How to take care of mental health in times of COVID-19 (part 1)

Katia Rivera [Vauxoo]

29 April 2020

This post is aimed at the entire public regardless of role or occupation. It talks about practices that we can carry out during the contingency to take care of our mental health.

In times of crisis like this, our individual actions take more importance than ever since they contribute to improve or worsen the social situation we live in. We know very well that to take care of our physical health we must stay at home. However, we know little about how to take care of our mental health.

Being at home without being able to leave affects our mood negatively and forces us to look for alternatives to cope with the contingency. Just as we use the mask to protect our airways, we must also adopt practices that protect our mental sphere, because just like viruses, psychological conditions are not seen but felt. The moment we live in is not normal, and requires extraordinary actions to overcome it. At Vauxoo we are people first and we care about the well-being of our team, our customers and the community, so here we share a series of practices that can help us all maintain good mental health at this difficult time.

“"Just as we use the mask to protect our airways, we must also adopt practices that protect our mental sphere"

Moderate your consumption of news

It is good to stay informed and you must do it, but if you wake up and go to bed watching news it is time to stop . The news can be addictive, especially in the current moment in which we see numbers and graphs of infected people that change day by day. Knowing that there are a hundred, or a thousand more infected in your country or anywhere on the planet, will not protect you anymore. You already know the seriousness of the situation and you are already taking the measures that are within your reach, now also protect your mental sphere and take distance.

“Do not wake up and go to bed watching news”

Choose a time when you see or read news and do not do it for more than 45 minutes, nor is it necessary for you to do it daily. You can choose a reliable news platform where you check the information relevant to your region and country and thus stay up to date without saturating yourself with negative information.

Talks about something else.

How many dead are there in the world for covid?

If this has become your favorite topic of conversation it is time to change it. We live in a very stressful and unprecedented time. Few moments have brought so much uncertainty for humanity like this, and we don't know how long it will continue, so we must build a mental refuge.

Talking about the pandemic every day will affect your mood and that of those who listen to you negatively. There is no need to pay more attention to this topic, you already have several reminders in your daily routine. Talking about this is not going to make you feel better and if it puts your psychological well-being at risk.

“Talking about the pandemic daily will affect your mood and that of those who listen negatively to you.”

Maintain
a routine

Whether you are working from home, or taking care of your children and taking care of the home (or both!), Have a routine. In this period it is difficult to distinguish Monday from Friday, so it becomes important that we keep some habits. Try to go to bed at more or less the same time, constantly altering our sleep cycle can make us feel tired or anxious. Wake up early, sleeping more hours than we need can also make us feel tired during the day.

Get Moving

Physical exercise helps cope with the symptoms of depression and anxiety, this is because we have an old nervous system. Many of our response mechanisms, including stress, date back to the time when humans lived in caves and had to defend themselves against physical threats. The stress response was useful in that context as it allowed us to have more energy resources available to use our muscles and run or attack.

The worries that a virus generates or the economic uncertainty, our body lives as physical threats and responds in the same way: It secretes adrenaline, increases the heart rate and processes related to food intake are inhibited such as salivation and digestion, that is why in prolonged periods of stress, our digestive function and many other things can be altered.

"The worries that a virus generates in our bodies are experienced as physical threats"

Chronic stress, that is, stress for long periods of time, accelerates the oxidative processes in the cells of our body, and negatively affects the immune system. One way to combat it is to stay physically active, particularly in stressful times. When exercising, we use the resources that our body has produced in response to what threatens or worries us, and we prevent it from accumulating and leading to chronic stress.

"One way to combat chronic stress is to stay physically active."

If it is allowed in the region where you live, go for a walk or run, choose busy times and streets and follow all the instructions of the local authority. If you can not go for a walk, exercise at home at least 20 min a day, surely there is a video for you on the internet.