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Analysis: When all is not right with the world

Lewiston Morning Tribune - 7/20/2020

Jul. 20--Some of us have come to terms that we are experiencing a pandemic, while others are fighting that idea and the public health prescriptions for combating it.

Many of us are internally battling anxiety, depression or fear brought on by the uncertainty of living during such a time, with no end in sight.

Jamie C. Derrick has something to offer all these people. Derrick is a clinical psychologist who teaches mindfulness at the University of Idaho. Her specialization helps people come to terms with what is true in the moment and what is true inside emotionally and physically so people can become resilient with respect to the reality of the day.

Mindfulness can help a person have a grounded perspective from which to make decisions to move forward, Derrick said.

"It's really relevant to our times," she said. "People are trying to get away from the reality of how it feels to be in an historical time like this."

While some are reverting to unhealthy coping mechanisms to deal with increased anxiety, depression or fear by drinking more alcoholic beverages or avoiding decisions or tasks that need to be done, Derrick wants people to know that "being anxious and being sad about the changes and losses and uncertainty is kind of the normal human reaction to the reality of being in a pandemic."

Feelings of anxiety, fear or sadness do not have to be pushed away or rushed through, she said.

"There can be wholesome or resilient ways of showing up to negative feelings," she said. "It doesn't always have to be about numbing out or turning away from."

Mindfulness can help people deal with panic attacks, and added anxiety is normal in times like these.

American culture is in some way misleading many about the reality of the world we live in.

"We've bought the idea that we're individuals and individuals are responsible for their own outcomes and their own choices," Derrick said. "That is sort of the foundation of our culture, and it's only partially true. We're actually really, really interconnected when we stop and look at it."

Our individual choices can affect other people. For example, we rely on other people to produce food, transport it to our grocery stores and stock grocery shelves.

"We're dependent upon a chain of people for almost everything we have in our lives, and we just choose or forget to notice that that is true," Derrick said.

Mindfulness helps people realize their actions affect others and the actions of others affect them. In a pandemic, where our actions could minimize the risk of spreading a potentially deadly or debilitating virus to others, realizing we are interconnected is an important first step.

"My actions affect you, and your actions affect me, and this is a potentially life or death thing for some people, and for others very serious illness that can have not just short-term but long-term lasting consequences," Derrick said. "Choosing to do the right things for ourselves and for our neighbors and friends and family members is imperative as we go through it."

Mindfulness can help people psychologically come to terms with that reality that we are not only individuals but also interconnected and we rely on people in many ways.

"The pandemic is like guardrails on the road. We don't want to go over the edge by doing something that is really dangerous," Derrick said. "The pandemic provides boundary conditions on what can be done and what should be done safely, but we can choose which lane we are going to drive in based on a whole bunch of things that are personal considerations."

People need to find balance in the pandemic between their physical health and their need for social connection. Some people are staying home and avoiding all contact, and other people are completely ignoring the pandemic and doing what they always did before. Neither extreme is a healthy choice.

The pandemic is not going away anytime soon, and approaching it like a long-distance runner approaches a marathon, by improving endurance and resilience in light of the limitations imposed by the threat of this new deadly virus, is an area where mindfulness can help people moving forward.

"There's a certain release in it," Derrick said. "Mindfulness brings us this relief to showing up to what is and being strong and resilient in the face of it."

Wells may be contacted at mwells@lmtribune.com or (208) 848-2275.

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