After almost eight months of quarantine, face masks and hand sanitizer, we are now in the middle of two unprecedented events: The COVID-19 pandemic and the first holiday season under measures that have changed how we carry out our family traditions.

The reality is clear. According to a Kaiser Family Foundation health tracking poll, two-thirds of the public are worried they or their family will get sick from the coronavirus. These disruptions have brought with them some very difficult emotional and mental challenges. Think about how it is affecting each of us on a personal level: Illness or fear of illness, social isolation, economic insecurity, disruption of routine and loss of loved ones.

The impact is real and we can’t kid ourselves: Many of us living with some degree of depression and/or anxiety. On top of that, we have a generation or two of children and young people who are looking to us to guide them through. Our lives have been turned upside-down, but we must remember that our children and youngpeopleareimpactedbythe stress of their parents and other adults around them. So, if we are struggling with our own mental health during the holidays, you can believe that our young people are impacted as well.

Throughout the history of Black people in this country, family and community have sustained us even in the darkest moments of the racial inequities that have always existed. What’s being asked of us now is to do something that is unlike anything we’ve ever thought possible – celebrate the holidays and honor family traditions without being together.

Let’s not make the mistake of thinking that because the holidays are here, we can just immerse ourselves into them, oblivious to the wear and tear of having spent the entire past year in the grips of one of the deadliest pandemics in history. This is especially true if you had a pre-existing mental health issue, are a low-income individual, a person of color or close to someone who suffered or died from COVID-19.

Enough time has passed for researchers to look at just how bad this pandemic has affected our mental and emotional health. A Boston University study found that the rates were higher than what we saw after 9/11 or Hur- ricane Katrina. Yet, unlike 9/11 or Katrina, COVID-19 isn’t something bad that happens, and then we get back to “normal.” It’s not going to work like that. Thingscanneverbelikethey were before.

The consequences for mental and behavioral health are clear: Spikes in interpersonal violence, suicide and substance abuse. Homicide rates are already up 50 percent than the previous year in some places. Hospitals

aren’t seeing a measurable rise in domestic child abuse, but the severity of the injuries that children coming to the emer- gency room have are far worse and more violent than anything seen in the past. The economic impact on many families has led to feelings of frustration and uncertainty in relation to the inadequate basic supplies of food, water and clothes, etc.

It’s tough, but we are all going to have to try our best to manage the stress and anxiety of this very different holiday season under these unimaginable circumstances. The federal Center for Disease Control and Prevention reminds us that the safest way to celebrate the winter holidays is to celebrate at home with people who live with you. Gatherings with family and friends who do not live with you can increase the chances of getting or spreading COVID-19 or the flu.

We must remain vigilant in our understanding and respect for the deadly nature of COVID-19, and keep in mind the things that contribute to the risk of getting and spreading the virus at small, in-person gatherings.

As we all do our best to go through this unusual holiday season, I may not be able to spend this holiday with my loved ones this year, but I’m willing tospendthistimeapartsowe can be with them next year and the year after that.

The writer is a visiting scholar at the National Bioethics Center at Tuskegee University and a Harvard Medical School Fellow in Research Bioethics and Writing.