LOCKDOWN - THE SEQUEL

Stay well: Our guide to wellbeing during lockdown

As a lot of us now are in or about to be in another lockdown, we thought we’d remind ourselves of some key points in order for us to protect our wellbeing as much as we can during this time.

Social distancing measures isolating us from those we care about can leave us feeling lonely, anxious or depressed. 

Whether you are isolating alone or juggling work, the lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID-19 is a challenging time for everyone.

‘Hope’ is important as it counteracts feelings of hopelessness which are fed by the fear that this will go on forever, that there is no end in sight and that the goalposts will forever keep changing. Knowing this situation will pass can make the current circumstances bearable and motivate you because having hope acknowledges that you have a future that you are working towards.

To help you keep that hope on track, here’s our guide to mental health with top tips on how to cope during lockdown.

Stay virtually connected

In the age of fake news, staying in touch online with those we know and trust is vital. These interactions keep us grounded, this is especially important in a context where it is easy to feel overwhelmed by the information (and the misinformation) available on social media.

Rather than being click-baited down a Facebook rabbit hole of unreliable information, turn to trusted sources for support.

Stay connected with the people, communities and groups whose comments and contributions you find helpful, interesting, inspiring and uplifting. This can provide hope and helps to maintain a rounded perspective of our situation and our circumstances.

Take advantage of exercise

If you can get outside, get outside, daily exercise lowers anxiety, improves mood and has a number of proven physical health benefits. It is vital to our wellbeing.

Ask for help if you need it

We have a tendency, when asked if we are OK, to say ‘Yes, fine’, as a coping mechanism because we don’t want to talk about our feelings and expose our anger or upset, however, when you bottle up your feelings, you are not just doing yourself a disservice but you are closing down an opportunity for others who may be suffering to confide in you.

We are all having good and bad days. A good starting point is just to acknowledge that when it’s a bad day, it’s a bad day, acknowledging that exposing such complicated emotions is not easy. Don’t hold back, we are humans not robots.

In order to process your feelings, you need to figure out what you are feeling and why. Try not to internalise stress, uncomfortable and negative feelings and avoid relying on behaviours that internalise your feelings. These may end in you feeling guilty, developing self-loathing and a self-destructive cycle may develop.

Don’t suffer in silence, if you need help, ask loudly and persistently.

GIVE IN to the current challenging circumstances

Complaining about lockdown and itching and fretting to get back to your former life can exacerbate stress and anxiety. Instead, slow down, accept it and stay safe. The lockdown is here. It is not going away. Lean into it.

When faced with a situation that is not of our making and that is beyond our control, we can perceive this as a threat and we can have a tendency to develop a ‘fight or flight’ response. In this pandemic and in the lockdown, over which we have little control, it is more helpful to accept the parameters within which we are currently living. There is a lot about the pandemic that we can’t fight and there is a lot we can’t run away from. Better to accept the realities. This will free up energy to develop appropriate adaptive responses.

Work on your to do list

While social media might be awash with people becoming accomplished bakers, musicians, athletes and gardeners, you don’t have to overachieve during lockdown in order to feel a sense of accomplishment, it’s better to set achievable goals and tick something off each day.

Some people think that to do lists are made up of incredible personal challenges that stretch your body, mind and that involve setting amazing goals for yourself, better to think of them as lists of achievable, realistic and achievable tasks bespoke to you and that reflect your own personal circumstances.

As well as relieving boredom, the sense of accomplishment that comes with ticking off your list can also help boost your mental health. Nurturing feelings of achievement is important because it creates feelings of satisfaction, control, and the sense that you are taking a positive step forward. Obviously if you feel you can take on bigger, more long term goals, go ahead but have some daily ones too.

Learn something new

Learning new things can help keep you active, occupied, energised and may give you a new outlook, experience, a sense of accomplishment and pride. It can also help distract you.

Again, don’t compare yourself to others on social media: just because someone else has found the time to develop a multitude of new skills, doesn’t mean it’s right for you. Your list should be bespoke and reflect your personal circumstances.

Look around you

As well as looking inward at how you are feeling, remember to check in on those around you, lift up someone else by sending them some form of encouragement, be it food, money, clothes, other essentials, offers of help or kind words.

We all need encouragement. If you know that you benefit from the encouragement of others, then please be assured that others will benefit from your encouragement too. It is important, as part of our connectivity with others, that we give of ourselves to others no matter how small that giving might appear. It could comprise an email, an offer of help or other forms of assistance. Lifting up others creates new conversations, new types of connection and enables us to see others in new ways.