MIDLAND, Texas — Social distancing and isolation, oil prices dropping, fear over getting sick or spreading the virus to loved ones, and working just about everything remotely....we have dealt with a lot this past year.
All of it is taking a real toll on people's mental health.
Family medicine doctor, Douglas Cochran, tells NewsWest 9 he has seen about a 400% increase in patients needing mental health help.
Not only that, but Dr. Cochran has had to prescribe about four times the amount of depression and anxiety medications compared to years past.
He is making it clear to his patients: it normal to not feel normal this year.
“I have seen at least a 400% increase in people seeking acute mental health care for their situational depression and anxiety directly related to what’s going on in the world.”
And there has been a lot.
“I’m a doctor but I’m also a human going through the same stresses my patients are," Cochran said. "I was worried about my own safety, my children’s safety, my friends and patients started dying, the economy drops off, more friends start losing their jobs.”
While COVID is contagious there is something else contagious about this pandemic, too.
"Fear is contagious, and feeling of instability is contagious and it leads to anxiety and depression," Cochran said. "So does isolation so it's all a real thing.”
So what can we do about it?
“Talk to your doctor or a mental health provider," Cochran said. "But before that talk to someone you trust about it."
Dr. Cochran making it known that it is worth getting mental health help.
"This is not taboo anymore. We all know someone who is depressed or anxious. This is a different world we live in.”
There are also other ways to help your mental health that do not have include medicine.
Exercise, mediating, and again just talking to a loved one about how you are feeling can make huge improvements mentally for people.