As the pandemic worsens and several people grow tired of following instructions, now isn’t the time to give up. According to health experts, “Covid fatigue” contribute to the spike in positive cases in recent months.
Instead of socially distanced outdoor gatherings, people may be tempted to escape the cold and spend the winter indoors with their family members. Some are growing weary of following specific guidelines and wearing masks.
Wendy Keller of the Behavioral Health Services of the Hudson Valley, based in New York, describes COVID fatigue’s phenomenon of how someone might talk about running a country marathon.
“It’s like we saw the finish line. And now we realize there’s a spike, and another wave is coming,” she said. “And we don’t want to believe that.”
Finding healthy options to activities we once took comfort in as we see a spike in cases, experts say.
Keller said, “Pandemic fatigue is not about people wanting to be idiots. It’s not about people wanting to hurt other people. It’s about denial and fear and desperately longing for something comforting.”
The newness of these changes- distancing six feet from others, wearing masks and washing hands- has worn off. The adrenalin that kept reduction strategies intact is replaced by stress and anxiety.
Between being unable to see an end in sight and being isolated, many crave normalcy. But when we stop enduring that drive and go for what would provide comfort, we begin seeing spike in cases.
Dr. Mark Kittleson, the chairman of public health at New York Medical College, said, “It’s important to remember that cases we see now are the outcome of maybe a month or two ago.”
“We’re craving to go back to the things that are known to us, rather than live in fear and accept that we’re still in danger,” Keller said.
