To say that these are unprecedented times is an understatement! The risk associated with living through a pandemic, as we have been doing for the past year and a half, is something that very few people today have had any experience with. We have had to face this crisis with limited initial knowledge or understanding of what exactly was required to stay safe. Undoubtedly, this led to many difficult feelings for most people – fear, sadness, anxiety, exhaustion. And, although we can now see that there will be a light at the end of this tunnel, we are not there yet.
School is resuming, but we know that it will not be the same as it was before the pandemic, so there is still a lot of uncertainty and feelings of stress. A recent survey by the American Psychological Association found that half of the participants they studied felt uneasy about returning to in-person interactions, regardless of whether or not they had been vaccinated. So, my suggestion and an important first step – give yourself permission to be human. Feeling unsettled under the present circumstances is natural.
Worry about going back to school is not necessarily a bad thing, if it leads you to do all you can to engage in activities that decrease your (and other’s) risk of getting sick. When it comes to worry, though, there is a fine balance that must be maintained, because dwelling on difficulties or worrying about things that are outside of your control can leave you feeling overwhelmed and waste your valuable emotional energy. In this vein, Lucy McBride, an internal medicine doctor who writes a Covid-19 newletter says “Health stems from allowing fear to protect us from dying but not allowing it to prevent us from living”.
How do you strike that balance? What can you do to help yourself feel more in control, and yet not make yourself more stressed?
My next suggestion is to make sure that you get your information about the best COVID protocols from reputable and reliable sources. A lot of people have an opinion on what we need to deal with the COVID pandemic. We live in a time when we try to respect everyone’s opinion, but opinion is not fact and not all opinions are equally valuable. Whether an opinion is valuable depends on how it was reached and whether it is based on fact. In order to make the best choices, it is important to remember to sort out fact from opinion.
You wouldn’t trust your friend’s opinion on what to do about a serious health issue, no matter how smart or popular your friend is. You’d want to see a specialist, an expert in the area. Likewise, you wouldn’t necessarily take your doctor’s opinion on fixing your car. Regarding Covid-19, we need to look to qualified and trusted authorities in the area of – your doctor, the medical officer of health for your city or province, administrators at your university who spend time and effort reviewing the science and guidance from experts.
Remember, though, that learning about the Covid-19 virus is a new scientific endeavour. so we don’t yet have all the answers, and the guidance that we do have now may change, as more study is done and more is learned. The science is fluid. Follow the science when it is clear, but it may not always be clear.
Even the experts don’t always agree. A recent study by the School of Public Health at Harvard University asked a group of 27 experts (epidemiologists, immunologists, infectious disease specialists) in different settings around the country about their willingness to engage in various activities at this point in the pandemic. Although almost all said they would go to a hairdresser or barber if wearing a mask, and none would send their unvaccinated child to school without a mask, there were large variations in their willingness to engage in various other activities – such as dining indoors (33%), going on a non-essential international trip (40%), going to a movie (19%), attending an indoor wedding or other religious service (40%), or attending an indoor concert or sporting event (56%).
Different people, with different local circumstances (e.g. vaccination and COVID-19 transmission rates), and with different outlooks, personalities and life experiences will come up with different assessments of the risks and benefits of participating in various activities. Different people have generally more or less risk-avoidant personalities, or have different values with respect to protecting others vs. having autonomy over their own decision-making. Previous experiences of illness, either one’s own or one’s loved ones, might also impact decision-making.
So, my final suggestion is that, in some situations, you will need to decide for yourself what you will and won’t do, based on your comfort level, your assessment of the level of risk involved and your willingness to take that risk. As in all aspects of life, it is likely that risk can’t be totally eliminated, but you can work to decrease the level of risk to one that you are most comfortable with through the choices you make.
Some considerations that you may want to factor into your personal decisions: Where will you get your information about appropriate public health policies, who will you listen to/who do you trust? What are the vaccination and infection rates in your area? What are your own personal circumstances and health risks? Where and with whom are you willing to go – public places, private places? When will you wear a mask and when do you feel okay going without one?
Stick to the decisions that make the most sense to you. Do not be swayed by what others are doing, and do not feel that you have to conform to what others do, if that is not what sits right with you. Figure out what your non-negotiables are. You may have to find different ways of socializing with friends who have different ideas about safe behaviour for the present time.
Going back to college or university during the time of COVID-19 presents challenges that no one had to face in pre-pandemic times. Please take the time to make decisions that will keep you safe.
Take care, Rhonda Gilby
