COVID-19 Resources

Helpful Post from Someone on Social Media

I spent years working in Afghanistan, and have been in some form of lockdown (curfew, limited movement, etc) for extended periods of time while living in a tense situation. This is what I learned from my mistakes:

Work out every day. You go into this like a prison sentence thinking you’ll have a six-pack by the time they lift the quarantine, but the stress of your remote work, caring for others etc doesn’t leave you the free time you thought it would. You are exhausted and stressed out. When you don’t get exercise, you stop being able to manage stress, you stop being able to sleep well, and there is nothing like insomnia to make you unravel. If you hate it, aim for 10 minutes. If you stop sleeping, know that exercise is the fastest way to reverse that.

Socialize as much as possible. Obviously from a safe distance or online, but it’s so easy to fall into a pattern of work and TV, binging news, and self-isolation. Sharing your experience with others, talk, and human contact are critical. If you live with someone, (and therefore not practicing social distancing) make sure to hug them as much as possible. If you live alone, hug yourself, give yourself little massages, take long baths. We are tactile creatures and a lack of human contact can cause depression, stress, and poor health overall. Lack of touch can also exacerbate anxiety disorders and various mood disorders.

Disconnect from the scary thing, and laugh as much as possible: So easy to while away your days on twitter and news feeds trying to keep track of what’s going on. Terrible for mental health. Check in on that as needed, and then tear yourself away and feed your brain with books, and conversations with others, movies, and TV, online classes etc. Take advantage of all the stuff that is being made freely available, learn a skill whatever. Most of all, laugh. Watch comedies, read funny books, appreciate the ironies of the situations you’ll inevitably encounter, write them down. Laughter releases endorphins, promoting well-being and relieving stress. Ideally, laugh with others.

Help someone: It makes you feel useful in a time when it’s hard to feel useful. It’s easy to question the point of your work when *that* is happening outside. Guaranteed there is someone nearby, literally and figuratively, who needs help. Put up a few signs offering to help those who need groceries or medicines, offer to walk dogs. Adopt a pet short term before the inevitable closure of shelters. Call family members, let stressed-out friends vent to you, be a safe space. If you have extra money, give it to someone who doesn’t. There are a million ways to help, and every one of them will make you and someone else feel better.

Check in on your own mental health: It’s easy to think you’re fine, mental health issues often emerge like the boiling frog fable. Stop, take a minute and ask yourself how you’re doing. Ask for help when you need it, and know that lots of mental health support services are available online, including therapy over skype/zoom.

Edit: by ” Adopt a pet short term ” I meant fostering! As several people have pointed out ” better to be a foster failure (fosters who adopt the animal) than having to return an animal because you can’t really care for it when you go back to work. “