You Got This: Top 10 Ways to Manage Mental Health in Quarantine

Feeling down lately?

Struggling to feel positive and happy in isolation?

Ready for this to be all over?

Join the club!

We have all been unexpectedly thrust into this new quarantined situation and it is easy for us to forget about our mental health. The stress of not knowing when all of this will end or if you will be able to pay your bills or when your life will return to normal can be overwhelming and flood your mind with uncertainty, anxiety and fear.

While we spend a lot of energy keeping our bodies strong and healthy, we often forget that our mental health is even more important for us. Yes, our physical health remains important but our mental health is our central processor that controls our emotions, thoughts, motivations and even our physical body, among many other things.

So if our mental health begins to break down, guess what happens to everything else?

TOP 10 WAYS TO IMPROVE MENTAL HEALTH

Through my own research and experiences, I have compiled a list of the top 10 ways to improve your mental health in quarantine as a way to help you stay positive through this new normal.

Some of the thoughts below may not directly apply to you, but take the items that do resonate and make an effort to incorporate the action items into your daily life.

1. TAKE NEWS IN SMALL DOSES

No matter what news source you listen to, read, or watch, the headlines are filled with words combined into phrases to get you to pay attention. It’s marketing and it works!

Our minds latch onto the emotional and unbelievable stories and for some reason we choose to keep paying attention. And as you keep watching, listening or reading, your blood pressure goes up and anxiety creeps into your being. You feel helpless yet you are sucked in and can’t stop paying attention.

The news certainly provides helpful facts that you need to pay attention to for your own safety and well-being. However you have to stop and realize that most of what the news is showing to you is something you have ZERO control over. It creates worry and unneeded anxiety.

ACTION ITEM: Do yourself a favor, limit your news intake to less than 15 minutes per day to get the facts you need for your own safety and overall well-being. Then make an effort not to get sucked into the news funnel. You know the headlines aren’t going to be good, so why let your mind be exposed to the bad?

2. ESTABLISH A ROUTINE

Did you know that having a pre-bedtime routine (also known as “sleep hygiene”) is known to help you fall asleep faster but also helps you stay asleep throughout the night? This same concept applies to your mental health throughout the day.

Creating new habits can provide structure and keeps your mind focused. Throughout your day, your mind and thought process can be easily distracted. Especially when you work from home. “Squirrel!” Having a routine will not only help you stay on track but it also will provide a positive mental attitude.

ACTION ITEM: Break down your day into different categories and stick to these categories during specific time blocks. Common categories include breakfast, work, lunch, work, exercise, dinner, family time, me time. You could even go so far to block out your day on your calendar to help you follow the routine.

Also, change up the room where you spend time during each of these categories. For example, do your work in a different room from the locations you use for eating and spending time with family. Your mind associates your environment to the category and your mental state will adjust accordingly.

3. TAKE BREAKS FROM PEOPLE YOU SHARE SPACE WITH

Staying cooped up in confined spaces with people you love sounds so romantic and intimate … at first. Until you begin spending every moment of your day and night with the same people. While you love each other, you most likely need breaks from each other.

Now that most of us are confined to shared spaces, make sure you find moments or blocks of time to spend on your own. Get outside (see below) or go run an essential errand. This is especially important for introverts who need time alone to recharge.

ACTION ITEM: Identify with your co-habitants the time ranges each day that make sense to be on your own. Communicate with everyone, create a plan and stick to it. But make sure you do this to not only recharge your personal mental health, but also to allow others to personally recharge.

4. SET GOALS AND START NEW HOBBIES

Mastering something is a great way to improve your mental health. What are you good at doing? Doing something you are good at, like gardening or cooking or building, will provide your mind a sense of accomplishment and create positive energy.

Or, what things have you always wanted to do but always said you will get to that “one day”? Well guess what? That “one day” is here. Maybe it is a household project or learning a new language or taking a course online. Mastering a topic or goal or task helps strengthen your positive thoughts which then flow through to other areas of your life.

ACTION ITEM: Identify one thing you have always said you would get to “one day” or one thing you are good at doing. Create a plan to complete this one thing and set a time-bound goal.

5. STAY ACTIVE & MOVE AROUND

Exercise creates endorphins! Endorphins make you happy and bring about feelings of overall well-being. During this new normal, creating feelings of well-being is extremely important for your mental health. It eliminates all of the feelings of worry and angst. Exercise is not only good for you, but it also allows a mental break from work or from something else you were doing.

Also, if your new normal has altered your activity level or daily movement (for example, if you were on your feet all day but now you are at home sitting for most of the day), be sure to incorporate new movement into your daily routine. Staying sedentary for long periods can lead to long term diseases and health issues. Pay attention to your movement each day.

ACTION ITEM: Spend at least 30 minutes every day being active and moving around. And make sure your heart beat is elevated for 30 minutes at least 3-4 times per week. Block this time in your calendar so you don’t forget and don’t cancel the appointment with yourself.

6. EAT HEALTHY

During times of increased mental stress and change, it is natural for our bodies to want comfort. And much of this comfort can come through our daily food intake. However be careful.

