1. Don’t allow COVID-19 to distract you from your mental health issues. We all have mental health, and 1 in 4 of us suffers from a mental health condition. Or as my grad school professor wisely said, “It’s not us (therapists) versus you (clients). We’re all in this together and we’re all on the spectrum one time or another.”
Journal, ask the difficult questions, face your reality, stand up to your fears, call a therapist, and practice mindful attention to the here-and-now.
2. Have compassion for the panic-buyers. Many of us enjoy a good laugh at the TP memes, but maybe the only thing standing between Lisa and another panic attack is the fact she’s able to grab six jumbo rolls of Charmin.
3. Reach out to a vulnerable neighbor. Better yet, send your kid to ask if s/he needs a can of tuna or a canister of disinfectant wipes.
4. Check-in on family. No matter if you haven’t spoken since the Independence Day fiasco, compassion and kindness never go out of fashion. Loneliness and isolation are huge stressors on our immune systems and if there’s one thing we all need now it’s healthy antibodies..
5. Ask for help. To quote Michael Jordan, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take,” and some amazing person, “There’s no such thing as a stupid question.”
6. Talk about the facts. “Pandemic” is not a word to throw around lightly. For up-to-date news listen to members of the medical profession, not politicians and FaceBook. Speak to children and teens in age-appropriate language and know they will model their stress response to yours.
7. Play. One of the quickest ways to reverse anxiety, worries, fears and anger is to practice spontaneity and whimsy. So now is not the time to ask an attractive stranger at the bar if you can buy him/her a drink. You can dance in your living room, or make silly faces in the mirror or grab your hiking boots and head out into nature.
8. Practice online yoga. Youtube is an amazing resource for all-things home workout. Google search the Yoga with Adrienne channel to get the downward facing dogs barking.
9. Execute on your side hustle, dream gig, new job. Time on your hands coupled with limited social interaction is ripe for thinking and doing outside the box.
10. Check in with the big “C.B.T.” (Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy). Our thoughts, feelings and actions are connected. We all have a daily choice: practice peace or practice stress. How you react to the threat of a pandemic is indicative of your level of Emotional IQ and happiness. Especially if you execute on number 11…
11. Read Victor Frankl’s, Man’s Search for Meaning.
12. Relish the downtime. Considering how often we bow in silent prayer to the almighty iPhone, there’s never been a better time to slow the mind and body.
13. Pay it forward. If your housekeeper, sitter, dog walker, gardener or other service providers are unable to work, consider paying them anyway. A somber story from the book Nickel and Dimed, On (Not) Getting By In America, recounts a stressed out single mother coming home and smacking her kid after she spent hours restocking Target shelves.
14. Embrace vulnerability. Nothing like a crisis to highlight what you’re made of. If others around you are more calm and composed, so be it, you don’t have to follow suit. You are where you are for a reason.
15. Make sleep a priority. Not having to wake up at 6:00 a.m. to get the kids ready for school has its perks. During the next few weeks (or more), create a bedtime and wake-up schedule to optimize at least eight hours of quality sleep. One thing is certain, everyone will face uncertainty with more feelings of calm and in control.
16. Do the sensible things. Follow the CDC’s guidelines and wash your hands for 20 seconds with hot water, resist touching your face, cover your mouth when coughing, stay home if feverish or otherwise symptomatic. Drink plenty of fluids.
17. Ask, “do I really need more toilet paper, water, hand sanitizer?” If not, what are viable or DIY substitutes? Consider at-risk populations and re-stock the extra canned goods and diapers in your shopping cart if you have surplus at home.
18. Thank doctors, nurses, PAs, office staff, grocers, restauranteurs, animal shelter volunteers, and the multitudes of intrepid souls putting humanity, compassion and efficiency first.
19. Be grateful you’re reading this right now and not hooked up to a ventilator fighting for your life.
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This article originally appeared on PsychologyToday.com
