Crisis Fatigue, a global Pandemic and running. Eleanor Finn, Finesse Movement Maynooth I would normally express my shock at how quickly this time of year has rolled around again and I’m writing my annual piece for the Maynooth 10k times newspaper. Finesse Movement has supported this event every year since we opened in 2012 by doing the pre & post event massage at the finish line. It is hard to believe that its now November, 6 months after the event is normally held, I’m still a little surprised at how quickly it seems to have rolled around. 2020 has been an extraordinary year, an unprecedented year. There is some part of me still waiting to wake up from this crazy, insane situation that the world finds itself in. When I walk around the town of Maynooth, I see people wearing masks, bumping elbows to greet each other, whilst using that same elbow to activate the lights at the pedestrian crossing. People actively swerving around one another for fear of getting too close, wiping down trolley handles, eating outside in Autumn wrapped up in heavy winter coats, drinking pints in plastic cups on the Square. I see lots of local business’ pulling out all the stops in order to help their small business survive and their staff stay on payroll. I see a community pull together in an extraordinary effort to keep our town alive and thriving.
“I see a town that is doing well and a community supporting each in other in whatever way they can” I see people doing what they can to survive this pandemic or pox as I refer to it. I see a town that is doing well and a community supporting each in other in whatever way they can, and an annual fundraising event pivoting to become a virtual event to get people out and active to maintain a sense of togetherness, community and that amazing feeling that you’re doing something bigger than yourself for the great good of the community. It truly is heart-warming and is great 60
to see. However, we need to remember that not everyone is doing ok. Some people will be feeling bad for a long time and others may only now be feeling the affects more recently. I can sense a lot of my clients starting to suffer and I can see it taking hold in my own family too. I didn’t have the right word for it until I heard being described on Newstalk one day, when Dr. Philip Kieran spoke to Clare McKenna about the signs and symptoms of ‘crisis fatigue’. Of course, there are people who have experienced this from personal tragedy, but with a global pandemic there are more and more of us feeling these emotions and feelings and may not know why or what to do about it. Crisis Fatigue is what it sounds like, we are in essence tired of the crisis. However, the symptoms can be more serious than just being a bit fed up with the whole situation. I’ve bumped into so many people out on my daily route and they have asked and I have asked, “how are you doing” and I’ve always said, “just putting one foot in front of the other right now, that’s all we can do right?”, to which they agree and we march on and never have the conversation. How are you actually doing? Even if we don’t want to stop and talk to the random neighbour we might meet outside and pour our hearts out to them, we must ask ourselves that question, how am I really doing? If the answer is not good then we need to do something about it. So, what is crisis fatigue? The general symptoms would include: • Feeling exhausted all the time • A feeling of being overwhelmed and not able to cope • Feeling anxious Is it any wonder we feel like this? The pandemic has been relentless for nearly 8 months now. We are under constant attack and have feelings of uncertainty about work, can I travel here or there, can I visit a relative, what if I’m infected and
