Researchers have found that some people are prone to experiencing mental health issues, such as anxiety and depression, during times of pandemic. Additionally, those with pre-existent conditions will see them aggravated. What can you do to take good care of your mental health during the COVID lockdown?
- Read news from trustworthy sources (WHO, CDC, etc.): avoid media outlets that focus on things you can’t control. Instead, turn to sources that provide reliable information about how to protect yourself.
- Set limits on your media consumption: limit your media consumption to a certain time frame or a certain number of articles.
- Develop an action plan: recognize the things you can control (washing your hands, staying indoors, disinfecting items) and focus on that to decrease your stress levels.
- Avoid the herd mentality: be aware that a lot of people take action that doesn’t help (such as buying an enormous amount of tissue papers or wearing masks when they don’t need to).
- Practice good self-care: eating a balanced diet, maintaining a healthy sleep schedule and engaging in leisure activities will help you stay physically and psychologically healthy during these times.
- Leisure activities (whether by yourself or with family members) during lockdown can include:
- Complete a puzzle.
- Watch really long movies that you’ve been avoiding until now.
- Start a journal; it could be about your experience during this lockdown that you might want to look back on in a decade or about something completely different.
- Download Duolingo and teach yourself a foreign language.
- Play an instrument (but mind your neighbors).
- Try meditation: try lying down with your eyes closed, palms up and focusing on your breathing.
- Look at pictures or videos of puppies/kittens (hard to stay stressed with all that cuteness).
- Pick a board game and engage in a fun night with your family (cards, Monopoly, Jenga, Uno).
- Use Skype, Google Hangouts or Facetime to video chat with your friends and family.
- Print out some mandalas and spend some time coloring; they’re very soothing.
- Read about anything that might interest you!
- Connect with others: talk to people you trust about your concerns and feelings. We’re all on the same boat and can relate more strongly to one another.
- Practice self-compassion: don’t be hard on yourself when you can’t shut off the fear and anxiety; fear isn’t fun but it signals that we are fully human.
- Don’t let that fear and anxiety become pandemics too: don’t let your fear lead you into self-isolation or stop you from acting with clarity and compassion. Terrible things happen but it is possible to move forward with love and hope.
- Remember that this too shall pass. This is not forever, it is just a moment in time. And it will pass, as all things do.