COVID-19: How to manage your mental health

These are confusing times. Anxiety, panic, overwhelm and fear are prevalent currently in our world. I hope the following information and ideas help you mitigate your own difficulties during this time. 

Managing Anxiety:

It is absolutely understandable to feel scared right now. When we face a situation with such weighty unknowns, it triggers a natural fear reaction. One of the ways to address the fear is to control what we can control and do our best to let go of what is out of our control. Caution is encouraged, but fretting is wasteful. An important step is limiting media intake. It is important to stay informed, but be careful to not get over-saturated with the bombardment of news. 

Self care:

During times of uncertainty, self care needs to be heeded more than ever. Eat well, stay hydrated, maintain some form of exercise, and meditate. Try your best within the restrictions to sustain your routine. Structure can be soothing during times of chaos. And most importantly, be kind to yourself and others. Critical self-talk is always problematic, but during times of isolation it is especially detrimental.   

Positive Distractions:

There is nothing wrong with healthy distractions. Read a book, play with your animals, do a puzzle, listen to music, be creative, organize your closet, cook, play video games, watch a series…the list is endless. It’s okay and even encouraged to get lost in the moments during these times of heightened stressors. 

Utilize Social Networking: 

There is a lot of criticism about social networking, but during this time of social distancing, make use of its purpose. Reach out to people near and far. You may have more time on your hands than normal, so use it to connect with people you haven’t spoken with in a while. We can all use some love and connection right now. 

Lastly, here is an interesting excerpt from C.S. Lewis, famed author of The Chronicles of Narnia, written in a 1948 essay entitled, “On Living in an Atomic Age.” This was during a time where the threat of nuclear war was very present. Lewis charges the reader with the task of not letting threats of death or fear rule their world. He is encouraging the reader to do their best to continue living their lives despite the panic of what may come.  

In one way we think a great deal too much of the atomic bomb. “How are we to live in an atomic age?” I am tempted to reply: “Why, as you would have lived in the sixteenth century when the plague visited London almost every year, or as you would have lived in a Viking age when raiders from Scandinavia might land and cut your throat any night; or indeed, as you are already living in an age of cancer, an age of syphilis, an age of paralysis, an age of air raids, an age of railway accidents, an age of motor accidents.” 

In other words, do not let us begin by exaggerating the novelty of our situation….

This is the first point to be made: and the first action to be taken is to pull ourselves together. If we are all going to be destroyed by an atomic bomb, let that bomb when it comes find us doing sensible and human things—praying, working, teaching, reading, listening to music, bathing the children, playing tennis, chatting to our friends over a pint and a game of darts—not huddled together like frightened sheep and thinking about bombs. They may break our bodies (a microbe can do that) but they need not dominate our minds. 

We humans are fierce. Believe in that. Take good care.