Shakked Beery

Shakked Beery – The Wandering Jewess: Corona Thoughts about Depression and Social Fabric

By Steve

Posted on March 15, 2020

Shakked Beery – The Wandering Jewess: Corona Thoughts about Depression and Social Fabric

Social isolation and lack of occupation aggravate depression. If you have a tendency for depression, as I do, plan your new routine tightly and wisely, to stop yourself from sinking. Eat right, exercise daily, drill on projects, communicate with loved ones as much as possible.
We can all use as much social interaction as we can get these days. Simply text “hey” or just give an old friend a call. I guarantee we’ll all get a friendly smile back. The connection and love between us, even when we are forced to stay apart, is our biggest resource of strength.

This is a very honest, yet hard one. I’ve been thinking about it a lot today and decided to share it in case my thoughts might benefit others.
Crisis is always hard. Our biggest resource of strength during a crisis is the love and support we get from the people around us. I remember times of war here in Israel, shells are falling, sirens taring the air and loved ones are at the front lines – the biggest comfort is the fact we are all here for one another. When we can work as a community. When we can give or get a hug from a loved one. It helps the stress, it helps you feel loved and protected. What we all are going through right now is a whole different story. Many of us go through this alone. For me, I feel the absence of the family I sadly didn’t build yet. I wish I had a spouse and kids to shield at times like these. Thinking about it makes me sad. I don’t visit my Mom who’s my current closes family because I want to shield her, she is at a risk group. Instead of sticking together which is our natural human instinct when times get hard, we are forced to isolate ourselves. Many of us aren’t working or about to stop working for a while. We are home, and some of us are alone.

So far, not great but not terrible. However, isolation and lack of occupation, are one of the strongest generators of depression. So many of us escape to our daily chores. We feel worthy and appreciated when we work when we are a part of a team when we produce something that benefits others. Stopping our routine means a temporary stop of our codependency on one another. For many of us, this will mean a potentially slippery slope into depression.
I’ve been dealing with a tendency for depression for years. I know I’m not alone in this, so many other people deal with this unpleasant situation. The solution, however, is very much individually dependent. Depression is both a cause and a consequence, for some of us, of an unhealthy lifestyle. It isn’t the entire story, I am very much aware of that, but it helps a great deal. This is why on my routine I labour hard, every day, to keep my head above water. I eat very clean and healthy, avoiding sugar and processed foods that have been known to increase depression, I exercise almost daily, and try to keep busy and engage in social interactions as much as I can tolerate. Gladly, it’s working (most of the time). Now though, things are about to change for many of us.
The lack of social interaction is hard on me. The lack of ability to develop professionally as the economy shuts down is frustrating. It is all temporary, yet I remember all too well how easy it is to slip into depression, and how hard it is to climb back out. Unfortunately, it never comes alone, it always brings friends, like overeating, self-pity, negative emotions, low motivation, and low productivity.

In an attempt to fight all of those I’ve decided to plan a careful routine, making a point of exercising on my own (even though I am such a social creature when it comes to physical activity), and finding projects long overdue to drill on.
In addition, I am going to go back to mind-exercises I use to do when I tried to train my brain to look at things in a positive way. Those of you who know me for long, know I haven’t always been so positive in my lines of thought. Every morning I make a list of 3 good things in life and try to journal half a page about one good experience that happened in the last 24 hours. It may seem silly, and nagging, and not worthwhile. I honestly wish it was, because that’s what I think when I’m offered to do things like that, and boy do I love being right. Unfortunately, sh*t works. doing this every day for 2-3 weeks does train your brain to think positively about things. Focusing on the good and the positive instead of the bad and the scary is what we need to do now.
The last thing is social interaction. I know I feel the lack of it very strongly, as I live alone and have no immediate family that lives with me. At this point, whoever’s at home with you is your company. These are the smiles you see; these are the conversations and interactions you have. We don’t give it much attention to our day-to-day life, but these things are very meaningful when it comes to our mental state. Living alone is fine for most, for me as well, but not having the option to get out and socialize is bothering.
At times like these when we are all worried and troubled, managing our mental health in the situation is important and can help us to get to the other side in good condition. Also reaching out and being there for one another is a great thing we can do.

This whole thing will soon pass. Soon we will all joke about the coronavirus baby boom, enjoy a peak in the economy and travel everywhere to make up for the lost time. But we haven’t seen the worst of it yet. Now is the time to plan carefully, act with awareness to ourselves and others, and be there for one another, from a distance. I personally am happy and available for chats, brainstorming, listening and simply catching up with old friends, as well as making new ones. Sending everyone much love from my little piece of heaven here in Tel Aviv. Keep safe and see y’all on the other side <3 <3

Shakked Beery – The Wandering Jewess