COVID-19/Mental Health Crises: Holistic Understanding and Solutions

By Ronald Parks

Need practical information and wisdom addressing mental health during crises, tragedies, and the COVID-19 Pandemic? During the COVID-19 Pandemic, many have experienced extreme personal loss. People are suffering, having experiences not unlike those faced by survivors of natural disasters. Dr. Parks' health interests began as a child growing up in rural Maryland. After developing a high fever and stiff neck, he was diagnosed with polio and rushed to City Hospital for Children. The experience changed his life forever.   

 

Dr. Parks explains everything you wanted to know about how to cope with the mental health challenges related to COVID and other crises but were afraid to ask. This book provides a compelling big-picture view of how COVID has shattered our sense of normalcy and has created a state of fear that exacerbates anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. It offers insightful, practical guidance about what people can do to stay well and gain control during these arduous times.  
—Linda Donovan, Grief-Support Advocate, Author of After Loss 

 

This timely book focuses on a holistic approach to mental health during times of significant crises and challenges. Topics covered include:

• grief and loss
• anxiety
• depression
• addictions
• pandemic fear
• how to recognize early signs of mental health difficulties and their origins
• coping and finding the help you need
• and ways of regaining health, balance, stability, and longevity. 

The book has an upbeat style that will energize your mind and refresh your ability to carry on through troubling times. Dr. Parks examines the impact of COVID-19 or other forms of crisis, loss, or tragedy on individual mental health. From his perspective as a Board-certified psychiatrist, a holistic healthcare consultant, and a caring, concerned teacher, He offers helpful insights and suggestions designed to empower those with ongoing emotional challenges and those who want to maintain optimum mental and physical health.

 

Blending research, historical events, and his own life experiences, Dr. Parks has created an easy-to-understand, practical guide to help readers survive and thrive during troubling times. The book's educational and guiding content stresses the value of holistic awareness and actions, providing insights and inspiration. It succinctly presents helpful preventative and intervention tips. 

 

Many vital elements play into our overall mental health and sense of wellbeing. This book, utilizing a multi-faceted approach, imparts valuable wisdom while covering essential topics related to: 

• mental health challenges
• holistic medicine
• psychology
• spiritual awakening
• meditation
• and other tried and true self-help techniques.

Most people are not just facing the Pandemic—many have experienced a personal loss of loved ones, worsening or the start of emotional or mental health challenges, addictions, trauma, and loss of purpose and meaning. Navigating so much hardship weighs heavily on our psyche. Still, this book reminds us that we can persevere and awaken to a deeper understanding of ourselves, others, and the spirit of life.

 

This book covers a diversity of mental and emotional health topics, surviving the times of crisis and exceptional challenge as the current COVID pandemic, finding coping ways, and reducing disease risk during tough times. There's no shame in getting help when you need support. Scroll up to buy your copy today!

• Language: English
• Publisher: ParksPress
• Release date: Apr 2, 2021
• ISBN: 9781736552513

Book preview

COVID-19

AND MENTAL HEALTH CRISES

Ronald R. Parks, MPH, MD

Ronald R. Parks, MPH, MD Ronald R. Parks, MPH, MD

In Praise of ‘Covid-19/Mental Health Crises’

Ron Parks, MD has written a wonderful guidebook on how to navigate through life’s traumas, emotional turmoils and crises. Using the upheaval of the pandemic, Dr. Parks offers clarity and insights for ways to change ourselves that minimize prescription drugs and instead offer core lifestyle, mindfulness, and spiritual solutions. He includes many heartfelt stories, including from his own life, showing us the power of using simple approaches to rebuild a better life. This very readable book gives you the tools and inspiration for achieving lasting changes, which can bring inner peace even in the midst of great disruption such as the pandemic.

Michael Rossoff, L.Ac

This book is a thoughtful, timely, and comprehensive resource for the many people who are impacted by the emerging mental health crises brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Dr. Parks offers a holistic framework for transforming adversity into an opportunity for growth, spanning significant topics such as neuroscience and spirituality. His approach to the problem brings hope without providing simplistic solutions. Members of the general public and healthcare practitioners can benefit from this book, which presents an overview of the important issues and a path toward individual and societal healing.

Larry Cammarata, Ph.D., Clinical Psychologist Director of Education, Mindfulness Travels

Dr. Parks has written a necessary and practical book on the coronavirus pandemic along with the concomitant consequences: fear, anxiety, trauma, and depression. Layered throughout the book are specific cases to support his contentions. He favors a holistic approach as a remedy as opposed to traditional medicine, emphasizing diet, exercise, and spirituality. This book is a must on your bookshelf considering these threatening and perilous times.

