How are you taking care of your mental health during this global pandemic times?

[whiteraven]

FaceTime and Zoom are keeping me more sane.

I'm not much of a video person, but these are really great ideas! I am pretty amazed at the support on social media - FB and Twitter, esp.!

 

[Deanna]

I'm not much of a video person, but these are really great ideas! I am pretty amazed at the support on social media - FB and Twitter, esp.!

A church service that I am fond of, was on facebook. ( long story but I have history with that church) It felt like I was there... Took me away from the coronavirus. It was very refreshing as the pastor has a soft voice. It's a woman. I'm defineatly past the shock and awe with CoronaV and now, I'm tired of it. Trying to have patience as everything is shutting down. I went to the mall today in MO and there were people there. I think they had the same attitude. Business ( on the business side of things) has to stay open to make money... Crazy times. I see my counselor in the morning. Can't wait.

 

[TruthSeeker]

I'm living in a place that has been hit hard, and I have potentially been exposed, am experiencing symptoms, and yet am unable to get tested. Can you say "stress?"! Add to that the stress of sudden changes in plans, the town being shut down, etc.

The stress has been triggering and I've had unwanted random trauma memories and panic attacks. I've been dealing with it by empowering myself to wash my hands, disinfect my surroundings, rest a lot, and try to focus on other things so that my body can put its energy towards recovering from whatever I did get. When I notice the elevation in PTSD anxiety/symptoms, I remind myself of what the situation is and that it makes sense that I would be stressed.

To help psychologically, I started collecting positive facts and news stories. For instance, volunteers in China rescuing abandoned pets, Maryland school system that will continue to feed 100,000 children their free breakfasts and lunches despite being closed, younger people visiting older people in nursing homes by talking to them through walls and windows, Disneyland donating the excess food to a food bank since they will be closed, and more. This helps me to feel empowered, less afraid, and to not panic.

Also humor. For some reason people see a respiratory pandemic and decide that they need to buy up all of the toilet paper. And I happened to run out of toilet paper as all of this was occurring!

I got TP-will send you ar

There is the illness itself, which doesn't scare me (and I may already have it, maybe not.) It's the societal impact that gets to me. Also, the loss of access to healthcare I need for a chronic condition.

Trying to tell myself adapt and keep going with the flow, as my daily life gets turned upside down. Hanging on to my faith too helps. Joking around with friends on video helps as well. We are all feeling the stress of quarantines happening in our area and city, and the mutual support is really good. FaceTime and Zoom are keeping me more sane.

That's a bummer about your losing access to healthcare. On a different note, I just learned about Zoom. The UU church has cancelled and will be doing service via Zoom....My T has gone to all online therapy.....she had an online therapy practice w Vets and spouses, and now is just switching all her clients to online till this has passed. It's harder...but it won't last....things will change.

 

[Justmehere]

I ordered a portable bidet. $15. Now I don’t have to fuss with TP nonsense. The least of my worries was how to crap. I have done fine in developing nations with nada... but I figure it might be a nice thing to have portable bidet. Did I just post about this? Yes I did. Omg. Life is weird right now isn’t it?

But it feels good to adjust. Do something new. Adapt.

 

[SeekingAfrica]

I ordered a portable bidet. $15. Now I don’t have to fuss with TP nonsense. The least of my worries was how to crap. I have done fine in developing nations with nada... but I figure it might be a nice thing to have portable bidet. Did I just post about this? Yes I did. Omg. Life is weird right now isn’t it?

But it feels good to adjust. Do something new. Adapt.

Life is upside down now. It's good to do whatever is in your control, because a lot isn't.

 

[Justmehere]

sunshine and also walks are helping me.

 

[Upside Down Eagle]

My advice:

There is a ton of memes out there, jokes around covid. If you are into that kind of stuff I recommend looking it up - if you are having a laughing fit you don´t have time to worry.

Also recommend sunshine. Or rollerblading. I decided to learn how to skateboard.

 

[Ronin]

Knee protection & helmets if you go that skater route ;) Not that I think anybody a clutz, but skaters are crazy easy to miss by others in traffic, falls can get nasty, and head injuries get bad fast.

& JMH, normal sanitation problem, not weird to post at all. Thanks for posting, useful price info. :tup:

 

[Justmehere]

I noticed that hand washing was becoming an anxious activity for me. I am now using the 20 seconds of hand washing to repeat calming mantras I have memorized, and taking 4 slow deep breaths. I am hoping my brain will eventually associate hand washing with my heart rate slowing down and deep breathing. Trying to maximize classical conditioning in a positive way. :)

 

[jaccat]

@Justmehere any links/recommendations for those calming mantras? I’m prone to OCD-type behaviours and am trying to avoid the 20 second thing becoming a compulsive counting habit. Currently I’ve been working alphabetically in reverse through male and female names, but that’s getting a bit tired.

 

[Justmehere]

@jaccat, I have been purposefully trying to avoid getting too ritualized myself too.

The way one radio station suggests:

Words of Affirmation. As long as you’re doing something physically positive for yourself, do something mentally positive – think of 3-5 reasons you’re awesome and remind yourself of those things. If you’re struggling to come up with 3 things, don’t worry, it’s probably been 20 seconds by now. 5 Tricks to Washing Your Hands for 20 Seconds Without Relying on a Song

For me, that was too hard. Instead, I googled "positive affirmations PTSD" and printed out a few lists (one example: Affirmations For Trauma By Dr. Robyn Gobin). I taped a couple lists above my kitchen sink. I made myself pick 3-4 random ones to say to myself twice... which generally takes me about 20-30 seconds. (I purposefully didn't time it after the first two times.)

A few other resources I found along the way to keep mixing it up:
My Hand-Washing Song: Readers Offer Lyrics For A 20-Second Scrub
It’s Recommended To Wash Hands For 20 Seconds, So People Have Suggested These 53 Songs To Sing Instead Of Counting
This Website Generates a 20 Second Hand-Washing Guide, Synced With Your Favourite Lyrics

I've also found some quotes, sayings, verses, etc, that I have put above my sink to memorize. If I run through any one of them a couple of times, that generally covers the 20 seconds pretty well.

Still figuring it out myself...

 

[jaccat]

That’s great @Justmehere thanks!