Eight weeks of coronavirus restrictions can take a toll on one’s mental health.
Maybe you’ve lost your job. Maybe you’ve been working from home. Maybe your job requires you to risk your own health by taking care of others. Maybe you’ve been juggling multiple roles as a parent, homeschool teacher, and essential employee.
“We’re seeing a lot more anxiety, paranoia and depression,” Michelle Hoag, director of Adult Community Support Services with Southeast Kansas Mental Health, said. “The anxiety really comes from the worry about the pandemic. Where is it safe? Is it safe to go get my groceries? Is the COVID-19 here locally?”
One way to cope with feelings of anxiety and paranoia is to fact-check. Examine trusted sources of information to determine if those fears are realistic.
You can also make a list of things you have control over, Hoag said.
“The more we recognize as individuals what we can control — which is typically, ourselves — the more calm, the more communicative and the more reasonable we can be,” she said.
Practicing self-care also can help, she said. That could mean finding a quiet place to think, meditating or doing deep-breathing exercises.
“Really think about what brings you joy or happiness,” she said. “When we’re stressed, we have a tendency to tense our muscles. So take those deep breaths to relax.”
Something as simple as going for a walk can help, she said. A walk puts you in touch with nature and provides both physical and mental health benefits.
Especially during dark times, it’s important to find hope, she said.
“If you look for the positives, it helps you maintain that kind of positive mindset. And you adopt the attitude of the people around you, so if you are with people who have a positive outlook that influences your outlook as well,” she said. “That’s where hope comes into play. We’re not saying ignore the challenges, but definitely look forward to what you want and what you need.”
THE EARLY days and weeks of the pandemic, the mental health center actually saw a decrease in new consumers seeking mental health services. Perhaps that’s because people were afraid to go out or weren’t sure if the center was taking new patients (they are).
Perhaps it also was because people were adapting to the sudden change.
“Anytime you have a pandemic, it creates additional stressors like economic stressors, family stressors, social stressors. Initially, everybody sort of socially isolated. But once some of the other challenges were created, like the loss of jobs, it becomes even more stressful for the individual and their everyday functioning,” she said.
The loss of a job and the financial pressures of the pandemic can make it difficult to cope.
