Fear and anxiety concerning a disease can be baffling and cause strong emotions in adults and children affecting mental health. Covid19 has literally turned our life around. Lockdown, social distancing, quarantine has become the vocab of 2020.
We can not emphasize enough how extremely important it is to take care of your health both physically and mentally. Since most of the population is working from home, it can be difficult for many and affect their mental health.
Here are some tips to keep your mental health in check.
Keep away from new all the time-
Being constantly bombarded by news from new channels, via social media platforms, etc, can be overwhelming and be the reason for your anxiety. Devote a little time for grasping what is happening all over you. Pick sources limited and reliable sources for news.
Find this time to do activities that you enjoy and bring in some normalcy back to your life. Unwind and remind yourself that these strong feelings will dissolve.
Care for your body-
Inhale.
Exhale.
Repeat.
Make it a point in a day to meditate. Okay, no pressure every alternate day. Take deep breaths. Stretch. Meditate. Eat moderate & well-balanced meals, get up and move your body regularly, get plenty of sweet sleep, and highly restrict alcohol and drugs. It is essential to boost your immunity and developing good habits will do the needful.
Coping with a sudden decrease in social contact-
To mitigate COVID19 pandemic, one of the prominent ways is to practice social distancing. Meaning that one should avoid crowded places- social gatherings, meetings, restaurants, etc. It is advised to maintain a gap of approximately six feet or two meters from others.
Instead, call text or video chat with your friends, relatives. Keep in touch.
Drop all your worries-
Whether or not you are a fan of maintaining a journal, but since you have plenty of time, jot down all your fears in a journal and observe your anxiety dropping
. Show gratitude, write down all the things you are grateful for, and remember them. Despite the current situation, spend more time with your kids, or invest your time in a good book or learn a new recipe, and Netflix.
These recommendations are especially important if you have a pre-existing mental health condition.
Daily routine
Your routines will be haywire but, don’t get lazy. Perform your daily routines with equal zest in the quarantine period as well. If you are working from home, call your colleagues, and keep a steady tab on work. Exercise frequently, eat well and drink lots of water. Keep yourself and people you care about in loop and motivated.
Let sun and nature reach out to you, be it in your balcony, patio, or your favorite corner in the house.
Avoid burnout
Isolation, exhaustion, irritability, etc are signs of burnout. Practice “Apple” suggests AnxietyUK, it is a technique to deal with anxiety and distress.
- Acknowledge: Notice and acknowledge the uncertainty as it comes to mind.
- Pause: Don’t react as you normally do. Don’t react at all. Pause and breathe.
- Pull back: Tell yourself this is just the worry talking, and this apparent need for certainty is not helpful and not necessary. It is only a thought or feeling. Don’t believe everything you think. Thoughts are neither statements nor facts.
- Let go: Let go of the thought or feeling. It will pass. You don’t have to respond to them. You might imagine them floating away in a bubble or cloud.
- Explore: Explore the present moment, because right now, at this moment, all is well. Observe your breathing and the sensations of your breathing. Notice the ground beneath you. Look around and notice what you see, what you hear, what you can touch, what you can smell. Right now. Then shift your focus of attention to something else – on what you need to do, on what you were doing before you noticed the worry, or do something else – mindfully with your full attention.
CDC says that outbreak of COVID 19 can cause fear and stress among children and adults. Be strong and help others such as your family and friends.