We're all a little lonely and ready for life to return to normal. We're all ready for our favorite coffee shops, bars and hang-outs to reopen so we can gather with our loved ones. We all miss the events, social functions and gatherings that have been canceled.
With all of that, many of us are anxious about the direction of the world and how this virus will effect our communities, state, country and world.
According to the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF), “the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting economic downturn have negatively affected many people’s mental health.”
The KFF recently conducted a poll, in which 45 percent of participating adults stated that their mental health has taken an negative hit since the virus outbreak.
Social isolation from friends and family often leads to deep feelings of loneliness and depression, job loss leads to financial insecurity, feelings of loss-of-control and anxiety and there are no easy solutions to “fix” these difficulties.
But there are some steps you can take while at home to regain a bit of control in your life while the world continues to spiral.
Tips to stay strong during COVID-19:
• Get up early, and don’t stay in your pajamas all day! This may not be a problem, if you are working outside of your home – but even on the weekends, this is a good practice to keep. Whenever you are home, try to keep a productive schedule of some sort. Maybe that means getting up early to start on yard work or set aside a few extra hours to work on a hobby or project. When the world feels like it is falling apart, keeping a bit of order and schedule in your own life can help you feel as though you are just a tiny bit more powerful.
• Develop new habits. This is a great time to quit smoking, learn a new hobby or practice limiting your online screen time. Rather than consider this time of staying isolated as a cruel separation from the world...put your time at home to work by improving the aspects of yourself that you've never had the time or focus to work on before now.
• Exercise and eat well. No one wants to hear this, since its much more enjoyable to sit on the couch, eat popcorn and watch Netflix. But this time of staying at home is also a time of withdrawal from the fast-food habits we've all developed. While at home, experimenting with new, healthy recipes will help fill up the time as well as help you feel more productive at home and better about yourself.
In addition, now is a great time to research the exercise options you've never had time to look into; want to learn yoga? Meditating? High-intensity interval training? YouTube is only a click a way and while at home, you don't have to worry about the stress of the gym in order to stay fit.
• Create to-do lists. I absolutely love to-do lists. They help me focus, stay productive and crossing items off my list gives me a nice mental boost to conquer more tasks. Set aside a bit of time during your morning to write out a list each morning (or the night before, if you prefer) and take notes on everything you want to do the next day, even the simplest of tasks. When you don’t have external structure, you have to create it yourself. Items on your list can be as simple as “read two chapters in my book” or “learn about candle making.”
• Don't forget that vitamin D! “Stay at home” doesn't mean “stay cooped inside.” Sunbathe in your front lawn! Go walk a nature trail! Even just sit by an open a window in your home! While vitamin D is an immune booster, it also helps lessen depression – and we all need a good-mood-boost in these troubling times.
• Limit your bad-news intake. Bad news is important. It is very important to stay informed on the matters impacting your community and world, but there is also a very fine balance being staying informed and bogging yourself down with too much negativity. If social media news clips are causing you stress or anxiety, perhaps it is a good choice to limit your online engagement. Set rules in place for watching news coverage on the TV. Also, look for good news (I promise you it is out there!) amongst the bad. Maybe things aren't super positive right now, but you will also find plenty of people helping others during this crisis. As a shameless self-plug, we at ECB Publishing, Inc. also try to spotlight as much of that “good news” as possible, and will always want to hear from our readers on positive story ideas to keep our community informed.
• Avoid overuse of drugs and drinking. Recently, I went to the grocery store and the woman in front of me had a cart full of nothing but wine (I am not making this up!) and while it was definitely a humorous thing to watch, surviving on a liquid diet is not recommended, and not just because its unhealthy. We are in a stressful time right now, but the CDC has suggested people not turn to drugs (legal or illegal) or begin to overdrink in response. Not only do those things have long-term effects that will harm you long after life returns to normal, but it also lowers your ability to feel positively about yourself. Not that a glass or two of wine in the evenings will do any harm, but try not to down a bottle in one night.
• Stay connected. We (as in the modern world) rely heavily on social media to keep ourselves connected to our friends and families. But social media can only do so much, and there is no better time to reach out through a friendly text, a handwritten letter or a phone call to check in with our loved ones, especially those who are shut-in at home during this crisis.
If the feelings of being mentally overwhelmed with emotions such as sadness, depression or anxiety grow too heavy to carry on your own, reach out. Help is only a call away:
• Call 911
• Call the Disaster Distress Helpline at 1( 800) 985-5990, or text TalkWithUs to 66746
• Visit the National Domestic Violence Hotline or call 1 (800) 799-7233 and TTY 1 (800)787-3224.
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