It is ‘natural to feel frustration’ amidst pandemic, according to UAB doctor

DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) - Alabama is on its fourth surge of COVID-19 and the pandemic is causing burnout among healthcare workers, patients and families.

People are becoming COVID fatigued, and are looking forward to “normalcy” again.

UAB’s Dr. Megan Hays said it’s been a long haul, and it continues. She said one of the most common emotions right now is anger.

Dr. Hays said stress levels are high among health care workers as they remain strained with the thought of, “This could have been prevented.”

She explains this surge differs from the Winter surge, with a vaccine for the virus being widely available and more information is available of mask wearing effectiveness.

People are becoming distressed. She said it is natural for people to feel frustration during this time and it is likely out of unfairness of the pandemic and not able to have control of what is happening.

However with this anger, she said people do not need to bottle it up, but they also do not need to turn to aggression.

“Anger can come out in really unexpected ways and sometimes anger outbursts, in unhealthy ways, and at the same time anger can also lead to when we do not check our impulses to aggressive behaviors maybe the urge to punch things, to yell at someone, to tell off a Facebook acquaintance and neither of those are productive strategies,” Dr. Hays said.

Dr. Hays recommends turning down the heat on that anger and focus on calming down the nervous system. She said you can do this by taking deep breaths, taking part in yoga, chatting with a friend or taking a walk outside.

Subscribe to our News 4 newsletter and receive the latest local news and weather straight to your email every morning. Get instant notifications on top stories from News 4 by downloading our mobile apps.