Unless you've been living under a rock, the news of the pandemic brought about by the news strain of coronavirus has probably caused you a lot of anxiety. That's why these days, the question that gets asked often is: "How are you holding up, with the pandemic and all?"
It can be tough to ignore what's happening around you and for it not to affect your mood and emotions. The thought of someone in your family or a friend getting sick with the virus is enough to make you worry, especially when you see or hear reports about thousands of people becoming infected every day.
Aside from thinking of the health aspect, you're also concerned about finances. Whether you're working from home as part of coping with the new normal or on-site, you can't help but wonder if you'll still have a job tomorrow. What if your company was forced to shut down due to financial losses from COVID-19? How are you and your family going to survive the crisis?
Amid your worries, you need to try to stay calm, composed, and positive. Of course, this isn't as simple as it sounds, but keeping a healthy mind in times of crisis can help make challenges more manageable and add joy and peace into your life.
Proven Tips to Protect Your Mental Health and Stay Strong During a Crisis
Your mental health affects how you think, feel, or act in every situation. As such, it can affect your relationship with others, as well as influence your decisions. Good mental health is also vital in helping you handle stress and anxiety in relation to the crisis we're facing.
Since mental health is key to just about every aspect of your life, you need to guard it as best as you can. Protect your mental health with these tips.
1. Practice self-care
Self-care can be any activity that you do on purpose to pamper yourself. It encompasses your overall health, including physical, mental, and emotional. If a slice of cake is what you need to feel a little better, then go ahead and indulge yourself with some of it.
Feeling overwhelmed with client deadlines? Maybe an hour-long warm bath in the tub can wash your stress away and allow you to have more focus.
It pays to remember these ideas about self-care, too:
• Self-care can be short- or long-term. The examples above are short-term, helping you deal with the situation at hand right there and then. Long-term self-care may involve a lengthier process, such as getting into therapy to manage any behavioral problems.
• Not everyone has the same concept of self-care. There's no need to change your version of self-care to match that of others in your family or friends. Whatever it is that makes you a little bit happier, you'd do well to stick to it.
2. Improve your mind-body connection
Your mind and body are magically designed to be regularly communicating with one another. What you do to do your body can also affect your mental state. Is your diet healthy? Do you get enough sleep? Do you find time to exercise to strengthen the immune system?
In the same way, your thoughts, feelings, beliefs, and behaviors can determine how healthy your body will be. The more positive you try to be with your mental health, the stronger you feel physically, too.
There are various ways to improve your mind-body connection, which can be a valuable coping mechanism against all the stress and problems in life.
• Communicate how you're feeling. Feelings of anxiety, fear, or sadness are normal responses to perceived or real threats, according to the World Health Organization. Let your loved ones know what's troubling you. They will perfectly welcome you and even have words of wisdom and encouragement to share with you, too.
• Calm your mind and body. There are mind-body therapies that help you relax and meditate, both of which are important in bringing back balance into your daily life. Stretching, yoga, and breathing exercises are useful methods of connecting your mind and body, although simple activities like listening to soft and soothing music can also feel calming to your senses.
3. Set boundaries
Boundaries are guidelines that you set to help yourself know which behavior is acceptable or what amount of such behavior can you tolerate and still feel comfortable about it. In the context of the COVID-19 crisis, boundaries can help you put order and structure into your life.
The boundaries you set for yourself and others can also ensure that your personal relationships remain healthy, which is good for your mental status.
Have these healthy boundaries in your routine or interactions with others:
• Lessen your intake of COVID-related news. It's up to you if you'd rather read the news in the morning or evening, but avoid checking your social media feed several times a day to limit the amount of information that you take in.
• Look for more sources of joy and inspiration. Home quarantine periods may be the perfect time to go back to reading, painting, biking, baking, gardening—any of your favorite things that can bring a smile to your face. Helping donation campaigns for COVID-19 patients can also feel uplifting to the spirit.
• Consume Non-COVID content. When someone drops news articles or links about COVID-19 in your messaging app, but you feel like not reading up on them, feel free not to respond. You can also politely say that you appreciate the gesture, but you'd rather not spend time on them.
Stay Strong
There's a famous saying that's very apt for these times—when the going gets tough, the tough get going.
The COVID-19 situation may be giving you one of the most challenging times in your life, but most definitely, you have a fighting chance if only you work on your mental health. So, hang in there, make the most out of every day despite the circumstances, and look forward to better times soon.
Author Bio (Guest Author)
Chellsea is a freelance lifestyle writer for Metrodeal. She writes insightful posts about lifestyle,
health, and wellness. She enjoys traveling and experiencing new things.
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