Arthur Laupus, Faculty-Osher Institute, Johns Hopkins University

Dr. Parks explains everything you wanted to know about how to cope with the mental health challenges related to COVID and other crises but were afraid to ask. This book provides a compelling big-picture view of how COVID has shattered our sense of normalcy and has created a state of fear that exacerbates anxiety, depression, and other mental health challenges. It offers insightful, practical guidance about what people can do to stay well and gain control during these arduous times.

Linda Donovan, Grief-Support Advocate, Author of After Loss

"Save a place on your shelf for this impeccably researched guide to mental health issues exacerbated by the pandemic. Offering holistic understanding and solutions, the book covers a wide range of problems, including grief, depression, bipolar illness, pet loss, natural disasters, and more. For use as a guidebook on how to deal with these difficulties, it will serve you admirably.

RoseLynn Katz, Actress, Writer, and Author of Two Hearts on a Rocky Road

A good book for those who have, themselves, experienced one or more of the traumatic situations described, or who know someone who has. Your personal experiences make this book all the more poignant as a realization that most of us also have these experiences.

John Sperry, Addiction and Trauma Therapist

I found your book to be very interesting as a non-medical professional, presenting a comprehensive discussion and positive recommendations for addressing the many potential mental health issues one may encounter due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

John Schwartz, career Coast Guard Officer

Contents

A Note About Notes

Acknowledgment and Dedication

Preface

Part I: Holistic Coping

Pandemic, Fear, and Anxiety

Depression and Grief

Holistic Health Steps

Positive Brain Adaptivity (Neuroplasticity)

Meditation, A Mental Health Essential

Awareness, A Key to Recovery and Healing

When It Is All Personal

Part II: Coping with Mental Health Issues

A Holistic Approach to Surviving Bipolar Illness

Depression Treatment

Bipolar Illness In Stressful Times

Holistic Approaches to Post-Traumatic Stress

Addictions Uncovered

The Heart-Addiction Connection

Part III: The Elephant in COVID-19’s Room

Mourning Pet Loss

Hurricanes, Trauma, and Recovery

COVID-19 and Polio Past

The Elephant in

Part IV: Beyond Coping

Reducing Disease Risk During Tough Times

Pandemic Life Savers Wise Choices

Vulnerable Hosts and A Way Forward

Adversity, Revelation, and Opportunity

The COVID-19 Wake-Up Call

Epilogue

About Dr. Parks

A Letter To Readers

Notes

A Note About Notes

This ebook makes use of notes: extra pieces of written and reference links related to a particular piece of the text. These notes will appear as both on-screen pop-up windows and are also collected at the rear of the book in a ‘Notes’ section.

Should you see a small superscript number with an underline (eg: ⁴) in the text, this indicates that you are seeing a reference to a note.

In the original manuscript, these notes might consist of either a single short piece of text, or quite a few pieces of other information (including article names, author names, dates of publication and clickable web links).

Given the technical restrictions of the ebook format, it is not possible to display all of the original note detail in the initial pop-up window. To view the full information associated to a note, please do the following:

To access the note, tap the number (eg: ⁴), and a window containing the truncated note information will appear in a pop-up window on your screen.

If you would like to browse the full detail of a note, click on the ‘Go to Footnotes’ link at the bottom of any pop-up window: this will take you to the relevant part of the ‘Notes’ section, located towards the end of the book.

To return to your original location in the book, tap the same footnote number in the ‘Notes’ section.

To simply read all the collected notes from the book at your leisure, please visit the ‘Notes’ section from the Contents page.

Acknowledgment and Dedication

This book is dedicated with gratitude to the devoted scientists who have been on the frontiers of discoveries and developments leading to new life-saving medications, rapid testing for control of viral spread, and vaccines. Also, appreciation goes to all the dedicated medical workers, doctors, healthcare workers, first responders, police, military, governors, mayors, public health, and civil servants who have bravely worked on behalf of the public good during this unprecedented health crisis. The greatest appreciation goes out to our fellow citizens and neighbors who have done their part in surviving one of the worst pandemics in recorded history.

A special remembrance goes to the many who have died or lost loved ones from illness related to COVID-19. This includes a dedication to Dan, a friend who lost a valiant fight with COVID-19, and to his wife Gloria, also infected, but a survivor of the illness, as she faces the loss of her beloved, lifelong partner.

Finally, a special thanks go out to the people instrumental in bringing my writing into a book form. These talented and very patient individuals include my son Shan Parks, a gifted writer; and my wife Jan, for her patience and thoughtful listening to my ideas and article drafts; my friends; colleagues; and the other professionals who helped with this project.

