Editor’s Note

By Stacy M. Menz, PT, DPT

As I write this letter, it is mid-June. We are still in the COVID-19 pandemic, clinics are beginning to reopen, cities and states are beginning to reopen, numbers of cases are going up, information is continuing to change almost daily it feels like.

This has been a highly stressful time. In this issue we gathered authors and topics that we hope will be helpful tools to assist in navigating through the many ripple effects COVID has brought into our lives. Not only was there new information, but the issue also contains many reminders on topics I had not made a priority through this time.

In many of my editor’s letters, I try to bring a personal slant to the topics we cover in Impact, and this issue is no different as it resonates with me on a personal level. As some of you know, I’m a fairly new mom (my giant little guy is almost 9 months old) and I am a single mom by choice. Being a business owner/sole proprietor whose entire family is on the other side of the country, you may imagine that there was some stress in my life. As I approached the end of my maternity leave, I began to experience post-partum anxiety. There was lots of spiraling happening in my head!

Today, I can say I am so thankful I went through that experience in January because I immediately sought out resources. I knew that I didn’t want to feel that way and that I was going to miss out on the joy of being with my son if I didn’t take action. By searching out resources then, I was better equipped to deal with the stress and anxiety brought on by the uncertainty of being a business owner during this pandemic.

Each day has required me to put into practice techniques to help, but I wonder sometimes how I would have handled all this if I hadn’t had the experience I had in January. Mental health is so important for all of us. If there is anything this month’s issue makes clear, I hope it is that you take your and your staff’s mental wellbeing into consideration as much as everyone’s physical wellbeing. As an editorial team, we sincerely hope that you use these resources and share them with your teams. And, please don’t forget about your patients. The past several months have affected all of us in some way and not been easy on any of us. Let’s work to take total care of our teams, each other and treat the whole patient!