Care For Your Mental Health During Quarantine
As the COVID-19 pandemic has progressed, nearly every aspect of our daily lives have been affected. During a situation such as this, many people may find themselves experiencing anxiety regarding their health, the health of their loved ones, and the stability of their financial future. Maintaining your mental well-being during these times is a necessary part of keeping yourself and those around you healthy.
Follow these guidelines to keep your mental health in check:
Follow common sense guidelines and precautions. Wash your hands often, and wear a face mask and maintain a distance of 6ft from others at time when you do have to make trips to the grocery store or doctor's office. Knowing that you're doing your best to keep yourself and those around you safe can be an important step to developing a mindset of positivity.
It is important to remember that everyone reacts differently to intensive experiences like this; be mindful of others around you that may be experiencing their own stressors. Being confrontational to those you see not strictly adhering to proper guidelines will inevitably raise both your stress levels as well as the other person's. Just as you should give yourself credit, provide positive reinforcement to those around you following safety precautions.
Stay connected with friends and family in your life. With popular video conferencing apps like Zoom, Jitsi and Google Hangouts you can keep in touch with people important to you and stage off the feelings of isolation that may come from the loss of that essential communication.
Set limits for the amount of news/current events you expose yourself to on a daily basis. To limit exposure to misinformation, identifying trustworthy sources for news can alleviate the stress of processing conflicting or exaggerated information. In a recent post, we highlighted a number of sources we trust for ongoing information regarding the crisis.
Try to identify and make a list of things in your life that please or relax you and pull from that list whenever you begin to feel anxious. This could include a favorite television show or movie, a game on your phone or computer, or a non-taxing home improvement project. For instance, cleaning just one room in your house can have a marked increase in your well-being, as you are improving the space you are spending considerable time in. Meditation can also help to center your mental energies to better combat stress and anxiety; phone apps like Calm and Headspace offer guided meditation courses of varying degrees.
On the reverse side, also try to identify things that trigger anxiety and limit your engagement with those things. Though it is often difficult, recognizing your individual stressors is the first step in mitigating the feeling of being overwhelmed.
If you're working from home, establish a workflow for what you need to accomplish; having a plan in place for what needs to get done can give you a better idea of how far along you are, and can help you incorporate in breaks from working to lower stress levels. I find that listening to ambient or drone music with good headphones puts me in a clear headspace to streamline my workflow; here is a playlist as well as a few artists to check out.
Spend at least 30 minutes a day being physically active. Studies have shown that one half hour (or 10 minutes of cardio-intensive training) of physical movement can have a marked effect on both your mood and immune system.
Maintaining a predictable schedule that supports your mental and physical health will lead to increased stability in other aspects of your life. As an essential worker, depending on your situation you could be working significantly less hours as a result of a self-quarantine, or significantly more overtime as a result of an increase in demand for staffing in your local workplace. Regardless, engaging in hobbies and activities that bring you a sense of joy and purpose will go a long way towards maintaining a positive mental state.
What are your favorite ways of keeping your mental health in check? Let us know in the comments. We will be continuing to update our site with guidance as this situation develops, until then stay safe and stay prepared.