The pandemic, PTSD, and hope from God for every believer’s stress

By Dean Collins

During the pandemic psychologists have seen many who show symptoms of PTSD. Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is real. The American Psychiatric Association says 3.5% of U.S. adults experience PTSD every year. Until we see the end of the pandemic we cannot fully know how many people have experienced trauma. But it is not hard to speculate that it’s a big group. Just consider the number of children who lost a parent to COVID-19. And add the number of people who lost a spouse or loved one. Consider the trauma that first responders and anyone in the medical profession experienced during the overload of work. Add to that the isolation many felt during the pandemic. I could go on and on.

Trauma has a psychological impact on us. Here’s an article that lists some symptoms that come with trauma. Without pandemics, we still have times of great stress due to various life events. The pandemic has created a multiplier to our normal levels of stress and trauma.

Experience grief

One aspect of our recovery when we experience various traumas and losses is to experience grief. And grief always comes. Sometimes we believers attempt to be dismissive about it. We sometimes think our faith is weak if we find ourselves struggling with psychological pain brought about by trauma and loss. Yet the Scriptures are filled with the stories of our heroes of faith who walked through these very same experiences. Old and New Testaments alike have hundreds of stories and psalms that record not only the traumatic events but also the prayers and the lament that help us get through the pain and experience recovery.

Certainly, there are many times where we need help from doctors, therapists, and counselors to survive our trauma and grief. Sometimes we recover with the assistance of friends and family. And all of us can find help and discover hope through the reading of Scripture and through prayer. But is not a failure to get professional help. Many times it is essential to our recovery.

The prophet’s trauma

As I read Lamentations today I started thinking about the stress and trauma the prophet Jeremiah experienced. Imagine being the one God used to warn his people of the coming fall of Jerusalem and the exile. Imagine being the one who explained that the sins of the nation and all of her people were the cause of the impending disaster. Imagine being given graphic details that had to be shared. Imagine the personal rejection and abuse the prophet experienced. Imagine witnessing the suffering and deaths of loved ones and fellow citizens.

And after all of that, it is not hard to imagine that the prophet had his own psychological issues. God’s servants are not immune to sickness and psychological stress and disorders. They were just as human as you and I. And in God’s great compassion for us, he gave us Scripture where we can watch people just like us coming through their suffering.

Discover hope

Lamentations is a book filled with expressions of agonizing grief. Reading it can help us find permission to allow ourselves to be unfiltered in expressing our pain and loss before the Lord. It also reveals that as we grieve, we can and will meet God in the middle of it all. We may not find instant relief and recovery, but we can see hope rising in the journey of the saints of long ago. And as we join them, we will begin to discover this same eternal hope rise again for us.

Let your prayers be as honest as those we read. And may the God of hope bring you encouragement and hope even today as you read and pray the words of the prophet:

I say, “My endurance has perished; so has my hope from the Lord.” Remember my affliction and my wanderings, the wormwood and the gall! My soul continually remembers it and is bowed down within me. But this I call to mind, and therefore I have hope: The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness. “The Lord is my portion,” says my soul, “therefore I will hope in him” (Lamentations‬ ‭3:18-24‬ ‭ESV‬‬).

Photo by Taylor Brandon on Unsplash

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