COVID19 and Your Mental Health
Good evening everyone. We’re deviating from our regularly weekly scheduled content. And why not? We’re definitely in irregular times. At this point, many in our country (and around the world) are finding themselves working remotely and staying home, and trying to not panic as both disease and economic uncertainty take up all of the major headlines.
I know personally, my husband and I are both working from home and only leaving the house to do a weekly grocery run. This is a drastic change for many of us and I wanted to give you guys some tips for how you can preserve your mental health during this time.
Coronavirus and your mental health
· Get into a routine. It does NOT have to be the same one that you keep during your regular life. If you normally have to be on a train at 6:30am and your work doesn’t start until 8, don’t feel like you have to wake up at your normal time. Having some kind of structure can be valuable though to creating a sense of normalcy. It helps to make sense of the time that we are in. It also will help you to create boundaries between your work time and your off time when you don’t have a clear office to go to or commute to create that transition.
· Don’t keep the news on all day. For many people, the current uncertainty and its repetition in the 24 hour news cycle can be incredibly triggering. I’m not suggesting that you not take this seriously and put your head in the sand. I am suggesting that you create specific times of day where you allow yourself to engage with this information.
· Maintain basic standards of hygiene. Like many people, I am also embracing leggings and no makeup during this time. Unless it makes you feel more like yourself, you do not need to do your whole makeup and hair routine each day. You do need to brush your teeth. You do need to shower regularly.
· Allow yourself time to be “off”. Yes, if we’re fortunate enough to be working, we’re largely working from home. No, that does not mean that your workday is now 16 of 24 hours per day.
· Honor your feelings. This is a little bit controversial. The body is not designed to be in a long-term state of panic but the reality is, things are scary right now. People are nervous about getting sick. They’re nervous about their family, friends, and neighbors getting sick and the ability of hospitals to care for them. They’re scared of what closing their business for the time being means for their financial future. It would be doing yourself a disservice to simply push these feelings down. Feelings demand to be felt and the more you push them down, the more you experience that sensation of emotional whack-a-mole we’ve discussed in the past. You’ll end up taking those fears out on those around you. So, give yourself some time and space to feel them. Journal them. Talk about them with your partner. Then go do something else.
I hope this is helpful to you! If there’s something that you’ve been doing that you think is particularly helpful, share it with our community below!
If you’re having a really hard time with this or this is creating an increase in symptoms of existing mental health issues you struggle with, I get it and my virtual doors are open to you. Click the button below and let’s talk about it.