Oleh: Sonia Anggreini

(Mahasiswi Sastra Inggris FISIP Universitas Bangka Belitung)

 Image Source: chicagorealtor.com

 

The pandemic of COVID-19 has most certainly changed your life and has changed every day routines, financial constraints and social isolation. You could be concerned about getting ill, the duration of the pandemic, your job loss, and your future ahead. The excessive amount of information, rumors and disinformation may make your life unconscious and confusing. You might feel tension, anxiety, dread, sorrow, and loneliness during the COVID-19 epidemic. Thus problems of mental health, such as anxiety and depression, may get worse.

Studies reveal a significant rise in American adults reporting stress, anxiety and depression symptoms during the pandemic compared to pre-pandemic studies. Some people have been using alcohol and drugs more and think they could manage their concerns about the epidemic. In truth, anxiety and sadness may intensify with these drugs.

People who use substances, particularly tobacco and opiate addicts, are likely to experience a worsening result if they get COVID-19. This is because these addictions can damage lung function and impair the immune system which creating chronic illnesses such as cardiovascular diseases and lung disease, increasing the chance of severe COVID-19 consequences. It is vital to acquire self-care methods for all these reasons and obtain the treatment you need to help you manage with this.

How to reduce triggers of stress:

• Maintain your routine on a regular basis. It is vital for your mental health to have a regular schedule. Keep constant meal times; take a bath and dress, work or study programs and practice in addition to a regular sleep routine. Set aside time for your pleasure. You might feel more controlled by this predictability.

• Limit media exposure. Constant COVID-19 news might increase concerns about the illness in all forms of media. Limit your social media to gossip and incorrect information. Limit reading, listening or viewing other news, but keep the national and local recommendations up to date. Seek reputable sources such as World Health Organization (WHO), Centers for Disease Control (CDC), etc.

• Stay occupied. Just stay busy. Diversions might keep you out of the negative thinking cycle which feeds anxiety and sadness. Enjoy pastimes at home, identify a new project, or tidy that closet to which you have pledged to go. A good management plan is something beneficial to control anxiety.

• Concentrate on good ideas. Instead of resting upon how awful you feel, choose to focus on positive things in your lives. Consider noting something you are grateful for beginning the day. Keep a feeling of hope, strive towards changes as they happen and attempt to keep issues in view.

• Use your spiritual or moral compass to sustain. It may provide consolation in difficult circumstances when you take strength from a belief system.

• Set priorities. Don't become overwhelmed by developing a life-changing list of things you're home to do. Set acceptable objectives every day and explain the measures you may take to achieve those objectives. Be credited to each move, no matter how tiny, in the correct path and admit that it will be better some days than others.

Continue your techniques of self-care. You can assume that after the epidemic stops, your intense sentiments would dissipate, but tension will not go away when the COVID-19 crisis ends. Continue to exercise self-care in order to care for your mental health and to improve your ability to face recurring problems of life.

 

 

References:

• How stress affects your health. American Psychological Association. https://www.apa.org/helpcenter/stress-facts. Accessed March 20, 2020.

• Taking care of your emotional health. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://emergency.cdc.gov/coping/selfcare.asp. Accessed March 20, 2020.

• COVID-19 (coronavirus) information and resources. National Alliance on Mental Illness. https://www.nami.org/About-NAMI/NAMI-News/2020/NAMI-Updates-on-the-Coronavirus. Accessed March 20, 2020.

• Mental health and coping during COVID-19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/about/coping.html. Accessed March 13, 2020.

• Mental health and psychosocial considerations during COVID-19 outbreak. World Health Organization. https://www.who.int/docs/default-source/coronaviruse/mental-health-considerations.pdf?sfvrsn=6d3578af_8. Accessed March 13, 2020.

• Your healthiest self: Emotional wellness toolkit. National Institutes of Health. https://www.nih.gov/health-information/emotional-wellness-toolkit. Accessed March 20, 2020.

• Violence prevention: Coping with stress. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/mental-health-strengthening-our-response. Accessed March 20, 2020.

• Manage stress. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. https://health.gov/myhealthfinder/topics/health-conditions/heart-health/manage-stress. Accessed March 20, 2020.

• Health effects of cigarette smoking. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. https://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/fact_sheets/health_effects/effects_cig_smoking/index.htm#respiratory. Accessed March 25, 2020.

• Sawchuk CN (expert opinion). Mayo Clinic. March 27, 2020.

• Holman EA, et al. The unfolding COVID-19 pandemic: A probability-based, nationally representative study of mental health in the U.S. Science Advances. 2020; doi:10.1126/sciadv.abd5390.

• Wang QQ, et al. COVID-19 risk and outcomes in patients with substance use disorders: Analyses from electronic health records in the United States. Molecular Psychiatry. 2020; doi:10.1038/s41380-020-00880-7.

• Ettman CK, et al. Prevalence of depression symptoms in U.S. adults before and during the COVID-19 pandemic. JAMA Network Open. 2020; doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2020.19686.

• Czeisler ME, et al. Mental health, substance use, and suicidal ideation during the COVID-19 pandemic — United States, June 24-30, 2020. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report. https://www.cdc.gov/mmwr/volumes/69/wr/mm6932a1.htm. Accessed Oct. 12, 202