As Americans continue to grapple with the fallout of the coronavirus outbreak, many are struggling to cope with the loss of friends and loved ones.
Dr. Jen Hartstein, Yahoo Life Mental Health Contributor, spoke to Yahoo Life about how she recommends people approach these difficult situations.
“It is 100% normal for all of us to be feeling stressed and anxious about what’s going on,” she says. “And it’s even more normal to be having some signs and symptoms of grief because we’re all dealing with a collective grief of things we’re losing, and for some of us it’s personal and we’re losing people that we love,” Hartstein adds.
“If someone’s not as sick and in the hospital—bringing groceries, having a driveway ‘Hello’—any of those kinds of things where you can just show up and be present,” she says. “We have to be creative. It’s going to be different but we can still show up in some kind of meaningful way.”
When dealing with someone who is sick and anxious about their prognosis, knowing what not to say can be vital.
