COVID-19 & PTSD

“Stay home and stay safe!” That’s the Governor’s mantra, and isn’t that what all of us with PTSD have been trying to do all along? We stay home whenever we can! We isolate ourselves in hopes of staying safe. She didn’t have to tell us twice! Social distancing is a way of life we have been familiar with for years. We prefer to have people stay six feet away; we’re even happier if the distance increases! The coping mechanisms for surviving COVID-19 haven’t had the same impact on our lives as the rest of society. This is our normal way of existing.

I wonder if having the virus might not, in some cases at least, lead to the development of PTSD? After all, it is a war of sorts, and with the virus, you are in a battle for your life, aren’t you? Will a new form of PTSD come from this? Will individuals flashback to their struggle to live, then adopt all the survival techniques we are so familiar with, like isolating, social distancing, and worrying that the virus is still out there and may strike again? I wonder if there aren’t a whole lot more people struggling with PTSD today related to having had the coronavirus? So much that’s been said about the virus has been framed in terms of us being in a war. It’s worth considering.