A year ago this week, the first two COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Michigan. In response, Governor Whitmer declared a state of emergency. Schools and universities shut down, followed by restaurants, gyms, and workplaces. A year later, the uncertainty of the pandemic has become a part of our daily life.
“I think one of the things that we need to recognize is that this is the first event of its kind because we haven’t been so globally connected before,” says Dr. Stephanie Grant, director of community training and advocacy at Development Enhancement, a behavioral health organization in Holland, Michigan. “So, this is the first trauma event that pretty much people across the globe have experienced it collectively, so that makes it very unique.”
Grants says that the COVID-19 pandemic has ‘checked all of the boxes’ that define whether something a trauma event.
“If you had asked me a year and a half ago before this hit, ‘what are the top three characteristics of trauma events that make it much more likely to be traumatizing?’ I would have told you that there are three things: that if those events felt uncontrollable and inescapable, if we had no idea if or when the event was going to end, and if they somehow separated us from our relationships and our community and our support systems that would normally help us buffer those events.” Grant explains.
Grant also notes that experts in her field are calling this “a collective trauma.”
“Collective trauma is a word we use to describe a trauma event that impacts a large group of people whether that is a particular community, a society,” she says. “It’s very comparable to what we might call a generational trauma; so, for example, 9/11 is something we consider a generational trauma; World War II, the Trail of Tears, the Holocaust, slavery--all would be examples of collective traumas.”
Grant adds that the past 12 months have affected all of us in very different ways, and that she believes we’re all coping in the best ways we know how. But she doesn’t believe this experience is behind us just yet.
“It’s not over because honestly nobody has had time to grieve,” she explains. “We haven’t had time to do our collective grief yet; we still have grieving that will have to happen once we can be back in community. So, it will be a slow process to an extent. It will not look the same for everybody. We have a lot of stuff to heal from.”
Grant adds that connection with others will be more important than ever.
“We just need to be together,” she says. “Collectively. In whatever form that looks like. And with time, professionals, researchers will be able to see how much of this collective trauma was able to heal on its own--and I want people to know that--that a lot of this is going to naturally heal on its own as we have time and as we get back into those relationships.”
Grant says some people will likely need to seek out help from mental health care providers in order to heal. And she says it’s important to not judge ourselves for the days spent eating too many carbs or binge-watching our favorite shows. But it is time to start thinking about long-term strategies for our health and wellness as we learn to live in ‘the new normal.’