Simple Habits to Safeguard Your Psychological Health amidst the Pandemic (Tough Times)
Mental Health America estimates that 18.57 percent of Americans suffer from a form of mental health illness in 2020. That is about 45 million Americans. The illnesses range from minor depressive disorder to a full mental breakdown. Worse yet, the numbers are rising as the cases and the effects of coronavirus increase.
Stress and anxiety are among are the main culprits in the rising cases of mental health illnesses. You can get through this period unscathed, but you will need the following:
Learn to Deal with Burnout
Even as some people are stuck in the house, frontline workers are working for longer than normal. In 2019, the World Health Organization added occupational burnout in the International Classification of Diseases. While that doesn’t mean it is a disease, you might need to see a health professional and burnout can lead to mental health illness.
Between taking care of family members, working from home, household duties, social life, and a million other things, you may not have time for yourself.
You can deal with burnout by setting boundaries between work and your other life. You should take a day off from your busy schedule and enjoy your life.
Your diet can also contribute to a feeling of burnout – eating too much processed foods or taking foods low in calories can contribute to a feeling of burnout.
Learn to Calm Anxiety and Manage Uncertainty
Tomorrow is unpredictable with the pandemic almost turning endemic. Anxiety is common and affects more than 40 million Americans. This figure doesn’t include those people who never get a diagnosis.
Even minor anxiety attacks can affect your health significantly including mood changes, lack of sleep, deteriorating health, lack of productivity, and your relationships might suffer.
Dealing with anxiety starts when you identify the triggers and avoid those that you can. Sometimes, going it alone does more harm than good and you need to see a therapist. Learning to accept uncertainty can also help you deal with anxiety.
Meditate
Meditation in a time of crisis helps you deal with anxiety, stress, and depression. Instead of waiting to get anxious to start meditating, meditate as a preventive tactic to keep stress and depression at bay.
Meditation is key in improving your emotional health as it affects your amygdala, the center of your brain that processes emotions. Meditation slows down age-related changes that may occur in your brain. It is also a great practice for those who need to improve heart rate variability.
If you have never meditated, you can try using meditation apps for a start.
Get Outdoors
Even if a getaway trip may not be possible, getting outdoors is good for the mind, body, and soul. Your backyard will be fine.
For starters, you need vitamin D from the sun. You also need to interact with nature which helps improve your mood by reduce the levels of the stress hormone (cortisol). a simple trick such as having a plant in your home or office can improve your mood significantly helping you beat post-lunch slump.
The Japanese engage in forest bathing (shinrin-yoku), a practice that they believe reduces stress, anxiety, fatigue, and confusion. Forest bathing affects physiological markers such as heart rate and blood pressure to help fight anger and depression.
If you work from home at this time of pandemic, it might be challenging to get outdoors. You can try working from your yard in the early morning hours, taking your phone meetings outside, and working near a window.
Exercise Everyday
Exercise is important as it helps you lose weight, build muscles, and protect your heart’s health.
It can also make you happy by boosting your endorphins (happiness chemicals). While the feeling of happiness you get from exercise may not last all day, you will be happier over time.
Scientists found that exercise can help you bounce back from stressful situations faster. If prescribed and taken seriously, exercise can be as effective as any other form of depression treatments. You can take up a form of exercise you haven’t tried before, say yoga, to beat a psychological condition.
Sleep and Rest
Sleep is the center of everything you do. Without enough sleep, you will be less productive, your muscles will not recover fast after exercise, and you will be angry and have mood swings.
According to research, inadequate sleep, whether due to sleep disorders or chaotic lifestyle, can cause severe physical and mental health complications. At first, you will experience short term stress and headache, poor concentration, dwindling productivity, emotional reactivity, and depressive behavior among others. Left unchecked, these symptoms can balloon into full-blown depression.
If you suffer from depressive disorders, see a doctor. If you can’t sleep due to a hectic schedule, you need to tone down your life a little.
Conclusion
All psychological conditions have their triggers. The trigger can be financial constraints, underlying medical conditions, scary news, a chaotic daily routine and so many others. You can change your routine and reorganize your life to avoid the triggers. Taking care of yourself and those around you, taking a break, eating and living healthy, are some of the ways to avoid psychological issues.