4 Steps to Looking After Your Mental Health in a Pandemic

4 Steps to Looking After Your Mental Health in a Pandemic

If you feel that your mental health in a pandemic has suffered due to the COVID-19 crisis, you are not alone. The pandemic has caused some significant changes to the way that we live our daily lives, with many people unable to keep up with their regular routine like going to work and seeing family and friends, which can easily start to take a toll on your emotional wellbeing.

Perhaps you’ve been looking after your physical health during the crisis by eating well and making sure that you get enough exercise at home, but how is your mental health in a pandemic doing? If you’ve been feeling down, depressed, or anxious more often than usual, the good news is that there are strategies you can take to help yourself feel better.

Try Online Counseling

While the coronavirus may mean that we can’t go and see a therapist in-person right now, online counseling can be an excellent alternative if you feel that you need to speak to somebody to help you with how you are feeling. Online counselors work in a very similar way to in-person counselors, with the main difference being that you can have the session from the comfort of your own home using your laptop or smartphone. Many counselors have turned to offer online services during the crisis as they know that people are going to need them now more than ever.

Get Enough Sleep

Your sleep can have a serious impact on your mental health and if you are not sleeping well, chances are you are going to feel worse for it both mentally and physically. Sleep is important for your mind and will help you better cope and regulate your emotions, so make sure that you are getting the recommended 7-9 hours of sleep every night. If you’re struggling to sleep, try getting into a solid bedtime routine without any electronics involved, and sleep and wake up at the same time each day to help your body create the habit.

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Talk to Your Friends

Just because it’s more difficult to go out and see people in-person right now, doesn’t mean that we should lose all contact with those people in our lives who are important to us. During the COVID-19 crisis, it’s more important than ever to nourish your connections with other people and spend time with the people who you are close to, even virtually. Set up times and dates to have virtual meet-ups with your friends or if you are comfortable doing so, meet them somewhere in an open space where you can safely socially distance. Make sure to wear N95 mask and nitrile gloves.

Journaling

Keeping a journal throughout the crisis will not only be interesting to look back on in years to come, but it can also help you keep track of your feelings and figure out what is triggering certain feelings and thoughts for you. And, a journal isn’t just somewhere that you can write about negative feelings and what has caused them, but you can also find space to write about the small things that you are grateful for to try and bring some balance to how you feel.

If the pandemic has affected your mental health, you’re not alone. Try these strategies and be sure to practice good self-care.

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