Binge eating comfort foods high in sugar, unhealthy fats and processed carbohydrates actually make you feel worse. Studies have shown that people who eat junk food are more likely to experience depression.  And in reverse, studies have also show people who eat a nutrient-rich diet feel better, get more sleep and are more productive and successful!

ACTION ITEM: Prevent yourself from purchasing junk food when you go grocery shopping so those foods are not available to you when you get bored or stressed. Get into a habit of eating more natural foods such as vegetables, natural carbohydrates and lean proteins. Limit sweets. And while you can’t eliminate junk food altogether, allow yourself a cheat or comfort meal every 3-4 days to mix it up and reward yourself for eating healthy.

7. GET OUTSIDE

Getting outside sounds like common sense, however many people forget how great it feels to breath in some fresh air. And being outside in nature, especially green spaces, has been proven to increase happiness and overall well-being.

The good news is that spring is almost here so the temperature is warming up, but try to get outside even when the weather is not so great. Breathing in fresh air will recharge your soul and calm your mind.

ACTION ITEM: Find time each day to get outside. Even if it is for five minutes and you stay on your porch. Take a walk around the block or your home. Run an errand. Or if you can, go to a park and be in nature, especially green spaces.

8. STAY CONNECTED WITH OTHERS

Now that we have been forced into quarantine and asked to shelter-in-place, our daily human interactions have been limited. It has made us realize how important human interaction truly is.

While our personality types are different, we all are connected and need each other in some way. As humans we require this interaction to help satisfy the desire to be wanted and needed.

Just like in any relationship, we have the need to share our thoughts, feelings and emotions, and it is important to share this with others, especially in times of uncertainty. We also help others by listening and empathizing. Just seeing and interacting with others is a great mental health win-win.

ACTION ITEM: If you are living with friends and family right now, cooperate rather than compete. Respect roles, take accountability and give praise freely. Keep calm in conflict. These tips will allow everyone to remain in a healthy mental state while living together.

If you are in isolation (and even living with others), it is important to remain connected to your friends and family. Use video-chatting technology like zoom, FaceTime, and Skype to connect face-to-face. It can take extra effort but the connectivity can help calm and sooth your soul.

9. QUIET YOUR MIND

For some people, just hearing the word ‘meditation’ sounds intimidating. I’ve heard from many of my successful clients that they “don’t know how to meditate”.  But if you have ever been in “the zone” while working out or while running or taking a walk, you have meditated. 

One of the biggest misconceptions with meditation is that there is a goal and that you must turn off your mind. First time meditators often become frustrated because they “aren’t doing it right.” Our minds love to set a goal or have purpose so it’s natural for your mind to think that.

Meditation has incredible benefits including improving overall focus and lowering stress levels. It is arguably more important that exercising your body. While there are many forms and types of meditation, just taking a couple minutes out of your day to close your eyes and breath can lower stress levels and increase overall happiness.

ACTION ITEM: When you feel overwhelmed or need a quick boost, do the following:

1. Find a quiet area, sit down on the floor or in a chair with your feet on the floor.
2. Place your palms face up on your thighs and close your eyes.
3. Slowly take a deep breath in through your nose and exhale slowly through your nose. You should feel your belly expand as the air comes in and contract as the air flows out.
4. As you continue to breath, the only thing you should pay attention to is the sensation of air coming in and out of your nose.
5. If your mind wanders to a different topic other than the sensation of the air, tell yourself that it is ok for your mind to wander, and then bring your mind back to the sensation of the air moving in and out of your nose.
6. Do this for two to three minutes when you first begin meditating. And then as you continue to mediate each day, build up to 10-15 minutes.

TIP: I use the free app ‘Insight Timer’ that offers free meditations of all types and varying lengths of time. CLICK HERE for a quick and easy meditation for beginners that will boost your happiness instantly.

10. HAVE FUN & RELAX

Saving the best for last: have fun!

It is proven how quickly our mental health will go downhill when we focus so much on negativity. Life may be different now, but life is not on hold.

It’s not very often we have this much downtime from our busy and hectic lives. Use it to your advantage. Relax. Breathe.

We don’t always need to DO something. Maybe do nothing for once. Give yourself permission to relax. Relaxing is one of the best ways to improve your mental health.

ACTION ITEM: Make sure you build time (at least 30 minutes to one hour) into your day to just BE alone or BE with your family. You should not plan anything else during this time besides one activity such as watching a movie or playing games with your family or reading. This should not be used for exercising or working or any other daily routine activity. Use this time to rest your mind.

Remember we are all in this together

The COVID-19 virus has created a unique moment in time where our collective thoughts are focused on one topic. No one is exempt from this situation. We all are vulnerable to this virus. Old, young, millionaires, homeless people, white, brown, black, gay, straight, CEOs, farmers, celebrities, Muslim, Christian.

When have we ever had something happen quite like this in our lifetime? Maybe 9/11 is the closest moment. Use this moment to pause and reflect. Take inventory of who you are and what you are thankful for. And remember in any challenging moment, if you look hard enough, you will find something good and positive.

We will get through this together, just like we have before in very tough moments. Keep your chin up and smile!

Stay safe and be well!

You got this!

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