As time is progressing, it’s becoming more and more apparent the impact this situation is having on mental health. We have come across many more cases in the surgery, and even talking to our family and friends the levels of emotions have been heightened in the last few days. A lot of us are lucky to have sufficient support system in place to check in on each other. But there are others who don’t and they’re not always obvious. If you feel you can, reach out and send a message or call to someone who you think may benefit. If you need to offload some of your own thoughts, be open about it as we are in for the long haul here. You can also think about having ‘Corona Buddies’ who you can reach out to at any time of day.
There is also a degree of information overload currently. Think about having phone away time, only reading a few sources, limiting how often you watch the news etc. Social media can be a good outlet but also a source of increased mental stress. Think about limiting the time on this.
This NHS website has some good suggestions and information: www.nhs.uk/coronavirus-covid-19-anxiety-tips
The local service JustTalkHerts also has some great support: www.justtalkherts.org/looking-after-your-mental-health-during-coronavirus
This link on the MIND website is also good: www.mind.org.uk/coronavirus-and-your-wellbeing
A few other suggestions from us:
- Set your working times if you’re working from home, as the line between work and home life is now blurred. Think about having a walk around the garden before starting work for the day to have a ‘fake’ commute and get your mind in the zone. Think about setting up an exercise WhatsApp group with people, logging your total distance exercised between you and set a target e.g. London to Edinburgh
- Take breaks in the day. Have a lunch break.
- Take good rest and enough sleep. Continue to do exercise as this helps both mental and physical health. Continue to have balanced meals as this will feed your mind your body.
- We need to be careful not to pile on the pounds during these next few months. Go for a run, do an online exercise video together as a family.
- There are Facebook groups for your local area for support during this time which will help to support you and others local to you: docs.google.com
If you are finding that your mental health isn’t improving despite self-help measures, please contact the surgery.
