COVID-19 Pandemic & Mental Health Crisis

During this COVID-19 pandemic, when most of our time are spent at our homes, this can take a toil on our mental health.

At a time when coronavirus disease has spread throughout the world, and most of us are spending time in our homes as a measure to protect ourselves and others, one thing that may get overlooked is our mental health.

Like physical health, our mental well being is also essential for our overall good health. So, keeping this in mind, and assessing the current global situation, we have compiled some measures which would be beneficial in maintaing this aspect of our health.

1. Limit watching, reading or listening to news related to the virus.
It is better to limit your news consumption to 5 to 10 minutes per day. Either you watch the news for 5 minutes or 5 hours, the news will still be the same and coronavirus pandemic won't change its effect.

What you can change is stop getting affected by the incessant news by limiting the news time, and utilitising that time in some other productive work.

2. Customize your social media feeds.
Similar to news restriction, social media use should also be restricted to 5 to 10 minutes. Any page or account sharing false or inaccurate news should be immediately unfollowed or blocked.

3. Follow reliable sources.
Rather than wandering around in sites that promote false or over the top news, it is wise to follow reliable and trusted sources.

Some of the sources which can be followed are World Health Organisation (WHO), Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

4. Remain connected with your closed ones.
Keeping in touch with your closed ones through social media is a good thing to do to drift your mind away from the virus.

5. Communicate with your children.
At times such as these, when most of us are staying home, it is important to consider the mental health of our children. We should ask them what they know about the virus and teach them the measures which should be followed.

6. Create a regular routine for your children.

It is important that we engage our children in different activities throughout the day so that their mental health is not affected.

Parents who have children going to school must make a definite routine for their children, scheduling definite time for studies, playing, and other creative activities. This scheduling keeps them occupied thereby keeping their mental health in check.

7. Avoid making assumptions.
Don't jump into making conclusions regarding who is spreading the virus. The virus doesn't see age, sex, religion, occupation, economic status and may affect any one.

8. Avoid taking alcohol, smoking or drugs.
During this pandemic, when most of us are in our homes, it is normal to develop varying emotions. One may feel scared, sad, stressed, confused than in normal times. And, you may take alcohol, smoking or drugs to deal with these emotions.

However, taking these things will only aggravate your emotions rather than giving you a relief in long run.

To deal with your emotions, it is better to talk to a health professional or someone whom you trust. Then, you may receive valuable advices on how you can modify your condition better.

9. Exercise often.
According to health experts, exercising on a regular basis is not only helpful for your physical health, but also improves your mental health.

Exercise increases growth factors that boosts your nerve conduction signals and decreases oxidative stress which damages your neurons. So, regular exercise is highly important during this coronavirus pandemic.

10. Manage stress.
If you worry a lot, schedule time for worry.

This may sound a bit non beneficial. But, infact, scheduling a fixed time for worry might be helpful in long run.

According to research, when you allocate a definite time for worrying, then you limit the amount of worry. As a result, you can even reduce your overall anxiety after sometime.

11. Focus on your hobby.

Focussing on our hobbies and brushing up our skills is a good way to make our time productive.

At present, when most of your time is fixed in your home, focussing on your hobby is a good choice. Infact, your hobby might be the best thing to distract yourself from any anxiety or worry during this pandemic.

Hobbies might be anythink like crafts, gardening, cooking, painting, reading. Make sure you utilise this time by engaging in your hobby and uplifting your skills.