“I’m waking up in the middle of the night because I’m worried about something or there’s a weight,” Obama said on Wednesday’s episode of “The Michelle Obama Podcast.” “I try to get a workout in, but there have been times throughout this confinement when I just felt too low.”
Many Americans have experienced this sensation.
According to a Census Bureau survey, one in every three Americans is suffering from depression or anxiety, which is more than three times the rate seen in a similar survey performed in the first half of 2019. Because one of the most effective ways to combat coronavirus is through social isolation, many have gone lengthy stretches without seeing their friends or family, increasing the already pervasive problem of loneliness, which may be extremely detrimental to one’s mental health.
Obama also explored the racial reckoning in America following the killing of George Floyd this summer in her podcast. It is “exhausting” for her to “wake up to yet another story of a Black guy or a Black person being dehumanized, wounded, killed, or wrongfully accused of anything.”
She also expressed her displeasure with folks who refuse to wear masks. “There was virtually a limit to our sacrifice, and it was approximately a month before we just got tired of the infection,” she explained. “It’s distressing to see so many individuals who are sick of sitting at home because the flu hasn’t affected them.”
While “we’ve been through tough times in this country before,” Obama said, “we are in a unique juncture in history… We are living through something that no one in our lives has lived through.”
Obama rushed to Instagram on Thursday to reassure her 40.8 million fans.
“I just wanted to check in with you all because many of you have been checking in on me since listening to this week’s episode.” First and foremost, I’m doing fine. “There’s no need to be concerned about me,” she explained.
She went on to say that it was fine to admit that the world around us can have an impact on our well-being.
“The concept that what this country is going through shouldn’t have any impact on us, that we should all simply be fine all the time—that just doesn’t feel genuine to me.” So I hope you’re all letting yourself feel whatever you’re feeling.”
Obama has undertaken a number of ventures after leaving the White House, including the publication of a best-selling biography and the release of a documentary video series on Netfix. Her latest creative endeavor is her Spotify podcast, which focuses on “important relationships and conversations.”
Her first guest was her husband, Barack Obama, and she will be joined by her mother and brother, late-night entertainer Conan O’Brien, and top Obama White House adviser Valerie Jarrett in the coming weeks.
