The Coronavirus presents male survivors with unique challenges – from physical health to emotional wellness. In this blog, I’d like to offer support for you and your loved ones, and remind you to get re-acquainted with MaleSurvivor’s discussion forum and online chat – both are free resources to access from the comfort of home.
The increasingly rapid spread of the COVID-19 virus is provoking a general level of near panic, a situation that may have specific effects on male survivors. In addition to the general fear of the virus and its transmission, we are vulnerable to that fear stoking past feelings of paranoia and to triggers relating to strangers we might now encounter, the dread of isolation, anxiety and panic-y feelings, worries that we cannot survive this new trauma.
To combat all this we need to turn to our positive support resources: friends, family, peers among fellow survivors, therapists — generally reaching out for help and that includes, of course, turning to our discussion forum. Many who frequent the discussion forum would not be surprised to see member-created forum topics relating to the virus. Presently there are two:
Anxiety and Covid-19 in which members are expressing their anxieties brought up to the surface
Triggering! The Sabotage of My Wife has Created a Lot of Discord expresses one survivor’s family dynamic amplified by the current virus situation
Another valuable MaleSurvivor tool at this time is the MaleSurvivor Chat Rooms, where survivors can share real-time with other survivors and often under the care of a staff moderator. Many survivors try to avoid a sense of boredom, knowing that boredom is a foreshadowing of the draw to unhealthy behaviors like substance use and pornography use. Again, feeling a sense of connectedness through discussion forums and chat can add to your toolkit to bust up these coronavirus blues.
Please take good care of yourselves. And remember that we are here to support you. Now more than ever, our motto: Hope. Healing. Support.
Murray Schane.
President, MaleSurvivor Board of Directors
