Going crazy—or not

I recently read about a woman with anxiety, depression, and panic disorder who says she’s been doing pretty well since the virus lockdown started. “To some degree I feel like I’m conditioned for this, based on things I’ve experienced in the past,” she says. Although many people have found themselves struggling to cope, and many—if not most—people with depression and anxiety have seen their symptoms worsen, some people with those conditions have felt their symptoms alleviate.

One person whose symptoms have alleviated reports, “…when I wake up, I don’t feel as sluggish as I normally do. I find it easier to get out of bed. The intrusive thoughts that normally buzz around my brain like flies on a feeding frenzy have disappeared. …My mood has stabilized after years of oscillating between paralyzing anxiety and debilitating, at times suicidal, depression. Despite everything, I realize, I am OK. More OK than I have been in years.”

Psychologists and psychiatrists offer possible reasons that a person with a history of depression and anxiety might find some relief at a time like this. One possibility is that a big part of anxiety is the worry about something bad that will inevitably happen. Now that the terrible thing has happened, he or she is not in the anticipating state.

Another possibility is that those with depression and anxiety might normally separate themselves from their immediate situations—a mental process called dissociation—by distracting themselves by, for example, endlessly scrolling through Instagram. Disassociating isn’t generally such a great thing because you miss a lot in your life. Right now, however, if you’re great at dissociating, you’ve got a way to deal with scary feelings.

Finally, it may be that people with depression and anxiety are now seeing that everyone else is having a taste of what the sufferers’ inner world has been like. It can be kind of validating to see others actively struggling with loneliness and isolation. What’s more, seeing your inner state mirrored by the outside world helps to shut down self-critical thought patterns.

I guess this comes under the "thank goodness for small favors" category.

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