2020 has been a year, and if that’s not the truth. If you don’t remember…Kobe died in January, we bombed someplace in the Middle East, there were fires that destroyed the forests of Australia, and the West coast of the USA.
Then I ask myself what did we do to deserve a pandemic? A pandemic that shuts down the world, creates chaos, political divide…and for what? Who knows at this point.
From Covid-19 to mandated masks, to protests, to riots, to canceled in-person classes, to online zoom classes, to headaches constantly. It’s honestly overwhelming. Stuff like this makes me feel hopeless. I know I’m not the only one and I have facts to prove it.
According to the CDC, “During late June, 40% of U.S. adults reported struggling with mental health or substance abuse.” (Pictured Below)
The statistics don’t end there…A Kaiser Family Foundation poll showed that “Nearly half of Americans report the coronavirus crisis is harming their mental health.”
Another poll from Pew Research Center showed that nearly one-in-five Americans say they have had a physical reaction when thinking about the outbreak. These reactions include: Had a physical reaction when thinking about the outbreak, felt lonely, had trouble sleeping, felt nervous, anxious, or on edge.
(Pictured Above) The mental health crisis due to the pandemic is not just happening in America, it is important to note that the whole world is feeling down during this time. In the United Kingdom (UK) as of March 2020 has reported that 32% of poll takers have said their mental health has been much worse since the start of Covid-19.
(Pictured Above) There is a light when looking at the same poll above by Pew Research. “22% of people saying they have felt hopeful about the future in the last 5-7 days of the time the poll was taken.”
To say that life will get better even though times are tough, stressful, and driven by the craziness that sprouts something new every month is unheard of. Let me tell you, it will get better.
We will have a vaccine for the virus, we will have a president, we will be able to get a job. We need to get the idea that nothing is going our way out of our heads. Life is tough. Yes, these are times and things where one couldn’t even think of happening in their whole lifetime let alone one year. But, we will get through this together, we will undermine this year. Using this year as a stepping stone to the much more important things in life.
I don’t know when everything will get better, but it will. I know it will because I have hope, and you should too.
Yes, I might be stressed due to an overload of online work, and you might feel that way too. Missing an assignment is not the end of the world. I know that I probably shouldn’t have given up when I felt the pressure of the world on my shoulders. I did exactly what professor Fagans said not to: I panicked.
Ultimately I am glad my drive told me I needed to make this video. It started out like I was planning to record my day-in-a-life as a student during a pandemic…and how to be “happy.” This idea flunked when I realized my footage was horrible, and I hated every aspect of it, I also cooked way too much I might’ve well just called it a cooking show. I knew I needed to spice things up. I decided to make this into an inspirational/mental health importance video on ‘Understanding that 2020 is just a year’ and ‘Let’s get over it.’
Together, with friends and family, we can get over this year…because remember “This year is only a stepping stone. So, don’t slip.”
I am very proud of this video, and the effort it took to make it. This video has received the best response to any video I have ever posted on YouTube. I love it. And I hope y’all do too.
If you are struggling with issues due to the pandemic, I know I’m not the best person to talk to but, I’m free! Y’all can email me anytime at Maddienolan97@yahoo.com
Have faith guys! We will get through this!
Madeleine Lowe 