How can we stay mentally healthy during the coronavirus pandemic? It’s simple.
It’s been getting drilled into our heads for at least a week now: Wash your hands frequently, avoid touching your face, maintain social distancing. Stay home. Flatten the curve. Do your part, for the sake of the greater good.
But we also need to be doing certain things right now for the good of our own mental health — and we need to not be doing certain things, too. Here are some suggested rules of thumb to follow as we all try to move forward into the unknown.
Do: If you’re feeling anxious and/or depressed, and you haven’t been able to stop feeling that way, reach out to someone you care about. Do it immediately. You might not be able to physically get the hug you need, but that person will still be able to wrap you in love and support.
Don’t: Let calls from people in your contact list go to voice mail. This is the time to avoid those who are reaching out to shake your hand, yes; but staying connected in real and meaningful ways (not just via texts or emails) is more important than ever.
On a related note, Do: Call the aging relatives who matter most to you in life — whether it’s your parents, your grandparents, step-parents, parents-in-law, a favorite aunt or uncle. Do it as soon as you get home tonight.
And then Don’t: Wait too long to call them again. Someday, after they’re gone, you won’t be sitting around saying to yourself, “Gee, I wish I’d talked to my parents less.”
Do: Use social media to be a good Samaritan. There are a million ways to help people in need right now, and certainly not just financially. But ... helping financially can be fun, if you have a little extra disposable income in your pocket: Ask your friends to tag someone they know who lost a restaurant-server job this week; figure out how to connect with, say, the first five tagged (give or take), then find a way to send each of them what you’d normally tip on a $100 dinner.
Don’t: Use social media to be a jerk. I have two guiding principles when posting or commenting: 1) What would my boss think if I said this? And 2) Is it really worth it? Although recent events have had me thinking about adding a third: Only an expert in a particular field is an expert in that particular field.
On a related note, Do: Turn to trusted experts for information. Also, when using the internet, stick with news sources you trust, and turn to more than one, so your worldview isn’t too narrow. If you’re uncertain of who to trust, ask the three people you trust more than anyone which news sources they trust the most.
Don’t: If you’re angry at the media — or the health-care system, or the government, or China — all I can tell you is, try to let it go. Now’s the time to focus on giving off positive energy, on loving the people who matter to you, because — and this, frankly, will be true whether or not there was a pandemic — not all of them are going to be around forever.
Do: Absorb yourself in something that will help divert your mind from the topic of the coronavirus for at least 30 minutes a day. And change things up a little, too. If your escape is typically television, read a book (my all-time favorite recommendations: Laura Hillenbrand’s “Unbroken” and Angela Duckworth’s “Grit”); if you have always preferred books, try going on a TV binge (Amazon Prime’s “The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel” for something light, Netflix’s “Ozark” for something more sinister).
However, Don’t: Sit on the couch or lie in bed all day.
On a related note, Do: Get some fresh air. Go for a walk, or a run, or a bike ride — by yourself. Maintain that safe distance, but when you pass someone, make sure to give them a wave and a smile — even if it doesn’t look like they want one. (In fact, believe me when I say this: They probably do.)
And finally, Do: Stay positive. It’ll get worse before it gets better, there’s pretty much no question about that. But this too shall pass. Continue to love thy neighbor, even if — for now — you have to do so from at least 6 feet away.
This story was originally published March 18, 2020 at 12:37 PM with the headline "How can we stay mentally healthy during the coronavirus pandemic? It’s simple.."
