Covid-19 – Maintaining Well-being
The Covid-19 Pandemic is causing disruption to people’s lives around the globe. With the changes to our everyday lives, social contacts and patterns of living, it is no surprise that people are generally feeling stressed, anxious and concerned.
It is important to accept that these are normal emotions. We need to be kind to ourselves and not beat ourselves up for feeling this way. Anxiety is an emotional and physical response to something we feel is a threat. As a species, we are all facing a threatening situation and our brains are doing what they are designed to do. They are activating our anxiety response and telling us that we need to take action in order to stay safe.
However, there are some things that we can do, to try and manage high levels of stress and anxiety and promote good well-being during the Covid-19 outbreak.
Establish a routine and remember the basics!
It can be helpful to maintain some sort of routine. This provides structure to our day and a sense of order and control during difficult times. A daily routine, also helps promote good sleeping and eating patterns, which we know are important to maintaining a sense of well-being. Sticking to meal times, eating a healthy balanced diet, as well as getting to sleep at about the same time each night and getting up at a similar time each morning, helps to maintain our body’s natural rhythm and promote well-being.
It is also important to get out and exercise. Regular exercise not only helps to maintain good eating and sleeping patterns but it also helps to regulate our emotions and release some of the adrenaline produced by our body during a response to threat.
Positive Emotions
Anxiety has done a great job over the years of keeping us alive and keeping us safe but we do also need to experience positive emotions to maintain a sense of well-being. These might include feelings of hope, gratitude, love, optimism, awe and joy.
The Covid-19 pandemic brings with it lots of opportunity for us to engage in acts of thoughtfulness and kindness. These not only help other people but also increase our own sense of well-being. Phoning a friend/relative to check they are okay, going to the shops for an elderly neighbour, sending messages of support etc. are just some of the things we might do.
There are also lots of studies, to show that being ‘grateful’ activates regions of the brain that are involved with producing feelings of pleasure. People who practice being grateful, generally feel happier, have fewer negative emotions and have better immune systems. They are also more likely to display higher levels of generosity towards others.
We can train ourselves to be more grateful, by taking time each day to notice what’s going well. You could practice writing down the 3 things you feel most grateful for each day before you go to sleep, or keep a gratitude journal. You could also try writing a gratitude letter, where you express thanks to someone in your life who is really important and you want to thank.
Relationships
Relationships are one of the biggest predictors of well-being. In fact, when we feel socially excluded, the same part of our brain is activated as when we are in physical pain. Therefore, over the next few weeks, it is going to be very important for everybody to try and maintain relationships and contacts with friends and family.
We need to be creative about how we do this, during a period of social distancing. Regular phone calls or chats online are going to be essential.
Engagement and achievement
Feeling engaged in tasks helps to promote a sense of well-being. When we feel totally absorbed and lost in an activity, we experience more positivity. Engaging in activities that give us a sense of achievement are also helpful for our well-being.
This might be a great opportunity to try something new. Learning how to cook, learning a new instrument, trying a new form of exercise, decorating your room, might be some ideas. Try to set small goals, which will give you a sense of achievement.
Limiting exposure to the news
Regularly checking the news and reading lots of different articles and posts about Covid-19, is likely to lead to an increase in stress and anxiety, as it keeps our threat response highly activated. You might want to consider turning off news notifications on phones and limiting how often you tune into the news each day.
It is also important to only gain information from reliable sources. Lots of articles on social media, are ill-informed and can cause an unnecessary increase in anxiety. Perhaps stick to one or two news streams you feel are reputable and have confidence in.
Remember this will pass!
This is an unprecedented situation and is having a huge impact on so many lives. However, it is important to remember that it is a moment in time. It will pass and when we return to normality, hopefully we will do so with a greater sense of gratitude, kindness to ourselves and others, new connections, new skills and new achievements.
