Mental Health and Coronavirus

HydroMan: The Coronavirus has caused many countries to go into lockdown. Sadly, this means that there are people, such as myself, without work, unable to socialize with friends, very isolated, and suffer from mental health issues. What are some practical measures that we can do to keep our mind healthy and deter negative thoughts?

TheDoctor394: This partly depends on where we are and what we're actually allowed to do while all this is going on, but it certainly is important to look after our mental health, which is every bit as important as the physical.

If we can go outside, and it's not too hot, going for walks can be helpful. I'm fortunate that I live in an area of Brisbane where there is a very large expanse of parks, walks and ponds, and I have never seen it all so busy as I have in the last week or so, with joggers, bikers (adults and children) or just walkers like me (ironically, I think a lot of people are going to be quite fit by the end of the year). If it wasn't for the reason so many are out there, it would be quite nice, but, really, at any time, it's very important to get out of the house and just walk or bike or run if we can.

At home, we might have hobbies, or things to do to spruce up the place. This is a time when we could do things we have been meaning to get around to but haven't, and could end up kicking ourselves when we're eventually back out there living, and we think "why didn't I do that when I had the chance?"

Proverbs 16:27 says that, "Idle hands are the devil's workshop", and a lack of activity can certainly cause us great harm. I remain extremely frustrated that I went through last year unemployed and trying to find things to do and, after finally finding work this year, it's been interrupted by all the craziness now. I'm back to trying to keep myself busy with the things I've mentioned, and it is very important so that we can come out of this still upright and ready to live at the other end.

Most of all, we have God with us, and, ultimately, the promise of Heaven at the very end, where nothing will ever threaten us again, just the glory of an everlasting, perfect life.

TheDoctor394: I should also add that there are things we should not do, at least not more than we have to, like always focusing on the virus issue (or any other rotten stuff) by watching the news constantly. Indeed, it's important to try and do and see as many "normal" things as possible, while still staying grounded in reality, of else we could get consumed by all the negatives.

Paperdoll: MENTAL HEALTH WELLNESS TIPS FOR QUARANTINE

1. Stick to a routine. Go to sleep and wake up at a reasonable time, write a schedule that is varied and includes time for work as well as self-care.

2. Dress for the social life you want, not the social life you have. Get showered and dressed in comfortable clothes, wash your face, brush your teeth. Take the time to do a bath or a facial. Put on some bright colors. It is amazing how our dress can impact our mood.

3. Get out at least once a day, for at least thirty minutes. If you are concerned of contact, try first thing in the morning, or later in the evening, and try less traveled streets and avenues. If you are high risk or living with those who are high risk, open the windows and blast the fan. It is amazing how much fresh air can do for spirits.

4. Find some time to move each day, again daily for at least thirty minutes. If you don’t feel comfortable going outside, there are many YouTube videos that offer free movement classes, and if all else fails, turn on the music and have a dance party!

5. Reach out to others, you guessed it, at least once daily for thirty minutes. Try to do FaceTime, Skype, phone calls, texting—connect with other people to seek and provide support. Don’t forget to do this for your children as well. Set up virtual playdates with friends daily via FaceTime, Facebook Messenger Kids, Zoom, etc—your kids miss their friends, too!

6. Stay hydrated and eat well. This one may seem obvious, but stress and eating often don’t mix well, and we find ourselves over-indulging, forgetting to eat, and avoiding food. Drink plenty of water, eat some good and nutritious foods, and challenge yourself to learn how to cook something new!

7. Develop a self-care toolkit. This can look different for everyone. A lot of successful self-care strategies involve a sensory component (seven senses: touch, taste, sight, hearing, smell, vestibular (movement) and proprioceptive (comforting pressure). An idea for each: a soft blanket or stuffed animal, a hot chocolate, photos of vacations, comforting music, lavender or eucalyptus oil, a small swing or rocking chair, a weighted blanket. A journal, an inspirational book, or a mandala coloring book is wonderful, bubbles to blow or blowing watercolor on paper through a straw are visually appealing as well as work on controlled breath. Mint gum, Listerine strips, ginger ale, frozen Starburst, ice packs, and cold are also good for anxiety regulation. For children, it is great to help them create a self-regulation comfort box (often a shoe-box or bin they can decorate) that they can use on the ready for first-aid when overwhelmed.

8. Spend extra time playing with children. Children will rarely communicate how they are feeling, but will often make a bid for attention and communication through play. Don’t be surprised to see therapeutic themes of illness, doctor visits, and isolation play through. Understand that play is cathartic and helpful for children—it is how they process their world and problem solve, and there’s a lot they are seeing and experiencing in the now.

9. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and a wide berth. A lot of cooped up time can bring out the worst in everyone. Each person will have moments when they will not be at their best. It is important to move with grace through blowups, to not show up to every argument you are invited to, and to not hold grudges and continue disagreements. Everyone is doing the best they can to make it through this.

