Tylenol, Media, and Coping Mechanisms

A few important pieces of information you may or may not already know…

1. Try not to rely too heavily on the news reports for info of what is safe or not safe during this; tons are conflicting and most are based on very limited information which lead them to make assumptions. The best source is the County Public Health websites, which for LA is here.

2. There appears to already be enough evidence to suggest that steroids and anti inflammatory meds can make this virus much worse even in young people. To play it safe I strongly suggest using Tylenol over ibuprofen during this, ask your doctor if this conflicts with any of your medication regimen, and remember this is new info even to them, and could continue to change.

3. Remember when you see the statistics, they don’t have access to test the vast majority of the sick; even cases they suspect could be positive if not super sick are being told to wait it out at home under self quarantine and may never be tested; the hospitals and the tests are mostly being reserved for those who require hospitalization. So there is absolutely no way to know the full extent of this pandemic, other than how many are very sick and how many of those survive – which Yes is still the vast majority. Just know this is highly contagious, at every age, and you must practice extremely good hand hygiene, and anyone coughing or feverish must stay home regardless of their city’s own ordinances. And please respect whatever your city or state demands of you.

4. Remember that most of us are at a heightened state of anxiety right now. Some are fearful of their loved ones lives. Others are afraid of the money they are losing from lack of work and the stock market nosedive. And others are going out of their minds stuck with children in a cramped house with no schools or camps to send them to.

We each have lost a large part of our coping mechanisms. What are my own personal coping mechanisms in life when I’m worried or depressed?

-Hugs…well that’s mostly gone, as we are supposed to use social distancing. See your friends and family (other thanyour immediate household) but stay a few feet away. I’ve wanted to scream or cry multiple times this last week, we all have, but the cathartic hugs are less available than ever.

-Movies…nope, those are closed, my biggest passion is unavailable to me, and no television has never done the same trick.

-Poker…casinos are closed (with good reason of course) and even my home games just don’t seem appropriate given how it’s impossible to go that without violating social distancing and touching the same cards and chips endlessly.

The point is, no matter what your own personal coping mechanisms are, they are likely gone or modified by this. So please remember to create new ones. If you are an introvert try try try to reach out to others to allow yourself to not be totally alone in this. All of us to some degree need to isolate, but none of us need to be alone.