Be Prepared For Winter

Recently, I visited with two members of my Kitchen Table Cabinet and we discussed the challenges of living through a global pandemic. Both are extremely skilled counselors who have many decades of experience working with people and families through very difficult dynamics.

I started out our time together asking about the impact of post-traumatic stress disorder on children, parents and families as this pandemic persists. The older of the two counselors smiled and said, “I think it will be quite high during the coming years but the ‘P’ in PTSD stand for ‘post trauma’ and the challenge right now is that we are not in the post stage. We are in the primary stress disorder stage which is very different than the post-traumatic stage.”

What followed was a discussion about primary stress experiences. I listened carefully. In simple terms, during the primary stage the impact of what is happening is on-going and in-depth. The pandemic is creating this on-going trauma and will be the foundation for PTSD to surface once we enter into a post-pandemic period. 

As they expanded on this, I realized that it will be critical for all of us to create a stress management plan for the upcoming January, February and March time period. In this plan, we need to define what we can do on a daily basis to decrease our stress. This will help us manage the increasing amount of daily stressors due to the pandemic. 

Second, we need to create new winter routines. We must get outside of the house and hopefully get into nature. Walking is a great first step. This is important because as anyone who has lived through a cold and windy midwest winter knows, cabin fever is real and challenging. This winter we could see an epidemic of cabin fever.

Third, we must define what are our priorities so that we do not loose track of them during the busy winter months. Reflecting on this, I am reminded of an old Vermont dairy farmer I met back in the 70’s, who told me his priorities were “God, family and then the farm.” This helped him keep things in perspective when the cow kicked over the bucket of fresh milk or smacked him in the face with a manure covered tail.

Finally, I encourage everyone to make plans to stay in touch with family and friends. While we must maintain physical distance to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, we can not become socially isolated. We all need and deserve loving support during the upcoming holiday season and through out the winter months until spring returns.

So, create your stress management plan during the next two weeks and then work the plan until the first daffodil blooms in the spring. Remember: we can and we will make it through this together.

Geery Howe, M.A. Consultant, Executive Coach, Trainer in Leadership, Strategic Planning and Organizational Change Morning Star Associates 319 - 643 - 2257