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Being stuck all day at home without knowing when this is all going to end is very frustrating. And watching the news from going bad to worse can make us all hate the idea of quarantine. According to mental health professionals, this situation also creates a perfect timing of feeling powerless, anxious, and terrified of almost everything. Thus, we get too susceptible to unhealthy negative thoughts and behavior.
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The Mental health Dilemma
We all know that anxiety and fear thrive on uncertainty. The more we don’t know what’s going to happen next with this pandemic situation, the more we deal with mental exhaustion. It is a triggering situation that not all of us can seem to comprehend. That explains why people who, instead of securing their overall health, somehow shift to embracing the negative sides of the situation. Thus, they find it overwhelming that they do not want to focus on living better lives. It leads them to the doom-and-gloom conclusion of the global health condition. These individuals focus too much on the things they can’t control, which strain their mental health. Honestly, even licensed professionals at BetterHelp believe that as well.
The truth is, there is a high possibility that we might live like this for a while. And as much as we want to complain about our situation, there is little to nothing we can do to change it. But despite this unfortunate circumstance, it doesn’t mean we have to be stressed out and take our mental health for granted.
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What Can We Do?
Get Dressed – You might think it’s funny because a lot of people are now unable to go outside. Thus, you may be wondering why anyone would try and get dressed? You might think, “what’s the point?” Well, for some reason, there are specific things we can still maintain doing to make ourselves feel good. Dressing up doesn’t mean we put on beautiful clothes to lie to ourselves and make us disregard the struggle of our current state. Contrary to that, dressing up implies that despite the unfortunate global crisis we have, we prioritize self-care. Because when you think about it, staying with our pajamas all day can make us feel covered and far-flung.
Establish A Routine – Instead of complaining about how this pandemic changes everything in our lives, why not care to establish a new routine that will comply with the ones we do regularly. Indeed, we can never control what’s happening outside, but we can always alter our space. Therefore, establishing new routines and maintaining the structures will allow us to have self-confidence, consistency, and predictability. We need to understand that the capacity to change a regular routine is the same as telling ourselves that we can work things better our ways. The one person who can do that is us.
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Be Socially Active – Understandably, we need to keep physical distance from people to avoid the spread of the infection. But social distancing doesn’t mean we shouldn’t talk to our friends and colleagues. Contrary to that, we should get socially active in a digital way to secure functioning mental and emotional aspects. Yes, I hear you. Being socially active will not fill some of the added hours of your time during this pandemic lockdown. Meaning, you will still have to deal with a lot of hours alone with yourself. But a couple of minutes talking with a friend can make significant changes in your mood as well as your brain function.
Mental illness comes from uncontrolled emotional and mental instability. Perhaps you would disagree, but we need to permit ourselves to worry. Yes, we should allow our minds to experience pressure at some point. However, we should not let that fear take over our lives. We can always find ways to deal with this situation as long as we understand our strengths and weaknesses.