Today I am departing from my usual blog to say that I am thinking of all my readers, who are experiencing the impact of being locked down. My wife and I are in our seventies and are in total lockdown. Counselling is part of essential services so I see some of my clients throughout the week, and it is an escape from the challenges of lockdown, which they call cocooning here in Ireland. I don’t like that word; it is a nice word for something that can be stressful!
Being deprived of freedom (of movement in this case) is a huge loss for all of us. Loss brings about a feeling of being bereaved, which means being robbed. At this time, we are robbed of our freedom, of meeting other people and interacting with them, of going to the pub or a café/restaurant. Young people cannot go to discos, night clubs, be involved in sport. So, there is loss for all of us and it varies from age group to age group.
If we look at what happens during loss, we can make better sense of how we are. When we experience loss, we feel a sense of shock, denial, disbelief, sadness, a depressed feeling and anger, to name but a few. That is why we look forward to an easing of the restrictions, but the impact of what happened will not go away easily and can leave us fearful, anxious and depressed.
The main thing is to remember that your reactions to this loss of freedom is unique and real. It is painful and can bring boredom, irritability and being short tempered. Next week I will have a look at how we might deal with our grief.
Best wishes,
Jim
