Happiness Survey
During the Coronavirus Pandemic, it has been extremely hard for me to find happiness. I can strongly say that this year my mental health has deteriorated tremendously, this has a lot to do with things in my personal life but the Pandemic definitely topped it off and made everything ten times worse. The Pandemic has made almost all our lives extremely chaotic. I’ve personally also been having a rough year, this year has absolutely been crazy for me, and not only since the Coronavirus Pandemic but actually, since January, the Pandemic just happened to exacerbate the problem. With all that has been going on, I can agree that it has been very hard to stay positive and hopeful and think of the best. I have mental breakdowns at least twice a week, sometimes I’m lucky enough where a week passes without me having one. I’ve started therapy to try to help with some of what I’m experiencing, some days are good and I do feel better while others feel like I’ve backslid and are worse. I’ve tried several things to help alleviate the reality of my thoughts, even though some things are limited because of the Pandemic. I’ve tried listening to music, going out with friends when possible, and talking about my problems. Sometimes it works for a little while, while other times it doesn’t work at all; sometimes it would just work in the moment, and as soon as I’m done for example listening to music or get back home from going out, my thoughts go right back to where they were before.
What I found that has worked the best for me thus far was meditation. I completed a meditation experiment which required me to meditate consistently for 10 days while tracking my progress. After 10 days of the experiment, I can definitely say that I am impressed with the results. After meditating, I feel so much more stressed and worry-free, it’s like a heavyweight has been lifted from my shoulders. When meditating, I always do it in a quiet nature-filled place, without my phone or any other electronics. I usually do this for about 15 minutes every day, usually around the same time every day — sunset. I specifically chose this time because I feel like the sunset is so calming and reminiscent and just makes everything much more beautiful. Though meditation hasn’t magically fixed all my problems, it definitely makes me feel better for a longer period of time than any of the other things I previously mentioned. My Happiness Survey scores were drastically below the other survey takers. Out of the 12 categories, 11 of mine were below the average survey takers while 1 was above. This kinda made me feel bad because my scores were so low in comparison to everyone else’s. I tried to stay positive about these results even though I kinda feel like an outcast.
The first person I interviewed shared similar sentiments about her mental health during the pandemic. She says that this year was the most difficult for her as her finances were quickly depleted because she was unable to work. She expressed that, that was where most of her depression really stemmed from as she was unable to stably provide for herself and her family. She said it really started to take a toll on her, she also expressed that constantly staying in the housing with nothing to do and just the monotony of every day really contributed to her depression. She also became really worried and scared for the health and safety of her parents (who are older and also have underlying health conditions) which made her go into a mode of panic. She explained that all of these things combine really affected her and as a result, she started having very frequent panic attacks. Her Happiness Survey Score was higher than mine but still below the average survey taker. She said that she expected her scores to be low because of how awful she’s been feeling. To somewhat alleviate or try to alleviate her stress I suggested that she meditates once a day. I told her what I was experiencing and how it was similar to her and what I have been doing to improve my feelings. She did express some doubt in meditation saying that she didn’t think it would work but I still encouraged her to try it because of my good result.
The second person I interviewed was a little different as he didn’t share the same sentiments as myself and the first person. He says that this year hasn’t been his worst but it definitely hasn’t been his best. He says that he was feeling a little down mid-May thereabout but he shakes it off. He said that though his hours were occasionally cut as a result of Covid19 he was still working most of the time, so he was still able to provide for himself, he just wasn’t able to make much casual, frivolous purchases — which he says he actually now appreciates. He said that to keep his mind busy and away from reality he would play video games, watch Netflix, listen to music, and when possible went out with his friends. He said that when he happened to think negatively he would just pray and tell God what he was thankful for and he would just stop thinking negatively. His scores on the Happiness Survey were pretty indexical to that of the other survey takers, which I think is a good sign. I told him my experience with meditation when I feel down, and insisted that he tried it whenever he feels down too.
I think it’s interesting to see the comparison yet contrast between all three Happiness survey scores. It’s clear that the Pandemic has affected us all in different ways and everyone uses different means to cope with their unhappiness. I strongly urge everyone who is feeling like this to meditate as I’m sure it will help you to find peace and happiness. The three things that I will urge you to do are 1. To find out what it is that is making you unhappy or causing your negative thoughts 2. Pray and ask God to remove these thoughts from your mind, as well as make a concerted effort to avoid these thoughts. When these thoughts pop up just pray and thank God for what you’re grateful for. 3. Meditate, I strongly believe that meditating will help you find peace and happiness in a time of chaos like this.
