UPMC Psychiatrist: Remember The Importance Of Taking Care Of Your Mental Health
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) -- The pandemic has changed the way we grieve.
"We are no longer able to get to the funeral home, get to the gravesite, be at the bedside of our loved ones," says UPMC psychiatrist Dr. Jack Rozel. "That creates so many layers of grief."
People miss the hugs, the closeness and the rituals that add meaning.
When it comes to death, Dr. Rozel recommends coming together in a 2020 kind of way.
"Creating the emotional connections using the technology that lets us have the phone calls, the messages, the text threads, video calls with our loved ones, with our support network," Dr. Rozel said.
Grief has not only been for death but for experiences and events that were canceled or put on hold.
People grieve for lost jobs and alone time, issues he gets calls about.
"How do I process the loss of work, the loss of that structure in my life, that loss of certainty of expectations of what I was going to do next?" Rozel said.
Social distancing causes grief, too, especially for grandparents having to resort to video chats and curbside visits from family.
"We have to be especially careful for them, that we're not bringing them something (contagious)," Dr. Rozel said.
For grief to resolve, it might take a little extra patience during a pandemic.
"Most folks will get through it, maybe with a little bit more time, maybe needing more support from friends or family," says Dr. Rozel. "It may follow a different path. It may not be resolved as it would normally, both because our grieving processes are disrupted, and because there is a crisis that is still ongoing."
And while we can't touch, he recommends keeping in touch and making self-care a priority.
"Really, what we want to think about is physical distancing, but emotional connectedness," Dr. Rozel said.
"Put your own oxygen on first," he added. "Our ability to take care of others begins with our attention to taking care of ourselves."
Dr. Rozel says to give yourself some compassion and the space you need to be well.
