Politics and Mental Health: Hand-In-Hand Throughout the COVID-19 Crisis

Politics and Mental Health: Hand-In-Hand Throughout the COVID-19 Crisis

My colleague, Christy Lewis, was interviewed on a Dallas Texas radio station. Midway through the conversation, there is an interesting turn of events. She was brought on this show to talk about psychology and what we can do to safeguard our mental health right now. What occurred though, is that the conversation inadvertently turned to politics. What in the world you ask does that possibly have to do with mental health? It seems so very random–in actuality it’s not, and here’s why.

Now-a-days, most every conversation about COVID is first about Social Distancing. Timidly a joke may come out about keeping your distance, maybe a chuckle, then on to the more serious topic of safeguarding our health and the fears and unknowns surrounding this virus. Then the conversation somehow pivots to the economy, and all our fears and uncertainty about what this will do to our economy. A little back and forth on this topic will ensue, and then nine out of ten times the conversation will take what seems to be a drastic and arbitrary turn towards politics. Why?

Attachments

Share this:

About the Author

Kendell MunzerKendell Munzer been in the field of psychology for almost 20 years. She began her career as a Behavioral Specialist working with developmentally disabled and mentally ill adults and children. Kendell worked in several group homes writing behavior plans while working directly with families, case workers, doctors, and team specialist. She was responsible for formulating and implementing innovative workshops and therapy techniques. She also provided group therapy, individual therapy and ran grief and trauma counseling groups. After I had my boys, I decided to become a stay at home mom so I could raise them. When I did go back to work it was as a substitute teacher in the schools. In that line of work, I was often put with the more behaviorally challenging students shadowing them one on one. It was my responsibility to help them navigate the classroom and social situations In conjunction with this I worked closely with their teachers, school guidance counselors and Special Education teachers. Kendell currently enrolled at PSP and getting her doctorate in Psychology.

View all posts by Kendell Munzer

Leave a Reply