Dealing With Depression During Isolation

PULLMAN, WASH – Everyone is dealing with COVID-19 in their own way.

Some people, however, have struggled dealing with though situations before it became a global pandemic.

Shaina Lucio, an engineering student at WSU has been diagnosed with clinical depression. It’s something rather new to her, but that doesn’t mean it doesn’t affect her. She struggles to make it through most days without becoming sad for reasons she can’t understand.

“Even if nothing is wrong that day, I’m just down,” said Lucio. “Why am I down? There is no reason to be sad right now.”

Now she has to deal with her anxiety and depression while the world is put on lockdown because of a killer virus. The added stress is a lot to handle. But the problem isn’t the virus, it’s the things it changed in her life that are the problem.

Lucio says that structure is the thing she misses the most about life before quarantine. It gave her a reason to do things and helped her distract herself from being alone and sad. But without those distractions it has been harder to make it through the day.

Lucio’s best friend, Michael Lang Jr. says he has noticed she gets angrier faster since quarantine starts. Lucio says she used to stay at home on her own before quarantine, but now that she is forced to do it, it feels like she’s trapped, and she finds it hard to breath some times because of the anxiety it creates for her.