There are acute emergencies that require an appropriate fight or flight response. What we are experiencing is a chronic sense of threat from the Covid-19 virus, the economy and a president who is causing mayhem on a hourly basis. Not everyone has the same degree of disruption to their lives from all this but on some level we are all experiencing something very unpleasant. We share a common stressor that comes out of swimming in the same pool of possible illness, death and economic disaster. That this would take a toll on people’s mental health is expected. Neuroscience tells us that chronic low grade stress uses up our endorphins and chemical messengers created by the brain to help us get back to a pre-stressed condition. We are depleted in serotonin and dopamine.
When Michelle Obama mentioned in an interview, rather matter of factly, that she is experiencing “low grade depression”, she tacitly let people know that even someone like her is susceptible to the malaise the rest of us are feeling. It is rare for a public figure to inject this level of honest reality about their state of psychological wellbeing. I rarely hear any reporting about the toll this pandemic is taking on people’s mental heath. It is not something people talk about openly, or maybe even to close friends and family, yet there she was one of the most famous and respected people in the world opening up about the toll this is taking on her psyche. I have to think this acknowledgement was a soothing balm for many. They felt less alone in their personal despair if someone like Michelle Obama can feel it too.