The other day I said to my wife, “Ya know I don’t think the anti-depression pills are helping. I’ve been taking them like I’m supposed to and yeah I feel depressed.” My wife looked at me trying to contain the *are you an idiot* look as she said, “Welcome to the world we’re living these days. I don’t think you’re the only one.”

She isn’t wrong, the last few weeks, we’ve been tossed into a world we don’t recognize. We live in a world where we’re told to stay home, stores are closed except for essential business. If you need groceries, you can go grab what you need and head home. Same with medical appointments. There is no more let’s go out to dinner, and walk the mall afterward. Social distancing is now becoming the norm. Humans are social creatures, even those that don’t particularly like large groups of people. We need social interaction. So yes I suppose we’re all there…

For me, this whole stay home thing has been going on since March 12. With my immune system being compromised and my parents in the high-risk group, I didn’t feel my visiting them was worth risking their health or mine. So I’ve stayed home, my usual once a week visits have been set aside until a time when it becomes safe once again. That’s hard since it was those visits that I saw my kids and granddaughter.

I fell into the habit of thinking those visits would always happen, and if I skipped a visit there was always the next week. Those weekly visits have become every other day phone calls. They have become video calls, which are hard since they have no internet. So to say that the stress levels of these weeks are high, would not be an understatement.

How do we deal with these days? I joked a few days ago that I would be making a dent in the assorted alcohol bottles we have in the house. People that isn’t the answer, it really isn’t a coping mechanism even though we believe it is. It is actually a depressant something we do not need to add to our natural depression. Drugs are not the answer either, they create their own problems. So, with all that, what do we do?

As a way to combat the lack of hanging out with our friends, we turn to social media, to video calls, to virtual parties. But what about the older generation that doesn’t have access to technology? People we have phones, call them don’t forget they are frightened and feel isolated as well.

Tell me your coping mechanisms, I find that I am turning to music, to books, we need to find the sliver of light in the darkness. Please let’s open a conversation with our virtual neighbors.

Be safe, be kind, love each other.