We’ve been doing COVID’s version of life on this planet for close to 2 years. We’ve done what we’re told, but this coronavirus just keeps dumping more on us. When will this be over?

About the time we think we’re pushing the delta variant back, who should step up to bat but omicron? We hope you’ve enjoyed Christmas and the winter holidays. Now as we look to the New Year, so many are asking, “When will it end?” How long must we continue wearing masks, testing, avoiding crowds, and getting boosters? Navigating COVID delta and omicron requires tenacity and determination going forward.

As we move into 2022, we face a new highly contagious variant: omicron. For example, omicron, has caused a startling surge in cases in New York City… and is so contagious that it’s expected to become the dominant strain of COVID in just weeks, compared to delta’s timetable of taking months to do the same thing.

One epidemiologist, Dr. Jay Verma, warns that if lightning speed adjustments aren’t made now, the danger of omicron taking over with record-breaking hospitalizations and death is irrefutable.

And that’s the risk with navigating COVID delta and omicron.

Every few months we seem to hear about another variant of COVID-19, and are given new instructions.

We’re tired of it. But even so, you can’t get millions of people to comply with new instructions all that quickly… People as a whole tend to resist change. At first, COVID gave symptoms like cough, shortness of breath, and fever. Now a “loud” symptom to watch for is a scratchy throat.

So what do we do? We get a scratchy throat and worry. And worry. We go for testing. At any other time in our lives, a scratchy throat meant a cold or flu (or maybe just allergies), was starting. We knew what to do with it. But, a scratchy throat now means “get a COVID test.”

And unlike the past symptom alarms, it also means it can get worse and worse if you haven’t been fully vaccinated. (Fully vaccinated used to mean two shots, but now it means two “plus a mRNA-based booster.”)

Will it EVER Stop? Will COVID be with us forever?

And, by the way, what on earth is an mRNA – based booster? Well, specifically, It’s a booster supplied by Moderna or Pfizer.

We’re at war.

As to the question of whether the pandemic will ever end, there is no answer yet. There are experts who question whether we’ll ever see the end of COVID-19, and get back to normal. More experts suggest we should accept that we’re at war with this virus, and accept the adjustments that are inevitably part of wartime.

Yes, we’re hoping for things to get better. But some experts believe these variants will keep reproducing ad infinitum. We’ll see. But what about in the meantime?

It’s tough to make adjustments in war time.

Meanwhile, we don’t want to isolate. We want to get out, mix with friends, gather for weddings, and we want to enjoy ourselves.

While we sympathize — we’re all in the same boat, right?—to keep our families well, to keep our children in school uninterrupted, we have to participate in these latest requirements put forth last Tuesday.

We have to just do it.

If we don’t, omicron is going to spread faster than we can imagine. And those without all three vaccinations (including a booster), are likely to be the ones who get seriously sick in the coming year. Boosters offer additional protection against delta and omicron. They’re a necessary part of our arsenal.

We’re told that those with all three vaccinations are less likely to get seriously sick if they’re infected. However, those without all three vaccines are most at risk for critical illness and death if they’re infected.

So navigating COVID delta and omicron requires a few pointers for preparing for the new year and with it, the growing wave of omicron.

Are you playing tug o’war?

Now let’s talk about you, and how this may affect you. Stress happens when you want a situation to be different than it is. Picture the rope in a tug-of-war. When someone’s stationed at each end, the tension in the rope is tight. Now picture yourself at one end of the rope and the COVID war at the other end.

As long as you pull on your end of the rope, and COVID pulls on the other, with the necessity of masks, hand washing, and social distancing that you may resent, stress is the result for you. That rope is tight. Your stress heightens, and anxiety takes hold …and maybe even depression.

But if you let go of the rope by deciding to accept that you can’t change the situation—by complying with the adjustments you’re asked to make in this war—your rope goes slack, and your stress is relieved over this issue.

Over-simplified? Maybe. But clear.

You could just stop tugging.

You might want to evaluate your approach to the next leg of the pandemic that lies before us in the new year, navigating COVID delta and omicron. Your peace and emotional balance is worth more than your resistance… don’t you think?

And …if your anxiety and depression, or your substance and alcohol use, are already bad—and you can’t change your mind or make decisions that improve your frame of mind—then you may need treatment.

If you’ve taken other medications and treatments that haven’t helped, IV ketamine treatment may be just the thing to not only relieve the symptoms of stress, but actually help you achieve remission.

Imagine having your resilience restored, your outlook on life brightened, the strength and resolve to build meaningful, healthy relationships, the creativity and motivation to excel in your job. And the peace, freedom, and hope to build a rewarding life.

Just Imagine.

Ketamine isn’t for everyone. But odds are that you’re squarely in the middle of those whose lives can be transformed by this extraordinary treatment.

At Innovative Psychiatry, we work with people every day struggling with these same symptoms. They come in bearing up under the burden of these symptoms, and complete treatment with a new lease on life, new hope, new freedom from symptoms.

IV ketamine treatment can reverse symptoms of these disorders, replace them with joy, motivation, initiative, and confidence.

When you come for ketamine treatment, you'll have a comfortable, quiet room to get the most from your treatment.

When you come in, you’ll find a comfy, heated recliner you can settle into, and relax. A little white box on the table will be quietly running, destroying (not filtering, but destroying) viruses and bacteria in the air. This little miracle worker uses plasma cell technology to destroy the DNA in the microbes in the air, making the air pure for you to breathe. And it’s efficient. It destroys 99.99% of all microbes in the air, including viruses like flu and COVID with all its variants like omicron and delta.

We go the extra mile (in every way) to ensure you’re safe from infection and able to focus on getting the most from your treatment.

IF you suffer from these symptoms and nothing else is helping, call us.

What else has you in a tug of war? Depression? Apathy? Anxiety that doesn’t let up? Trauma? PTSD symptoms? Bipolar depression? Suicidal thoughts? Or worries about suicidal thoughts in someone you love?

We’re here to help. With all the tugs. With all the wars you may be fighting…

To the restoration of your best self,

Lori Calabrese, MD

loricalabresemd