10. Everyone find their own retreat space. Space is at a premium, particularly with city living. It is important that people think through their own separate space for work and for relaxation. For children, help them identify a place where they can go to retreat when stressed. You can make this place cozy by using blankets, pillows, cushions, scarves, beanbags, tents, and “forts”. It is good to know that even when we are on top of each other, we have our own special place to go to be alone.

11. Expect behavioral issues in children, and respond gently. We are all struggling with disruption in routine, none more than children, who rely on routines constructed by others to make them feel safe and to know what comes next. Expect increased anxiety, worries and fears, nightmares, difficulty separating or sleeping, testing limits, and meltdowns. Do not introduce major behavioral plans or consequences at this time—hold stable and focus on emotional connection.

12. Focus on safety and attachment. We are going to be living for a bit with the unprecedented demand of meeting all work deadlines, homeschooling children, running a sterile household, and making a whole lot of entertainment in confinement. We can get wrapped up in meeting expectations in all domains, but we must remember that these are scary and unpredictable times for children. Focus on strengthening the connection through time spent following their lead, through physical touch, through play, through therapeutic books, and via verbal reassurances that you will be there for them in this time.

13. Lower expectations and practice radical self-acceptance. This idea is connected with #12. We are doing too many things in this moment, under fear and stress. This does not make a formula for excellence. Instead, give yourself what psychologists call “radical self acceptance”: accepting everything about yourself, your current situation, and your life without question, blame, or pushback. You cannot fail at this—there is no roadmap, no precedent for this, and we are all truly doing the best we can in an impossible situation.

14. Limit social media and COVID conversation, especially around children. One can find tons of information on COVID-19 to consume, and it changes minute to minute. The information is often sensationalized, negatively skewed, and alarmist. Find a few trusted sources that you can check in with consistently, limit it to a few times a day, and set a time limit for yourself on how much you consume (again 30 minutes tops, 2-3 times daily). Keep news and alarming conversations out of earshot from children—they see and hear everything, and can become very frightened by what they hear.

15. Notice the good in the world, the helpers. There is a lot of scary, negative, and overwhelming information to take in regarding this pandemic. There are also a ton of stories of people sacrificing, donating, and supporting one another in miraculous ways. It is important to counter-balance the heavy information with the hopeful information.

16. Help others. Find ways, big and small, to give back to others. Support restaurants, offer to grocery shop, check in with elderly neighbors, write psychological wellness tips for others—helping others gives us a sense of agency when things seem out of control.

17. Find something you can control, and control the heck out of it. In moments of big uncertainty and overwhelm, control your little corner of the world. Organize your bookshelf, purge your closet, put together that furniture, group your toys. It helps to anchor and ground us when the bigger things are chaotic.

18. Find a long-term project to dive into. Now is the time to learn how to play the keyboard, put together a huge jigsaw puzzle, start a 15 hour game of Risk, paint a picture, read the Harry Potter series, binge watch an 8-season show, crochet a blanket, solve a Rubix cube, or develop a new town in Animal Crossing. Find something that will keep you busy, distracted, and engaged to take breaks from what is going on in the outside world.

19. Engage in repetitive movements and left-right movements. Research has shown that repetitive movement (knitting, coloring, painting, clay sculpting, jump roping etc) especially left-right movement (running, drumming, skating, hopping) can be effective at self-soothing and maintaining self-regulation in moments of distress.

20. Find an expressive art and go for it. Our emotional brain is very receptive to the creative arts, and it is a direct portal for release of feeling. Find something that is creative (sculpting, drawing, dancing, music, singing, playing) and give it your all. See how relieved you can feel. It is a very effective way of helping kids to emote and communicate as well!

21. Find lightness and humor in each day. There is a lot to be worried about, and with good reason. Counterbalance this heaviness with something funny each day: cat videos on YouTube, a stand-up show on Netflix, a funny movie—we all need a little comedic relief in our day, every day.

22. Reach out for help—your team is there for you. If you have a therapist or psychiatrist, they are available to you, even at a distance. Keep up your medications and your therapy sessions the best you can. If you are having difficulty coping, seek out help for the first time. There are mental health people on the ready to help you through this crisis. Your children’s teachers and related service providers will do anything within their power to help, especially for those parents tasked with the difficult task of being a whole treatment team to their child with special challenges. Seek support groups of fellow home-schoolers, parents, and neighbors to feel connected. There is help and support out there, any time of the day—although we are physically distant, we can always connect virtually.

23. “Chunk” your quarantine, take it moment by moment. We have no road map for this. We don’t know what this will look like in 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month from now. Often, when I work with patients who have anxiety around overwhelming issues, I suggest that they engage in a strategy called “chunking”—focusing on whatever bite-sized piece of a challenge that feels manageable. Whether that be 5 minutes, a day, or a week at a time—find what feels doable for you, and set a time stamp for how far ahead in the future you will let yourself worry. Take each chunk one at a time, and move through stress in pieces.

