How To Manage Your Physical And Mental Health During A Pandemic
A pandemic can wreak havoc in numerous ways. Firstly, it creates fear in people. They worry that they may get infected and die.
Secondly, an event such as the Coronavirus pandemic creates a situation where massive changes and restrictions are imposed on people to try and curb the spread of the infection.
The second measure is likely to establish additional extreme hardships and causes a loss of jobs, an increase in suicides, more crimes, more victims of child/spouse abuse and so on. This is collateral damage that is unavoidable.
Thirdly, all this chaos and confusion affects people indirectly by adversely impacting on their physical and mental health.
The constant barrage of news on TV and social media exacerbate the situation and your mind never gets a mental respite from the ongoing pessimistic situations.
Managing Your Mental Health
The first step is to ask yourself how you feel. If you’re depressed, you may have feelings of guilt, thoughts of death or suicide, a feeling of worthlessness (if you’ve lost your job), insomnia, eating more or less than usual and a loss of interest in life that’s accompanied by constant sadness.
If you’re in this situation, it’s best to speak to a counsellor and get help. Sometimes you might even need medication to treat the depression, though this should only be the last resort.
Getting professional help is crucial. Sometimes, not everything can be solved with positive thinking.
However, if you’re just feeling down in the dumps (instead of depressed) because life seems duller these days, you may wish to practice meditation. This has been shown to improve your focus and put you in control of your thoughts.
Practice journaling daily and express your emotions on paper. Not only is it cathartic, but if you write down what you’re grateful for, your moods will improve too.
Spend time having fun with your family. Laughter is the best medicine. Play games or watch a comedy. By breaking the monotony of staying at home, you’ll discover that happiness can indeed be found at home.
Accept the situation as it is and don’t be too hard on yourself. If you get laid off work, don’t blame yourself or feel worthless.
Associating your self-esteem with employment is NEVER a good idea. You must learn to be flexible and see what new actions you can take to remedy the situation.
By trying to live a life of purpose and knowing that tough times don’t last, you’ll have the strength to stay mentally and emotionally strong during a pandemic.
Managing Your Physical Health
Take time to de-stress daily. Stretch your body once or twice a day. Participating in Yoga is great for this. The more movement your body gets, the better it feels. It will release endorphins that lift your moods.
You may not be able to visit a gym during a pandemic, but make no mistake here – you can get a quality workout at home too. You might need to make changes to your training regimen, but you don’t need to stop exercising.
One good way of staying in great shape is Bodyweight Training, also home workouts such as P90X and performing Pilates are all very effective ways to keep your fitness levels up.
Do not neglect exercise just because you’re stuck at home. People who are used to working out daily may feel lost if the gym is closed, but with new workout routines you can do at home, you can still challenge your body daily.
Start making positive changes to your diet. Since you’re spending more time at home, it’s best to cook healthy dishes for yourself.
Try to include more plant-based foods and less processed foods in your diet.
You may also wish to include supplements such as fish oil, vitamin C, vitamin D, magnesium, garlic oil, curcumin, L-theanine and zinc.
The pandemic should NOT be an opportunity for you to gorge on junk food at home and claim emotional eating as your excuse.
Now is the best opportunity to eat start eating healthily again and reclaim your health. You do not need to make the change overnight, but you must start effecting positive change.
This will not only boost your overall health and immunity, but will also help you shed the excess pounds and stave off other potential diseases.
COVID 19 has claimed far fewer lives than diabetes, heart disease and the common flu.
Eat clean and your body will develop a strong immune system that will fight off this nasty virus aswell as other unwanted conditions.
By taking control of your mental and physical health, you’ll now be in the driver’s seat of your life. No longer will you be a buoy floating in the middle of the pandemic ocean being tossed around by the latest news and restrictions surrounding the virus.
This is your life. You’re in control. COVID 19 exists, but you will overcome it. Stay positive and do whatever it takes to protect and elevate your mental and physical strength.
“Be strong now because things will get better. It might be stormy now, but it can’t rain forever.” – Unknown