During a more significant crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic, it is normal for anyone to experience increased levels of anxiety, stress, sadness, and other related mental health issues, mainly as a result of social isolation. Physicians, nurses, and many other health care professionals are also vulnerable to mental health problems as they strive to balance their duty of caring for patients with worries about their own safety and that of their family and friends. While focusing on how to slow down the spread of the COVID-19, it’s also important for us to focus on our mental health.
As an individual, you may experience feelings of powerlessness, irritability, anxiety, impatience, or frustration during the quarantine. It is common to feel like we are unclear about the future – when it will all stop, and at what point life will go back to normal. We may feel difficulty facing isolation amidst rapidly changing our social plans and schedules. Worrying in this situation can be normal, and there are ways that we can boost our mental health during this time.
Taking enough self-care strategies at this time is good for your physical and mental health. Take care of your mind and your body, and reconnect with your family and friends to boost your mental health.
Get Enough Sleep
This can be tricky. Everyone is at their home, quarantined. This means no more school, no more college, or no more work to do, at least for someone. There are chances that you’ll always be on your phone to connect with your friends, watch all those pending web series on Netflix and play games. Even though it’s a great choice to communicate with your friends and divert your mind from this situation, the overuse of your mobile phone may affect your health and sleep schedule. Figure out your sleep needs (get at least 7-9 hours of sleep), then prioritize the amount of sleep every night. Avoid all the late-night social activities. Getting enough sleep is more realistic right now — take every advantage of that.
Maintain Your Physical Activity
Maintaining regular exercise and physical activity can help you reduce your mood swings and improve anxiety and stress. Find an activity that includes physical movements, such as dance, yoga poses, exercise apps, or jump ropes to keep you going. If you’re a newbie to exercises or feeling a little lost or having a starting trouble to get adapted to this new lifestyle, here are some ideas to get you moving.
- Take your exercise online. There will be enough motivational videos and fitness training challenges on the internet. Take your chances here.
- Go freestyle. If a structured routine and workout plan is not your style, be creative, and build your own workout plan. You can mix and match your workout plans.
- If you can, go solo outside. Getting fresh air will help you calm down, and you can also try healthy outdoor activities like running, walking, or cycling, etc.
Eat Healthily
Choose a well-balanced diet through this time. Consider quitting junk foods, caffeine, and refined sugar to go along with your exercise lifestyle. Proper nutrition is essential for health, especially in those times when our immune system needs to fight back the COVID-19 virus. Limited access to fresh nutrition-rich foods may compromise opportunities for eating a varied and healthy diet. People who tend to have a well-balanced, healthy diet have a healthier immune system and lower risk of infectious diseases and chronic illness.
You should eat a variety of unprocessed and fresh food items every day to get all the dietary fiber, vitamins, antioxidants, minerals, and proteins your body needs. Drink as much as water to stay hydrated. Eat at home to lessen your rate of contact with other people and lower your chances of being exposed to COVID-19.
Avoid Alcohol, Tobacco, and Drugs
If you used to smoke tobacco or if you vape, chances are you’re already at a higher risk of lung diseases. COVID-19 affects the lungs mainly, and your risk of getting COVID-19 increases even more. And using alcohol to cope up with your stress, loneliness, and anxiety makes matters worse, and it reduces your immunity power. Avoid taking drugs to deal with your mental illness, unless your doctor prescribed medications for you.
It’s the best time to consult a drug rehab center. As the current public health crisis raises severe concerns for the wellbeing of people who use vape, tobacco, and drugs, it’s time to move on. With the rise of telemedicine, health services are also available on the internet.
Stay Busy
Loneliness can be an initial step to your mental illnesses. Create a daily schedule or routine to keep you busy. Or it’s maybe time to recreate your old habits such as painting, reading, gardening, and DIYs. You can also help with other household chores. Or consider beginning a family tradition such as a family night, table games, or any other activities. This time is also for those who want to develop new skills for their advantage when especially, there are so many virtual training classes that are available there. If you have kids at home, teach them how things are done, educate them on new ideas, and build their skills in areas they are interested in.
Make Connections
Find some time each day to make connections with your other family members and friends through texts, FaceTime, phone, or any other similar apps. If you’re working remotely from your home, ask your co-workers how they’re doing. You can host a virtual gathering with family or friends. Check on your elderly neighbors and assist them if they need anything. You can reach out to other people in self-isolation, and you can send funny GIFs or memes to cheer them up. Share only relevant information and avoid spreading rumors and fake news about the COVID-19 pandemic.
As COVID-19 is a deadly virus, the person infected must strictly follow the rules to avoid the spread to their loved ones. Also, the person taking care of them and other people at home should be cautious.
Follow the rules and prevent the outbreak!