Before February 2020, individuals were busy with their 9-5 jobs, social lives, managing family life, and their career. After February and being required to be in quarantine for an extended period, many individuals were facing something that they were not used to before. They had no other option other than to be in their houses/apartments.
This caused us to reevaluate their lives and look at how we’re approaching daily life. For individuals who relied on work or meeting up with friends after work, the lockdown was disastrous as seeing friends in person was no longer an option. Being deprived of social interaction is likely to affect any individual negatively. Still, it just adds fuel to the fire for individuals who already struggle with depression, anxiety, or other mental health issues.
What is COVID Fatigue?
With so much unknown in regards to COVID, many people have started to get tired of being scared to leave the house and following city and state mandates.
The issue is that we may not know when or if life will go back to “normal”. We’re feeling limited in living our daily life. It is not an understatement to say that is a huge adjustment.
This, combined with all the other changes people have had to make to daily life, can lead to being fed up and not caring anymore. This is known as COVID fatigue. This fatigue is not just mental but also physical exhaustion.
Further, such a situation can lead to individuals not wanting to comply with the guidelines set by health organizations, which can potentially result in more individuals contracting the virus and needing to be hospitalized.
A further rise in COVID-19 cases can then extend the lockdowns and bring in more COVID-19 fatigue. It is a pernicious cycle of fatigue, economic destruction, and mental deterioration.
Mental Health Tips
Here are a few mental health tips you can follow to improve your state of mind during the pandemic.
Minimize Negative Consumption
Since there is a lot of coverage on COVID, but not necessarily a lot of good news, the best thing to do is try to minimize the number of news shows and news articles you watch or read.
Instead, try to utilize this time to focus on other things that can better help you, such as your health or projects you wanted to get done in the past.
Stay Active
Now is the best time to focus on those indoor or backyard projects.
Try to keep in mind that the more that guidelines regarding COVID are followed, the quicker we can get back to normalcy. The more people that follow guidelines and are careful about limiting interactions, the better the hospitalization numbers will be.
Minimize Stress
Do your best to limit the amount of stress in your everyday life. This might be incredibly challenging if there are friends or family in your house who cause you stress, but it is better for your long-term health if you were to find solutions.
With individuals that live with you that cause stress, it would be best to sit them down and explain that you are trying to better yourself. Let them know that they are causing you stress by doing specific actions or their hurtful words.
This advice also goes for people you might not live with but have to interact with regularly. The individual might not even know that they are causing you distress by their actions until you make them aware.
What else can you do to take better care of your mental health?
Friends and Family
A few other actions to do to help yourself cope with the stress of the pandemic is to try to keep in touch with family and friends. It is not the wisest thing to do to visit them in person.
Thankfully, due to technology and applications like Skype, Zoom, Facetime, and the plethora of apps available that allow you to see the person you are talking to.
Indeed, you can catch up with your loved ones and maybe get tips on how to deal with this new normal. The people who brought you peace and happiness before the pandemic will likely do the same during the pandemic as long as you reach out.
Add Companions To Your Life
If loneliness is something that you are feeling and you feel like you can handle having a furry companion, then consider adopting an animal. There are many shelters, and more than likely, there will be a pet that calls out to you.
This is the perfect time to potty train/crate train a puppy. If you decide to take advantage of this time and adopt a pet, check with your landlord to ensure that they do not have restrictions on breeds or the number of pets you can have. The last thing you want to do is fall in love with a pet and then return him to the shelter because of restrictions you were not aware of.
Self Care
Further, check-in with yourself and see how you are doing physically and mentally.
Working on things like making sure you get eight hours of sleep a night or at least enough sleep a night to where you are waking up and not feeling tired could be another useful way to spend your time. There are items such as weighted blankets, essential oil diffusers, and other aids that help relieve anxiety and allow you to attain a deeper sleep, which can lead to you waking up feeling better rested.
If you feel like exercising, eating healthier foods, and getting enough sleep is not helping you, then it is time to reach out for professional help.
Professional Help
There is nothing wrong with reaching out for professional help. In fact, reaching out for help shows that you are a strong individual because you can see that there is something wrong and are doing everything in your power to get back on track.
Reaching out to professionals is possible during this time due to technology. Many therapists are now offering therapy sessions online and help all demographics.
For instance, Hope and Healing for Life offers safe, secure, and peaceful counseling through teletherapy during the current pandemic. Interested individuals can take advantage of Doxy.me, a HIPAA compliant platform that enables continuation of care, is in line with the CDC and local suggestions, and falls under insurance coverage.
It is simple to set up a session with teletherapy during Covid-19 by using a specific link and clicking on the link at the time of the appointment.
From there, you will see another screen where you will enter your name and check-in. Then, you can enable video call features, connect your audio and video to get started with the session.
The significant part about the teletherapy session is that you can prepare and have a list of aspects you want to discuss. Remember to make sure that everyone understands that you will be in a meeting. Finally, make sure your equipment is working fine so that you can attend the session and have it go pleasantly.
Those who seek therapy can find therapy to be a significant lifeline during these times of social distancing! Find out how Hope and Healing for Life can help you with your therapy needs today.
