20 | AUGUST 6 • 2020 

M

ichigan has gone from being a 
state with some of the largest 
numbers of coronavirus cases to 
a state that officials have said is on track to 
contain the virus. Michigan Gov. Gretchen 
Whitmer has slowly begun to reopen the 
state, although she has indicated in recent 
weeks that she may reverse course as more 
COVID-19 cases are detected.
While some people regard these gains in 
liberty as positive, others have coped and 
continue to cope with great anxiety and 
fear about going out into a world where the 
coronavirus still poses a threat.
Lori Kanat Edelson, LMSW
, ACSW
, 
a psychotherapist and owner of the 
Birmingham Maple Clinic 
in Troy, said she has seen 
about 60 to 65 percent of her 
clientele express anxiety over 
the fear of leaving what has 
essentially been an at-home 
lockdown. She said her cli-
ents felt shocked to go into a “bubble” but 
within a month seemed to become comfort-
able living within that bubble.
“Now … they are looking at all kinds 
of opportunities to emerge into the larger 
world. Knowing they have no control of 
how other people behave or take precau-
tions scares them,
” Edelson said. “Once you 
introduce options (of going out), then you 
start facing the fact that people have differ-
ent reactions and philosophies of going out.
”
Catherine Frank, M.D., chair of psychia-
try and behavioral health services at Henry 
Ford Health System, said she 
and her mental health col-
leagues have counseled many 
people who are “very, very 
anxious.
”
“
Anxious as in fearful and 
anxious as in excited,
” she 

said. 
She qualifies this by saying that it’
s nor-
mal to feel this way in such a tumultuous 
time.
“It’
s important to realize anxiety doesn’
t 
equal pathology,
” she said. “These are anx-
iety-provoking times. There’
s a whole con-
tinuum when it comes to anxiety.
”
Nicole Pollack, MSW
, CSW
, a therapist 
with Beaumont Children’
s 
Center, works with kids as 
young as 5 up through ado-
lescents in high school. She 
said she has been unable to 
conduct her in-person group 
sessions with her young 
clients, but is staying in touch with them 
virtually. Although many of her kids don’
t 
or can’
t articulate exactly what they feel, she 
works with them to get in touch with how 
they are coping with the unknown.

“I work with a lot of my patients on 
self-awareness and self-care,” she said. 
“That helps to navigate these uncertain 
times.”
Pollack has listened to kids about the 
struggles they have faced while being at 
home and how hard home schooling has 
been on them and their parents. She said 
she knows that “a lot” of her young clien-
tele were already socially isolated before 
the pandemic hit. She encourages them to 
talk about their feelings.
“We talk a lot about negative thought 

replacement,” she said. “I tell them, don’
t 
focus on the unknown but focus on what 
you can control.”
All three therapists say there have been 
good things to come out of the last four 
months of the stay-at-home order, namely 
the fact that people have been forced to 
take a break from the daily grind, focus on 
family and pursue their own interests.
“Some people have actually appreciated 
the opportunity to slow down, get back to 
basics and spend time with their families 
or (spend time) alone and do things they 
like to do,” Edelson said. “Hopefully, peo-
ple will learn to appreciate there are some 
very basic pleasures and basic relationships 
that are very important. Staying busy and 
distracted and having an overfilled social 
calendar is not as desirable as we thought 
they were.”
Pollack encourages her young patients 
and their parents to take advantage of the 
summer weather to get out and spend 
more time in nature.
“How many walks and bike rides do we 
take where we say afterwards, ‘
That didn’
t 
make me feel good?’
” she said. “It’
s import-
ant to get out, but to do it safely.”
Edelson advises people to respect their 
own feelings about where they go out now 
that restrictions are lifting.
“Listen to your heart and listen to what 
your common sense is telling you,
” she said. 
“You have to find your own compass. While 
you may have to push yourself a little, you
push yourself. You re-engage at a pace that 
is comfortable for you.
”
Frank said that people need to educate 
themselves about the coronavirus and use 
their best judgment in what freedoms they 
take advantage of.
“Social distancing, I think, is an unfortu-
nate choice of words,
” she said. She prefers 
the term “physical distancing.
”
“We don’
t want people to social distance 
and lose touch with their families and 
friends,
” she said. “Make informed deci-
sions about where you should go or don’
t 
go. There isn’
t any evidence that everyone 
should stay at home and not do anything. 
It’
s about the protection you use, the masks 
and the hand hygiene. Those are really 
important.
” 

The state of Michigan has established an online 
mental health portal called ‘
Stay Well,” which lists 
a variety of resources for those coping with the 
emotional difficulties of staying safe during the 
pandemic. Visit Michigan.gov/StayWell.

FOGO —
the Fear of Going Out

With stay-at-home restrictions lifting, three therapists 
advise on ‘
coping’
 with more freedom.

ELIZABETH KATZ CONTRIBUTING WRITER

Jews in the D

“Don’t focus on the 
unknown but focus on 
what you can control.”

— NICOLE POLLACK

