(reading time 7mins)
In Part 3, we looked at how our metal health is being affected. In Part 4, we start to look at some examples of simple steps you can take to minimise the way your mental health is negatively impacted.
HOW DO I ‘FIX’ IT?
Unfortunately, there is no one-size-fits-all solution. Everybody is different, and everybody handles the impact to their mental health differently. Whilst one person may find comfort from writing their feelings down, others may instead need to exercise to get it out of their system.
Following are some relatively straight-forward suggestions for tackling increased levels of stress / anxiety / depression:
Talk it out.
- If you’ve previously sought professional help for your mental health, but haven’t done so for a while due to lockdown, now is the time to reconnect with your mental health professional. This is particularly important if you’re experiencing heightened emotions, or longer periods of feeling triggered.
- Being open to talking about what’s troubling you is by far one of the best ways to confront your feelings head-on.
- Talking to a loved one such as a partner, family member, or close friend creates an opportunity to get things off your chest. In some cases it can feel like lifting a weight off your shoulders when you have an opportunity to openly discuss your feelings.
- It’s important to remember that talking to somebody close to us, can sometimes also feel like the most daunting situation. In those instances, I highly recommend speaking to a trained professional, as you may find it easier to open up to a stranger.
- As long as you’re talking about what is troubling you, it is a very positive and responsible first step.
Avoid social media.
- A social media cleanse can be a great way to minimise the influences that create a negative impact on your mental health.
Making a conscious effort to remove yourself completely is an extreme response, but it can be achievable. Log out of your accounts and remove the apps from your phone. You can even disable your accounts and hide them from people so that you cannot be ‘tagged’ in content. Stepping away from social media like this, means disengaging entirely.
- However, this may seem a bit extreme to some people, so perhaps it means you need to re-evaluate the content that is appearing in your news feed instead.
- If you find that you have an influx of ‘doom and gloom’ content – mute those accounts for 30days, or unfollow them entirely. Same thing goes if you have content that makes you feel bad about yourself eg. ‘influencer’ or ‘fitspo’ content that blatantly pushes unobtainable body images or unrealistic diets. This is a great time to start following animal profiles or hashtags such as #catsofinstagram or #dogsofinstagram.
- There is no benefit if you follow people or accounts that leave you feeling sad, anxious, create uncertainty or are triggering for you.
- Stepping away from social media will allow you to refocus that time and energy into something more positive.
Avoid mainstream media.
- Similar to the above – turn off the TV. If you subscribe to a streaming service, this is a great opportunity to re-invest your time into watching a movie, or starting episode one of that TV series you always talked about watching one day.
- If you can’t afford a streaming service, then consider adjusting the times that you are watching TV, avoiding the main news cycles of the morning, midday and early evening. Alternatively if you have a DVR / Recorder, take some time to set it up to record all your favourite shows, and then replay them from that. At least that way you can fast-forward through all the ads!
- Alternatively, there’s always YouTube!
Avoid conspiracy theories.
- I already mentioned these above, so I’m kind of contradicting myself here, but unless you subscribe to one of those beliefs, then avoid them entirely.
- This includes distancing yourself from friends / family that have beliefs in these theories. Whether it’s the anti-vaxxer you know, or your own Karen – The Anti-Masker… cut that shit out of your life.
- You can obviously make a choice to be honest about this with them, or you can just quietly disengage from them – but make a conscious effort to distance yourself from their beliefs. If you make the choice to confront them, be honest. There’s nothing wrong with having an honest conversation and explaining that you can still be friends with somebody, even if you have conflicting views / beliefs. If their views are causing you distress, then it’s time to step away for the time being. If you’re not comfortable having that discussion, simply mute their content appearing in your news feed for thirty days.
- One of the great benefits of taking a social media cleanse, is that it will also remove the majority of conspiracy theories that circulate throughout our newsfeeds.
Eat healthy.
- Unfortunately, with so many people having spent months confined to their houses, consumption of food increased because we eat when we’re bored, stressed, or because we need something to occupy ourselves. This led to the reference to COVID-19 as COVID-19(kg) and the collective weight gain experienced by countless people during lockdown. Myself included!
- It goes without saying that maintaining a healthy relationship with food is a balancing act. We all know we should be more conscious of what we’re putting into our bodies, and we can achieve this by making some simple changes.
- Food is a fuel source for our bodies, providing essential nutrients for keeping us operating at optimal levels. I don’t need to go into the reasons why a healthy diet is important, because we’re adults and we already know this. However, it doesn’t mean that we can’t also eat our feelings from time to time. Although if you’re eating your feelings on a daily basis, then it’s time to speak to somebody about it.
Exercise.
- Regular exercise goes hand-in-hand with eating healthy. Fuelling the body properly provides us with the energy to have an active lifestyle. But it’s important to point out that exercise doesn’t necessarily equate to bench presses or lycra-clad aerobics classes.
- Despite this current phase of lockdown, it’s important to remind yourself that you can still exercise. You can leave your house to exercise, however you cannot leave your suburb. You’re not ‘Karen From Brighton’. Stay local!
- Consider setting yourself a goal for a daily walk. It could just be around the block, or walking for 30mins. Or to a local landmark and then back. It doesn’t need to be anything major. The simple act of going for a walk can be enough to make you feel better, plus it gives you exposure to the sun and essential Vitamin D. Vitamin D is our ‘feel good’ vitamin, so get outside and soak up some sunshine (remember to wear sunscreen!).
Hydration.
- How much water are you drinking throughout your day? It’s so easy to let our hydration levels drop, especially if it’s from increased consumption of tea / coffee / soft drinks and / or alcohol.
- Water is essential for keeping our body hydrated. Our body is 60% water, meaning drinking plenty of water and staying hydrated is crucial for bones, organs, muscles and skin.
- You can always tell if you’re not drinking enough water if you look at the colour of your urine. It should range from very pale-yellow to clear. Once it starts getting darker, means you need to start drinking more water. It also assists with flushing toxins from the liver and kidney.
Sleep.
GET. SOME. SLEEP!
- It’s so easy for sleep patterns to disappear out the window, especially with more and more of us working from home, but sleep is crucial for maintaining mental health stability.
- Sleep is a process that allows the body to repair and restore itself, and when sleep cycles start becoming interrupted, it has a knock-on effect on our bodies. It can not only wreak havoc on our mood, but also impacts cognitive ability, balance, speech, and motor skills.
- If you’re finding that your bedtime has gotten later, or you’re struggling to fall asleep, take a moment to reflect on what you’ve been doing prior to bed. Avoid watching TV in bed, or going to bed to watch TV. Whilst it’s great to be able to curl up in bed and watch a movie, it’s something that should only be done occasionally.
- Try turning off the TV at least half an hour before you plan to go to bed, and allow yourself that 30mins to get ready for bed and start to calm the mind and relax. You could read a book or listen to some soothing music.
- Avoid screens in bed – phones, tablets, laptops. Screens keep our minds active and engaged, which is the opposite of what we want to do when going to bed. We want to use that time to relax and prepare ourselves for restful, restorative sleep.