Resources & Publications
Blog

Ways To Mentally Cope With The Coronavirus

Tips from Clinical Psychologist Dr. Judith Zackson you might find helpful while social distancing, quarantining, and self-isolating during the coronavirus. “A pandemic or any other kind of trauma is a wake-up call that invites us to consider what is most important to us. Many of us are realizing how much we valued the opportunity to…

Ways To Mentally Cope With The Coronavirus

Tips from Clinical Psychologist Dr. Judith Zackson you might find helpful while social distancing, quarantining, and self-isolating during the coronavirus.

“A pandemic or any other kind of trauma is a wake-up call that invites us to consider what is most important to us. Many of us are realizing how much we valued the opportunity to spend time with friends, family and colleagues in-person now that we are separated. We are struggling to find the same amount of meaning and fulfillment in our relationships that we did when we could connect with people face-to-face.”

The Impact of Traumatic Events

PTSD is a disorder that is triggered by witnessing or experiencing a traumatic event. Historically, the psychological problems of soldiers returning from war (the American civil war, World War I, World War II, and the Korean war) were called “soldier’s heart,” “shell shock,” “combat fatigue,” or “Post Vietnam syndrome.” Those who served in combat would come home feeling distressed and anxious, suffering from flashbacks, nightmares, and a sense of detachment that interfered with their daily lives. In 1980, PTSD was officially recognized as a distinct diagnosis and added to the American Psychiatric Association’s Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM).

Opinion: Helping anxious teens cope with pandemic and increase resilience

By Dr. Judith Zackson | May 22, 2020 Imagine being confined at home while — developmentally, as an adolescent — trying to assert independence, bond with peers and gain distance from parents. Imagine, as a teen, facing stressors such as prolonged periods of uncertainty, fear of infection, annoyance and boredom, lack of in-person interactions with…