Preface

COVID-19, a novel virus (also referred to as SARS-CoV-2), has caused a global pandemic, death, and destruction in the U.S. and other countries. Life and our existing social behavior and lifestyle have most likely changed forever. As we have seen, the very contagious, new viral agent with many unknown characteristics can be deadly and incredibly infectious, especially among groups at high risk.

The significant amount of illness and the impact on peoples’ lives has contributed to a failing economy. At the time of this writing, as the pandemic continues globally with a record number of new COVID-19 cases and deaths in the U.S., fear, anger, and bewilderment persist.

Simultaneously, with increases in the incidence of mental illness, the demands on community resources, and the ensuing mental health crises are similar to the impacts of natural disasters, losses, war, or other catastrophic events.

In this book, the coronavirus pandemic and other historical occurrences of losses, crises, disasters, and mental illnesses are discussed from holistic medicine and integrative psychiatry perspectives. Hopefully the presentation will provide practical information and wisdom to address mental health challenges during crises and tragedies.

Relief appears to be on the way with the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of three safe and effective SARS-CoV-2 vaccines, bringing the promise of controlling the virus and ending the pandemic.

Until then, let’s stay well, stay safe, listen to accurate, credible information, make informed decisions, take the right actions, and be level-headed and calm amid any challenges now or in the future.

With appreciation for your interest,

Ron Parks, MPH MD

April 2021

Part I: Holistic Coping

Pandemic, Fear, and Anxiety

Dr. Sid* (endearingly called just Sid by the healthcare workers at the larger inner-city hospital where he had worked for the past fifteen years) carefully made his way through the nearly deserted city in the early morning darkness. It was an eerie scene of desolation and emptiness. He felt anxious and depressed, dreading what would soon face him, as he parked his car near the imposing four-story hospital structure.

Passing through the emergency room to get to his office on the second floor, he immediately noticed the anguish and terror in the faces of the many people sitting in chairs or on stretchers in long lines reaching out into the streets. The COVID-19 pandemic had caught everyone unprepared.

Walking towards the elevator, he had an increased, pounding heartbeat and an arising of suffocation, danger, and darkness, bringing with it a sense of doom and helplessness. Hidden deep in his memory, grotesque images emerged; these were scenes of his battlefield experiences, including witnessing people dying after a bomb had exploded in their compound. Nauseating flashbacks appeared of body parts strewed everywhere. As a medic, he had been overwhelmed, as there wasn’t adequate medical personnel for the wounded and dying. He also remembered the sickening smell of burning flesh. Their small field hospital had failed to be adequately prepared or equipped for that level of disaster. His final memory was of his attempting to find and triage the living and to salvage life, of blacking out, then waking up later in the field hospital with a minor head wound from flying shrapnel.

Refocusing, Sid adjusted his facemask and got onto the elevator, which was empty this time of the morning. He realized that he was nearing a breaking point, a product of all the stress of working in the overwhelming situation of caring for dying patients and witnessing so much death. The hospital and city were now in the worst part of the pandemic onset. Like many, his hospital had suffered from staffing losses and inadequate supplies and equipment to manage such an unexpected catastrophe. Also, he realized that his age now placed him in one of those high-risk groups for severe disease and death from the virus. He had experienced the reality of coping with life after loss with the death of his wife and son, and later his mother’s dying from COVID-19. He realized now that he hadn’t taken the time he needed or reached out for necessary help and support. Instead, his days had become mostly focused on his work, where he felt appreciated. And Sid had also become less active in his free time and had gained weight, exhibiting early signs of heart disease, high blood pressure, and diabetes.

After grabbing a cup of coffee and getting dressed in protective clothing and mask, Sid reached the intensive care unit for rounds with the nurse and new, young intern. They discussed the recent deaths of patients who had expired during the night. The three completed rounds about mid-morning, making some medication changes, examining patients, and writing new orders. Frantic families called to find out their loved ones’ status, calls to which he would have to attend. On his way out of the ICU, Sid grabbed the list with the families’ phone numbers so he could make calls either with the good news of progress, no change, or to report of downward turns or the death of loved ones.

Halfway down the hall to his office, Sid felt suddenly like an elephant was sitting on his chest—crushing the life and breath out of him—and he crumpled to the floor. The pain continued through his left arm and chest, and he had difficulty catching his breath. The next thing he knew, he was waking up in the coronary care unit. One of his younger colleagues, a cardiologist, told Sid that he was stable but had suffered a significant heart attack. Relieved, on the one hand, that he wasn’t dying of COVID, he was also shocked by the major heart attack.

Lying in his hospital bed, Sid believed that his heart attack resulted from the overwhelming combination of culprits including stress, anxiety, aging, an undesirable lifestyle and remnants of his PTSD from war trauma, as well as residual grieving from the death of loved ones. Living and practicing in a pandemic, among so