Coping with Stress during COVID-19

The outbreak of the coronavirus disease can be extremely stressful and taxing on mental health. For adults and children, the overwhelming feelings that occur can be connected to the fear and anxiety felt when dealing with so many unknowns such as new variants of Covid 19.  The best thing you can do for your friends, family, community, and yourself is to cope with the stress, not bottle it up.

Stress during an outbreak can include:

1. Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones
2. Difficulty sleeping or concentrating
3. Worsening of chronic health problems
4. Worsening of mental health conditions

There are many different ways of coping with stress, and people have certain activities that normally help with coping. But many people are facing the reality where their normal coping activities have been exhausted, which can lead to further anxiety and stress. This is a time to try new coping methods, ones off your normal beaten path. A change in your coping mechanism can help implement a sense of change and a well-needed break from the current situation.

The best first step is to take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including social media. Hearing about the disease over and over again for weeks can take more of a toll on your mental health than you realize. Stepping away from it for a while and immersing yourself in other activities can be incredibly beneficial for your overall mental state.

There are great routine apps that can give you reminders during the day to stand up and stretch and move, and to take a pause to breathe. Keeping track of your steps everyday can be helpful. These can be valuable tools during this time. 

You also need to take care of your body. One popular method of relaxing and unwinding is mediation and yoga. Both activities implement deep breathing which can lower your anxiety and help your mind level out. Yoga also moves and stretches your body, helping release built-up tension.

Other important body care goals:

• Try eating healthy, well-balanced meals, and try to not fall into a few routine dishes to make
• Exercise regularly, even if it's just a short daily walk
• Get plenty of sleep: keeping yourself on a balanced, healthy sleeping schedule can be highly beneficial to your mental state

Source: https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/daily-life-coping/managing-stress-anxiety.html