I like good, orderly, direction. So I am trying to find things I can do to move each situation to a slightly better place.

Trying to be positive and appreciative of people, and lose the judgmental criticism. That helps me reduce my stress, and probably theirs, too.

Staying in close touch with family helps, although none of them are really phone talkers. But making the effort.

[whisperingpines]

This is how I deal with the stress of what is going on now.....
I help those who can't help themselvesIMG_0264.jpg

[razz]

I take a daily long walk with my dog, continue my daily prayer and meditation, do daily phone checks with friends living on their own and work on projects like gardening, trimming and edging the lawn.
Mostly, for my mental health, I need to cut back on online newscasts to morning and late afternoon starting today. I have changed all that I need to do to be prepared however long this pandemic impacts my life. I am also getting into doing more of my painting and other creative pursuits.

Having DGS for company for the week has been great and all my family is in regular contact. Being realistic about what one person can do and doing it is the key. I have noticed families out doing a lot more activities with their children due to the school closure.

Whispering, please tell us more about the cute little ones in your photo.

[catherine]

I was just telling my son that this is eerily the way I felt after 9/11--a subterranean grief, where you wake up in the morning and then your heart sinks a little and you say to yourself, "oh, yeah, THIS is happening now." Not sobbing or grief-stricken--it's just "background noise" in my soul out of concern for business owners and furloughed employees and our general national loss of happy complacency.

I try not to have CNN on too much. I'm doing work from home (which I do anyway), and otherwise just transitioning back to VT from NJ. I haven't even fully unpacked yet, because I've been busy with work. But today I don't have much work to do. After that's out of the way, I'll tidy up/clean the house, order a cord of wood, and pick out paint colors. I've asked our local store if I can call in the order and then pick it up, minimizing my time out and about.