Photo by Emma Simpson on Unsplash
A huge part of the world sitting at home because of Corona. And it is hard to avoid this virus because it is everywhere. And it is fine to get updates about this situation but it is not great when it starts to affect your mental health. I decided to write a blog post about how to take care of your mental health during the corona crisis. I share my own personal experience and my best tips.
Don’t watch or read the news too often
When I heard about Corona for the first time (I think it was January), I want to stay updated about the latest news. But at the same time, I also noticed it was affecting my mental health. And later Corona came to Europe (and the rest of the world) and it was really hard to avoid it. It was everywhere on tv. And I wanted to know what was going on in the whole world. But it drove me crazy. Last week I decided I had to change because I could feel the tension in my body.
I only read the news at 2 pm, which is the time when the health institute gives us an update about the situation in the Netherlands. If I would read the news more often, I would be so stressed out. And I already feel the difference because I feel more relaxed. I try to focus on other things.
Spend more time offline
I started to be more offline. I start reading more books and I am making 1000 pieces puzzles. And last weekend when I was making a puzzle, I was feeling so relaxed. It felt so great. And I now realize that there is so much you can do offline. You can do work-outs, be creative, read books, write a book, do nothing or meditate, etc. The list is (almost) endless.
Focus on yourself and your goals
When you are too much focused on what is going on in the rest of the world, it is easy to forget about yourself. But I think this is a great time to take care of yourself. We all have more time now, which means more time for me-time. Take a hot bath if you want to, take an extra nap or if you’ve always wanted to write a book, do it now. Now it is the time.
Exercise
The gym is closed but that is not an excuse to stop doing your work-outs. You can do your work-out inside your house or if you have a garden, do it there. And if you can still go outside, go out for a walk or a run alone.
And you can find so many work-outs on Youtube. There are dance work-outs, which I love. There are also yoga work-outs and regular work-outs. The options are still endless. And lift a chair if you want to lift some weights. But be careful of course.
Meditations or do nothing at all
Meditations are great for when you are feeling stressed and anxious. Sit down for a minute and just breathe. You can also find (guided) meditations on Youtube. If you are new to meditations, start with 5 or 10 minutes and build it up to 20 minutes or longer.
And doing nothing at all sounds boring and stupid maybe, but it also really helps to relax. Just lay down on your couch or bed and just do nothing. I did this last week and after two minutes I noticed that I really wanted to do something. We are programmed that we should be busy all the time. Doing nothing helps you to ‘delete’ that program.
Stay away from Social media
Everyone is talking about Corona everywhere. I see it in Twitter and it drives me crazy. So if you really want to avoid (fake) news about corona stop using social media so much. Especially Twitter and Facebook are the worst places you can spend your time right now. And you never know if it’s fake news or not. There is so much negativity while we should focus more on the positive side of life.
How are you dealing with mental health issues right now? Do you have more tips?