We are living a situation that we never imagined we would live, in two or three days we have gone from leading a normal life to being confined at home. This can affect many people psychologically. Therefore, I will give you some tips to protect yourself from the emotional damage of the coronavirus (covid-19).
Tips to take care of your emotional health and “face” Covid-19
- Inform you through reliable sources. There are many hoaxes that circulate about this disease, so choose the information provided by health organizations and other sources. On the other hand, avoid saturating yourself with information and talking too much about the subject because this can increase your anxiety .
- Follow the prevention measures determined by our health system. To control the spread of the virus, we all have a personal responsibility. Do not take more measures than necessary because it will not help you and it will also increase your fear.
- If you have young children, inform them well and answer their questions based on their level of understanding.
- Being homebound can be useful for many reasons because this time can be used to do things that we never have time for. I give you some suggestions: write, do crafts (knit, embroider, draw, make a puzzle …), tidy up and clean the house, read, watch movies or series, make a photo album, cook, listen to music, dance, play a instrument, learn something new, etc.
- Reflect. We tend to lead a fast pace of life that does not give us time to think. This is a good occasion to reflect on different issues : am I in the job that I really like? What can I do to improve my work? Can I organize my study habit to make it more productive? What can I do for my partner to make him feel better? Should I find more time for my hobbies or spending time with my friends?
- You don’t have to abandon some of the activities you did before: you can exercise at home with videos that many people are posting on YouTube, you can meet friends or family on Skype . Instead of meeting in the cafeteria, each one with their coffee at home while you see each other and chat on the screen.
- Create routines . The confinement will last several weeks, so it is best to have a plan of what will be done each day because this way you will have a motivation that improves the mood, and the time will be used in a more useful and satisfactory way. Create personal, couple or family routines .
- Have good eating habits . Eat five meals a day in a balanced way and in times of anxiety or boredom resort to distracting activities and not to snack.
- Take care of yourself. Being at home does not mean being in your pajamas all day. Maintain your hygiene , put on clothes at home that you find nice, and even put on a little makeup if you think you will feel better. Even if nobody sees you, you yourself are the most important.
- Patience . If you continually complain about the situation it will only make you feel worse. In life there are many situations that we cannot control and this is one of them. The better we adapt to what we have to live, the greater emotional well-being we will have. Change the thought of “what a mess, it’s horrible to be at home all day” for “how can I take advantage of this time that I have to be at home?”
To take care of yourself in a comprehensive way, protect yourself from the coronavirus and take care of your emotional health.
