STRESS AND COPING IN THE TIME OF COVID-19: PATHWAYS TO RESILIENCE AND RECOVERY Craig Polizzi, Steven Jay Lynn, Andrew Perry Abstract Clinical Neuropsychiatry (2020) 17, 2, 59-62 Citaton: Polizzi, C., Lynn, S.J., Perry, A. (2020). Stress and Coping in the Time of COVID-19: Pathways to Resilience and Recovery. Clinical Neuropsychiatry, 17(2), 59-62. htps://doi.org/10.36131/ CN20200204 © 2020 Giovanni Fiorit Editore s.r.l. This is an open access artcle. Distribu- ton and reproducton are permited in any medium, provided the original author(s) and source are credited. Funding: None. Competng interests: None. Corresponding author Steven Jay Lynn, Ph.D., Psychology Department, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902 Email: stevenlynn100@gmail.com OPEN ACCESS Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has disrupted virtually every aspect of daily living, engendering forced isolation and social distance, economic hardship, fears of contracting a potentially lethal illness and feelings of helplessness and hopelessness. Unfortunately, there is no formula or operating manual for how to cope with the current global pandemic. Previous research has documented an array of responses to mass crises or disasters, including chronic anxiety and posttraumatic stress as well as resilience and recovery. Much can be learned from this research about how people have coped in the past in order to identify strategies that may be particularly efective in managing distress and cultivating resilience during these perilous times. We delineate multiple coping strategies (e.g., behavioral activation, acceptance-based coping, mindfulness practice, loving-kindness practices) geared to decrease stress and promote resilience and recovery. These strategies may be especially efective because they help individuals make meaning, build distress tolerance, increase social support, foster a view of our deep human interconnectedness, and take goal-directed value-driven actions in midst of the COVID-19 pandemic. Key words: stress, coping, COVID-19, Coronavirus, posttraumatic stress disorder, mindfulness, loving kindness Craig Polizzi a , Steven Jay Lynn a , Andrew Perry b a. Psychology Department, Binghamton University, Binghamton, NY 13902, United States. Emails: cpolizz1@binghamton.edu (CP); stevenlynn100@gmail.com (SJL) b. Andrew Perry, Binghamton NY, 13905, United States. Email: andrew.h.perry@gmail.com Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) has been heralded as the invisible enemy, the angel of death, a relentless and soulless invader that has infected the global psyche with fear and the bodies of our most vulnerable citizens and the broader populace with a potentially lethal illness. In many communities, virtually every aspect of daily life has been turned topsy-turvy, from how people earn their livelihood, socialize, and recreate to worries about fnancial ruin. COVID-19 strikes indiscriminately, with no preference for borders, sex, gender, race, ethnicity, or social class and poses never-before seen challenges. People keep their distance from one another, shelter in place, and live in fear, not knowing what challenges and perils the day or next days will bring, and if they or a loved one will survive the viral onslaught. What to many once seemed a “million miles away,” COVID-19 now competes with us for survival in our neighborhoods. We have faced pandemics before. But few are alive who recall the Spanish Flu of 1918, and more recent epidemics, from AIDS, SARS, Ebola, to Swine Flu, have not created such pervasive or prolonged disruptions to the ebb and fow of life on a worldwide basis as COVID-19. Thus, there is no formula or operating manual for how to negotiate the crisis we presently fnd ourselves in, as we rightly wonder if we will soon be “knockin’ on heaven’s door,” to quote Bob Dylan. To compound matters, this havoc comes at a time when we face existential threats of climate change, global famines, terrorism, economic dislocations, and wars. Is this the beginning of the apocalypse, some people muse? We will weather this crisis, as we have others that have punctuated our collective history. Yet if past research is a harbinger of future outcomes, then, like hurricanes, foods, and other infectious disease epidemics, adverse psychological reactions that encompass anxiety, acute stress, addictive behaviors, and posttraumatic stress symptoms, alongside increased suicidality, self-blame, and major depression, will surely follow in the wake of COVID-19 (Norris, 2005). At the core of all these conditions lies elements of one of the most basic and primal human emotions--fear. In the case of the COVID-19 epidemic, it is inextricably tied to feelings of helplessness and the loss of a fundamental sense of safety, security, fnancial stability, and the ability to envision a brighter future. Fear of infection in the presence of others, of contact with contaminated surfaces, and of passing too close to another human being evokes an increasingly familiar shudder of mistrust of others, avoidance, and withdrawal from everyday activities, thereby shrinking our worlds and constraining opportunities for essential human contact and social support, which are vitally necessary for adaptive functioning (e.g., Bonanno, Galea, Bucciarelli, & Vlahov, 2007). Mistrust can extend to contacts with friends and family members, to our leaders, who can appear clueless or confused about what actions to take in defense of the virus, and to mistrust in what we do or fail to do to avoid infection. Isolation, a signature of the COVID-19 epidemic, places unique and severe strains on the ability to maintain a resilient posture, in contrast with natural Submitted March 26, 2020, accepted March 31, 2020 59 PERSPECTIVE ARTICLE