The Pandemic and the Lockdown
The Covid-19 pandemic, and the lockdowns that seemed to have no end in sight – this two things are enough to send even the toughest mind into depression.
When schools closed because of the pandemic, I secretly celebrated. Yes, I’m a horrible person, I know. But to my defense, I wasn’t celebrating because people are getting sick and/or dying but because I’m a lazy student that hated going to school. Also, it's because I’m ignorant and thought that the lockdown would only last for a week or so.
Oh, how wrong I was…
At first the lockdown was great. And although I couldn’t go out as easily as before; I also no longer need wake up very early every single day. I could stay up all night to browse the internet, play games, and watch movies, etc. without having to worry about going to school the next day. It was a blast – at least for the first few months.
Of course being on a lockup at home doesn’t mean that my education have to stop. Online classes were scheduled as compensation for the fact that we couldn’t go to school personally. And although I found it a bit troublesome, it wasn’t so bad.
So like I said previously, the first few months of the lockdown were a blast (for me) being the only downside (that I could think of that time) was the fact that I couldn’t go out to socialize with my friends – not really a big deal considering that I’m sort of an introvert that’s not too fond of socializing.
Yes, I’m an introverted kind of guy. That said I have friends which I enjoy hanging with from time to time. After all I’m an introvert not a loner.
But as the months passes by the novelty of being stuck at home with nothing to do finally wear off. The games and movies I used to enjoy so much no longer seemed as fun as it used to be. What’s more surprising though was the fact that I actually started miss going to school!
Truth be told; I never thought that there would be a day that I’ll think that it'll be great to wake up early in the morning and go to school. But a day like that did actually come.
As days passes by with no news if the lockdown will ever be lift up, I could feel the depression sinking in. Many of the activities that I used to enjoy like online gaming, binge watching movies and television shows, and reading online novels no longer gives me satisfaction.
Only then did I realized that although I didn't caught covid, I have caught depression. I also know that I needed to do something quickly, or I’ll end badly for me.
Seeking Professional Help…
Oftentimes, the best way to cure depression was to seek help before things gets worse. And that’s exactly what I did.
The first people I approached for help were obviously my parents. But as supportive as they were, they couldn’t really help me with my problem. As such, they seek help from a relative who happened to be a psychiatrist.
But before I continue though, I would like to clear one thing – I haven’t lost my mind. Yes, I was depressed but not insane.
I’m aware that there’s a misconception that only people with mental issue need to see a psychiatrist which is false. There’s nothing wrong with normal people seeking a psychiatrist. On the contrary, it’s actually recommended that we see a psychiatrist from time to time to avoid developing a mental illness.
After all, life’s very stressful, and one of the best ways to combat the stress of life was to talk to someone – especially a professional who could not only listen to our problem but give advice as well.
So anyway, I spoke to my relative about my issue via ZOOM. And after listening to me close to an hour, he gave me a few advices. One of which was to actually go out and see my friends. Yeah, he basically wants me to go out and socialize, the one thing I haven’t done since the pandemic.
As most of you would have expected, I was conflicted, unsure if I should follow his advice. After all, one of the reason we’re having this damn lockdown in the first place was to prevent the spread of the virus.
Since he’s acting as my psychiatrist, I could only tell him my concern. I explain to him that I don’t feel comfortable going out these days because the pandemic seemed to be worsening, especially with news of the new variant.
My relative smiled and told me that the pandemic is not as bad as the news tries to convey. He also told me that I should be fine as long as I take proper precautions and follow the social distancing guidelines. Also, it’s not like he’s telling me to see my friends all at once as I could just visit them one by one.
So after thinking about it for two days, I finally decided to bite the bullet and went out to visit them. Following my psychiatrist’s advice, I contacted them first via Messenger before visiting so as to give them ample time to prepare. After all I want to reduce the risk of possible infection as much as possible.
As most of my friends live at the same city (but different towns) visiting them all in a single day is just not possible. But since I don’t have too many friends in the same city (I limit the visit to the same city where I live to reduce the risk further), it only took me two days to visit them all.
I won’t bore you guys with what I’ve discussed with my friends as most of it is just some random stuff not worth mentioning. I will tell you though that to my pleasant surprise, the “treatment” that my psychiatrist suggested worked a lot better than I had anticipated.
Yes, I got better. That said I won’t say that I have totally escaped my depression as I probably didn’t. After all the source of my depression were the pandemic and the lockdown. So for my depression to go away for good, the lockdown must end.
Lesson Learned
Although it was very difficult for the depression to go away,but I was able to be able to cope alot better... Aside from that, I also learned some very important lessons from that experience. One of which was to never ignore depression. That’s because the more we ignore our depression, the worse it’ll haunt us.
Another lesson that I learned was the importance of human contact. Whether a person is an extrovert or an introvert, both needed to bond and interact with another human being. There’s no escaping this fact. After all humans are social creatures, and the need for bonding is ingrained deeply into our genes.