24. Remind yourself daily that this is temporary. It seems in the midst of this quarantine that it will never end. It is terrifying to think of the road stretching ahead of us. Please take time to remind yourself that although this is very scary and difficult, and will go on for an undetermined amount of time, it is a season of life and it will pass. We will return to feeing free, safe, busy, and connected in the days ahead.

25. Find the lesson. This whole crisis can seem sad, senseless, and at times, avoidable. When psychologists work with trauma, a key feature to helping someone work through said trauma is to help them find their agency, the potential positive outcomes they can effect, the meaning and construction that can come out of destruction. What can each of us learn here, in big and small ways, from this crisis? What needs to change in ourselves, our homes, our communities, our nation, and our world?

cavailable2: What you say is
excellent. Something that helped me was what God said in his word, the Bible. That is, "I give you the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness. " The spirit of heaviness is depression. praise him a lot so you have it wrapped around your mind and heart like a garment around your mind and body. Thanking is part of praise. Thank God for the little things for ten minutes to quarter of an hour. It will help.

G e n e s i s: Lots of nonsense information and hysteria being stirred by agenda pushers over Covid. Watch this nurse tell how hospitals perform fraud and murderous practices to spread and embellish the numbers of covid

MJ59: It's all a conspiracy dammit!!

HydroMan: yes, if this virus truly cam from an animal, they why are there no cases of pets getting the virus from their owners who have it?

Blackshoes: When depression became the very worst within my life I would first pray
More often the best remedy was to keep myself busy.
If I was too tired to work. I would go online or just bake a cake
Anything to remove my thoughts from the pain.

I found that one of the very best things to do was to avoid the news. OMG is that depressing.

HydroMan: Yes blackshoes, keeping the mind active is important. Everyday I think about committing suicide. But I continually try to keep busy so my negative thoughts don't overwhelm me for the majority of the day

Blackshoes: It's most likely a spiritual attack. Have you seen a pastor or priest and explained the thoughts to them
I tell you true. If It wasn't for Jesus, and the prayers of his saints. I wouldn't be here

Blackshoes: Blasphemy of Jesus isn't going to get you anything other than further away from the truth!
Note also I wasn't speaking to you nor are you forced to do anything other than your fathers will "Think not for himself controlled by darkness" By their fruits, you will know them!
I was just telling Hydro the truth an praying that he finds peace

Galatians 5:22
“But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith,”

TheCovenant: 1, be careful where you cross the street, predictability is the enemy of safety.
2 every day is mister dress up, watch out for the crazies.
3 stick to spirits, fresh air is over rated, especially with all the dust and pollen in the air.
4 exercise in the yard, watch out for spoons.
5 try to reach others, not yourself. give them nothing, but take from them everything.
6 good cooking and juice are the roads to happy Ness.
7 carry useless shit with you at all times
8 keep away from children at all times, while you are reading children, adults are reading you.
9 respect everyone, trust no one.
10 you got a warrant for that?
11 see number 8 go fishing instead.
12 don't imprint children its bad luck, theyll just mark you.
13 expect less from yourself and others , you ll never be disappointed
14 lie to children, it helps them grow up.
15 if someone does something good to others its probably a miracle and just as rare.
16 help others, but make sure you get paid in advance.
17 when you have control over nothing, its best to fall back on gun control.
18 if you cant play with others, its best to play with yourself
19 repetitive movements , see 18
20 be artistic , see 19
21 its always better to laugh at others than laughing at yourself.
22 don't go to others for help, they ll only reach you.
23 big dreams, little aspirations.
24 eventually you will realize all those temporaries add up to life.
25 what the f@ck are you talking about?

jmarquis80: I was with a guy 5 yrs and I left to be with my family and see mum in s home I was away 5 years. So since coming back not much has progressed for me. It cost alot to live here. I cannot find any work. I was sick 2 months. Some in my family cut me off. My boyfriend now ex said if I about to lose housing I can move back and move in with him. So the last 2 weeks hes calling half drunk and hes doing cigars and weed too and stirring fights plus you know you cant deal with someone drunk. So he did 3 more fights since then and blames me. He was about to buy rings for us and was so romantic up to 2 weeks ago. We already went through so much with covid lockdown. He even mentioned this cashier hes interested in a few times. So Canada day I texted him be careful there are 1000 dollar fines in ottawa now for shouting and other things like urinating cause at times when he drives from golf he pulls over to pee somewhere. He got mad at me and stirred a huge fight on and on he went. Keep in mind my mum is dying in a nursing home on top of other stress here and I only met one friend in 10 months cause many still afraid of covid! he said many means names to me and its turned to hate not sure where this came from. All I can think is maybe he met someone and turned cruel to cut me off. Now hes acting like I hurt him and he still loves me but needs time to heal alone. Hes not be the best health too as he injects every 14 days but I have never seen him that nasty to me it was so hurtful and shocking for him to do this to me and leave me when I needed him most. We had plans for my birthday too end of July but money us tight as always with us. it was so immature how he dealt with this why couldnt he just straight up call me and be honest?? Seems Im missing something and soon he gets a new phone and will cut me off.