People Enduring While Imagining Life After COVID-19... Writing Bucket Lists and Emotional Diaries

Significant Increase in Depression Patients Last Year
Bucket Lists and Emotion Diaries Provide Help

Experts Say "Unrealistic Goals Cause Frustration,
Efforts to Achieve Them Must Accompany"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Lee Jung-yoon] Jeong Jun-ho (29, pseudonym), who is usually called a "travel enthusiast," experienced corona blue (depression) when overseas travel was blocked due to COVID-19. However, Jeong is overcoming it with a list called "When COVID Ends." The list includes travel destinations such as New York in the United States, Tokyo in Japan, and Seville in Spain, places he visited in the past and plans to visit again once the skies reopen. It also includes regions he has not yet visited. Jeong said, "Whenever I feel mentally exhausted due to COVID-19, I write down hobbies I want to try one by one," adding, "Imagining returning to daily life while looking at the list temporarily relieves my frustration."

As COVID-19 prolongs, feelings of depression are rapidly spreading in our society. According to data submitted by the Health Insurance Review & Assessment Service to Jo Myung-hee, a member of the National Assembly’s Health and Welfare Committee from the People Power Party, 595,043 people received treatment for depression in the first half of last year alone. This is a high figure compared to 798,495 people who received treatment for depression throughout 2019. As depression envelops society, people are overcoming it by creating "When COVID Ends Bucket Lists"?lists of things to do once the COVID-19 situation ends.

College student Yoon Jin-gi (27) also felt lethargy when social distancing measures intensified, preventing him from playing soccer and basketball. He began writing down the daily activities he cannot do now in a notebook. The notebook is filled with sports he wants to try, including swimming and working out, in addition to soccer. It also includes attending alumni meetings, going to concerts of famous singers, visiting clubs, and watching movies. He soothes his depressed feelings by looking at the list and photos taken while exercising. On social networking services (SNS), posts tagged with "#WhenCOVIDEnds" are also being shared. Most of these posts contain photos of past daily life along with things people want to do once COVID-19 ends.

Keeping an "emotion diary" also helps overcome depressive feelings. When stress or lethargy arises due to COVID-19, one describes the negative emotions currently being experienced. The diary also includes the causes of such stress and plans for improvement. Online, it is easy to find posts sharing diaries with comments like "Writing an emotion diary has made me feel better."

Professor Kwak Geum-joo of the Department of Psychology at Seoul National University said, "Writing a bucket list while imagining the post-COVID-19 situation gives hope that the current hardships can be overcome, which helps relieve depression," adding, "However, if such lists are unrealistic and not achieved in the future, it can cause great frustration, so efforts to achieve them should accompany the list." She continued, "Simply honestly expressing one’s emotions in an emotion diary helps relieve depression and stress," adding, "It can have effects similar to receiving psychological counseling."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.