Karen Osterle is a therapist who specializes in anxiety, anxious depression, and relationship issues. So for her, the pandemic has been like running one long Ironman Triathlon. Multiple times. While Osterle made sure not to overcommit herself, she still felt more drained and less present during sessions, and her marriage became strained, too, as she spent less time being present with her spouse.
So the master became the student: Osterle increased her own practice of the methods she recommends to overworked and anxious clients. She has focused on exercise and wellness—upping the number of times a week she runs three and a half miles, making a point to meditate each morning before she starts sessions, and ending the workday with a half-hour stretch. She stopped working in the evenings—no more meeting clients at 7:30 pm. “In some ways, you gain time because you don’t have a commute,” says Osterle. “In other ways, time is melting into itself. Boundaries become more important than ever.”
About one of every five American adults struggles with mental illness, according to the National Institute of Mental Health, with about 52 million affected in 2020. The US already had barriers to those seeking mental health care—especially people of color—such as affordability and an inadequate number of providers, and the pandemic has exacerbated this. In a 2021 American Psychological Association survey, 43 percent of participating psychologists saw increased demand across the board, with the greatest need being treatment for anxiety, depression, trauma, and stress. In the same report, 68 percent said their waitlist had expanded since Covid’s start, 41 percent reported not having the capacity to meet the heightened need, and 46 percent were experiencing burnout.
As people settle into what seems to be a permanent relationship with Covid—against a backdrop of inflation, the war in Ukraine, mass shootings, and the overturning of Roe v. Wade—the mental-health crisis is unlikely to fade away anytime soon.
Read more at Washingtonian.com.
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