One of the major challenges of quarantine due to the pandemic health crisis, coronavirus or COVID-19, is keeping your mental health in check. The quarantine can be perceived in different ways. There are a lot of possible reasons why a person’s mental health can be severely affected during the quarantine.
While many people have more time with their families, some people are left living alone due to old age, being assigned to work away from home, and for other reasons. Also, the closure of small businesses and those who work without pay are worried as well about their future financially.
In this post, you’ll learn some helpful ways on how to keep your mental health in check during the quarantine.
1. Seek Help From a Mental Health Expert
The best person who can assess your mental health or psychological condition is a psychologist or a psychiatrist. These professionals can observe and interview individuals who exhibit signs and symptoms of psychological disorders, including behavioral, emotional, and organizational issues. However, getting help nowadays seems restricted because of the risk of contracting coronavirus, so West Chester Telehealth for mental health (sanaretoday.com removed due to dead link) highly recommends the use of telemedicine technology.
Telemedicine or telehealth technology refers to the use of digital technologies, particularly the internet and communication apps, to connect patients and healthcare professionals, like doctors. It aims to fill the gap in long-distance, commuting, and even today’s health crisis, wherein most people are at home because of lockdown and mandatory quarantine. Although the terms telehealth vs telemedicine differ from each other, they are nevertheless interrelated, or rather derive from one another.
Here’s how using telehealth technology can keep your mental health in check while in quarantine:
- You only need an internet-capable device, like your smartphone, tablet, or laptop, and a reliable internet connection to get ready to set up for telehealth.
- A telemedicine app or communication app, like Skype or Zoom, can be downloaded as agreed by the patient and the doctor.
- The mental health expert will be conducting a thorough psychological assessment by asking questions, and the results would be based on the answers of the patient.After evaluation, the mental health professional will provide and explain the results and recommend treatment options, including prescribing medication and non-medication options, like cognitive behavioral therapy and other healthy ways to cope better with stress and anxiety during the quarantine.
2. Exercise and Get More Active
Quarantine gives people more time to exercise than usual which can help improve mental health. Set SMART goals or specific, measurable, achievable, realistic, and timely objectives and make the workout a challenge by increasing your sit-ups and number of workouts each week. Exercise boosts your mood, it is a commonly prescribed treatment therapy for mild to moderate depression. So, make it your priority by exercising regularly every day for at least 30 minutes.
Here are the findings of a study about the effects of exercise on mental health:
- Physical inactivity can be associated with the development of mental or psychological disorders. On the other hand, physical activity consistently has shown to be related to improved physical health, cognitive functioning, psychological well-being, and life satisfaction.
- Exercise can be a treatment for depression, which is comparative with antidepressant medications as initial treatment for depression. When used as an adjunct treatment to antidepressant medications, exercise helps improve depressive symptoms.
3. Maintain Social Connection to Strengthen Support System
Self-isolation during home quarantine can be mentally draining. But you can use social media to your advantage. Set scheduled chats and video conferencing with your relatives, friends, neighbors, and colleagues on a daily or weekly basis, depending on how socially inclined you were before the quarantine.
Making meaningful connections with the people you used to talk and mingle too before can help you safeguard your mental health. However, avoid being too overly engaged in social media because there is a lot of fake news proliferating right now that can dismantle a person’s mental integrity.
4. Prioritize Self-care and Your Family
Self-care is a basic concept, but many people tend to neglect themselves if they are psychologically down. That’s why you have to make sure that you eat healthy food, avoid unhealthy practices, like smoking and drinking too much alcohol, during the quarantine. Don’t allow yourself to be left out and get too overwhelmed with the current situation.
Check out these healthy activities to draw your attention out of the source of stress and anxiety:
- Pamper yourself in a relaxing spa in your bathtub.
- Engage in gardening to improve your yard and keep your mind busy.
- Bond with family members through cooking, backyard picnic, or camping, and you can tell them more bedtime stories now than you used to.
Conclusion
Keeping your mental health protected during quarantine can be a lot challenging now more than ever. With the uncertainties brought by the pandemic, one could get too worried, which may result in stress, anxiety, and depression. That’s why it’s vital to seek professional help as early as possible with the help of telehealth services. Also, exercising, building social connections, and self-care activities can help you keep your mental health safeguarded in these trying times.