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COVID -19 has shaken the whole world for the last year and half. Newer challenges are emerging every day and at this stage no one can predict for certain, when this pandemic will come to an end.
A variety of measures like usage of masks, hand sanitization and social distancing are being repeatedly advised to prevent the spread of infection & thereby protecting physical health. In consideration of this pandemic’s impact, it is also important to emphasize measures to preserve mental health.
Pandemic has taken a toll on Mental health: Anxiety, worry & depression are some of the common distressing emotions. There is a constant fear of contracting illness/ its complications & recovery. People are not only worried about their health & families but also feeling helpless about their finances and careers. Lockdowns and social isolation can lead to feelings of boredom, frustrations and increased irritability. Frontline staff are exhausted and are under enormous pressure. In addition, there is so much of loss and grief as millions of people across the world have lost their battle to COVID-19
Although almost the whole world has been affected by this pandemic, not every person would react in the same way. Some might be harboring healthy negative emotions and still continue to work efficiently. Few others might have some psychological distress but are able to cope up with it. There could be a certain number of individuals showing an increasing level of distress and further struggling to cope up with the situation. The remaining few might even develop a mental health disorder. There can be exacerbation of preexisting psychiatric illness(es) or substance use disorders.
How can we build our resilience in current times?
There is a lot of uncertainty in general and a large number of factors that lie outside of one’s control. However, what we can do at an individual level is to try to build resilience on both, physical and mental levels in order to steer through these difficult times. Let us look at some of the measures to build our mental resilience.
⮚ Maintaining a healthy routine
Eating healthy food and getting enough sleep are the key constituents to healthy life both, physically & mentally.
Physical exercises not only help us in maintaining our physical fitness, but additionally, it also helps in reducing our mental stress. It is advisable to follow a consistent routine to exercise either indoors or outdoors.
One should remain busy by maintaining a steady routine. Empty mind is a devil’s workshop; so, plan your day and work on your plan.
Reserve a portion of your day/ week to do things that you are interested in. The things of your interest could be either hobbies, artwork, reading or anything else of your choice. The key point here is that you devote time for any such activities.
It is also the right time to review your goals and plan for alternative ways to work around them. Working on your goals gives you a sense of purpose, a hope and further motivates you to attain a level of satisfaction.
⮚ Reserve time for fun and relaxation type activities
Spend time on events that bring fun and could cherish some light moments. Humor can play an important role during these tough times. Watching comedy series / shows can help one to forget or reduce the intensity of the worries at least temporarily, if not permanent.
Different kinds of relaxation techniques help to calm the body and mind by stimulating the parasympathetic nervous system. The following are some of the examples of relaxation techniques: deep breathing exercises, progressive muscle relaxation, mindfulness meditation. One can take professional advice to decide upon the relevant relaxation technique applicable to that individual.
⮚ Importance of support network
Our support network also plays a vital role in stressful times. It includes close family members, extended families, friends, neighbors as well as our colleagues. Maintaining a regular flow of communication with either or all of these will be of great help.
Thanks to modern technology which is a gift to mankind, especially in offering different modes of communication channels during this pandemic. It helps us to stay connected as well as helps us in reducing the frustration levels arising out of any isolation.
It is advisable to share your feelings, distress as well problems with near and dear ones on a regular basis. While you follow the above tips, it is equally important to share any positive moments along the way to strike the right balance of mind.
⮚ Supporting your children
In current times, children are experiencing a lot of uncertainties in terms of their career planning. There is a disruption to their daily in person classroom sessions, delaying/ cancellation of examinations and also an increasing gap in social networking. All of these have resulted in an increased usage of screen time.
The following tips could help in coping up on some of the above outlined issues.
– Have a constant dialogue with your children about the current situation, flexibility that one needs to adopt & adapt. It is best to have these conversations in a language and vocabulary that the children can comprehend.
– Be available to listen to their concerns, worries & difficulties
– Try to reassure them and avoid transferring your panic to them.
– Try to schedule a regular healthy routine for them which includes but not limited to consumption of healthy food, enough sleep, daily exercises, reading books that can help to relieve their stress.
– Engage your children with meaningful family activities like playing board games, family reading time, artwork, family talk time sessions during lunch, dinner etc.
– Monitor the mental health of children for any distressing emotions/ thoughts/ behaviors. Seek professional help if needed
⮚ Avoid unhealthy ways of coping
Increased usage of alcohol, tobacco and other addictive substances are some of the common but unhealthy mechanisms to cope with the stressful situations. Some people can also turn onto self-medication like sleeping pills to further relieve their stress levels.
Although, some of the above mechanisms can act as an illusion to reduce stress, these can have a much larger negative impact on one’s physical as well as mental health. In case individuals are resorting to either of these substance usage(s), treat this as an indicator to seek professional help.
So far, we have seen some of the practical steps that can be incorporated in our daily routine to build our mental resilience. In Part 2 of this blog, we shall further discuss the necessary steps to modify our thinking process for building resilience.