HOW DOES COVID-19 AFFECT MY MENTAL HEALTH

The 2019–20 coronavirus pandemic is an ongoing pandemic of CORONA VIRUS (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The outbreak was first identified in Wuhan, China, in December 2019, and was recognised as a pandemic by the World Health Organization (WHO) on 11 March 2020. As of 25 March, more than 438,749 cases of COVID-19 have been reported in over 190 countries and territories, resulting in more than 19,675 deaths and over 113,799 recoveries. It is so heartbreaking and terrifying.

I have been self-isolating myself since 13 March as I had the mild symptoms. And then my company decided to shutdown temporarily. Now that I am feeling much better and not going to work, I want to use this time to be more productive and do the things that I wanted to do for a long time (at home though).

When I wasn’t feeling well and I was just in bed, I felt more sick and depressed. Thinking about what is going on in the world, worried about my health, stressing about how I am going to pay rent and bills without any income and how are we going to survive. And I decided not to watch the news and think positively. I got out of my bed and tried to do something at home. I realised that stressing too much of the situation will make me more ill and wont help me at all.

WHAT TO DO TO LOOK AFTER OUR MENTAL HEALTH DURING QUARANTINE:

1. Remember to breath– Yoga and meditation helped me clear my mind with the current situation. That complaining and doing nothing will not help me at all. I have been through depression before and it was not good at all. Check my blog about how I battle stress and depression. Remember to stay calm and breathe in, breathe out. DO NOT PANIC….
2. Focus on the things you can do and control- Find ways you can contribute to help. Like following the government instruction in social distancing, not going out, avoid crowded areas, washing your hands and even helping by donating something to less fortunate. STAY AT HOME!!!
3. Be productive and do things you like doing- There are so many things you can do while you are at home. My wife and I started a home workout. I started to bake again and cook yummy and nutritious food. I also started to write my to-dos and plan my whole week on my journal and stick to it. However, I try my best not to procrastinate. Click here to read my blog about procrastination. Enjoy being at home and spending time with our loved ones.
4. Find and create a support system- I am very lucky that I have a very supportive wife. She helped me realised that our current situation is just temporary and we have each other no matter what happens. I don’t have many friends here in London, but they are all very supportive too. We check on each other everyday and ask what we are up to. We try to encourage and uplift each other. You must have someone to talk to in times like this.
5. Focus on the present- Focus on the present and accept it, it is what it is. Stressing out and panicking are not necessary, it won’t help you either. Be grateful for what you have and what you can do. Appreciate every single thing that you have. Appreciate all the people around you.

Take this opportunity to spend time with your family and loved ones. Start doing the things that you been meaning to do, take advantage of your free time. Sleep as much as you can, this is the time we can rest and not worry about setting our alarm to wake us up the next working day. This pandemic will end for sure, we just don’t know when. But we have a very big part to fight the spread of the coronavirus, by staying at home we can save lives.

Thank you for taking the time to read my blog. Now that I have time to write blogs, I will be posting blogs as often as I can.

STAY SAFE, PLEASE, STAY AT HOME…

Love,

Rainne x x x