The world as we know it has changed since COVID-19. Many cities have now implemented community quarantine or lockdown, stringent measures which majority of the people support in order to address the pandemic. Many people understand that staying home is very important. Along with thorough washing of hands, eating and sleeping well, taking vitamin C and practising social distancing. Indeed, our physical health is now our outmost priority.
But how about our mental health? It’s a stressful time and everything is very fluid at the moment. Whatever is the situation now may change tomorrow. The truth we know now may even change the next day. We’re learning something new each day as we get updates from the scientists and government officers. We also read ‘Keep Calm and Stay Home’. But I am far from calm. To tell you the truth I’m a natural worrier. So how do we cope? How do we protect our mental health? In this post, I’d like to share 3 things I do or don’t do to lessen my anxiety.
- 1. Don’t read/watch too much news
I try to read news once in the morning and once in the evening. Some of my friends would forward me updates on COVID-19 but I refuse to open them at that instant- I stick to my schedule. Constantly reading and hearing about the pandemic can be very upsetting. So I’d say read what’s important and do not fall into the fake news vortex.
- 2. Talk with people at home
Expressing your thoughts and feelings with a person you trust can lessen the stress. Yes, talk to your partner or kids- the very people you’re sharing your home with. Also, discussing about different topics-any topic other than COVID 19- can be relaxing and you’d be surprised that there are still things you don’t know about the people close to you. Engage in a healthy conversation, laugh at old jokes, and reminisce wonderful memories . Better yet plan your future trips together.
- 3. (Re)Connect with family and friends
It’s important to fight isolation during these times. We ought to keep physical distance but we should also keep in touch with our family, friends and colleagues. Send a private message, comment on their new post, video call them- stay connected. Dial up your grandparents, mum and dad and people in your life (young and old) who you think are feeling isolated at this point. Indeed, connecting with people we care about can help us cope.
There goes my list and here are other great ideas that I have seen people do these days:
- joining the Tiktok craze
- watching Korean dramas (CLOY is very in )
- exercising with friends together using Zoom or Skype
- dancing Zumba or singing songs with their neighbours from their balcony or door
- praying and meditating
What else can people do? Leave a comment below.
herdailydigest 
As the saying goes “mind over body matters”… Let our mind be healthy by having positive attitude in dealing with this pandemic and forget not PSALM 23:4 “ Even though I walked through the darkest valley,I fear no evil,for YOU are with me..your rod and staff, THEY COMFORT ME… Let us continue Praying and have faith in God. Stay safe everyone.🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻
I’ve done your tip #1 te.. I minimize watching news too to lessen my worries. Thus, i watch netflix..
Hi Khrulin
There are many good movies/TV series on Netflix. What are you watching now? Thanks for dropping by 🙂
Hi Dsyang
I hope you and your family are always safe and healthy! We continue to pray ❤
This is very useful 😁,We are facing another pandemic so we need to stay safe and be healthy,and pray to God.and as the saying goes “prevention is better than cure”
Keep up the good work and God Bless
I wrote something about the mental health side of all this on my lates blog. Your advise is wise. We often underestimate the need to keep our mental health (and that of our friends) high up on the importance scale. Thank you.