Managing Anxiety & Isolation during COVID-19

Are you feeling anxious? Not sure? Let me share what anxiety can look like:

• Trouble concentrating
• Persistent worry that things won’t be ok
• Difficulty catching your breath
• Feeling restless
• Difficulty sleeping or staying asleep

Here are some tips for dealing with the anxiety:

• Practice deep breathing; from your belly. Place one hand on your chest and the other on your belly. Take the deepest breath you can and force your belly to push out the hand that’s on your belly. Slowly release the breath. Repeat this 20 times while making a conscious effort to relax every muscle in your body. Repeat this cycle at least twice per day.

• If you had an Anxiety disorder (or any other Mental Health disorder) before COVID-19 and were seeing a doctor or counselor, try to keep up with the regime, whether that’s medication or sessions. Many professionals are offering online sessions now. Check with your doctor or counselor to see if they are. The Ministry of Health & Wellness has opened a helpline to offer support to Jamaicans during this crisis. You can Call 1-888-NEW-LIFE (1-888-639-5433).

• Sometimes we are stressed and don’t realize it until we get a tension headache. Mindfulness meditation can help improve our mind-body connection. It’s a simple but powerful practice that helps us to live in the present moment and be more aware of how our thoughts affect our bodies. Anxiety affects us by causing our thoughts to dwell either in the past (dwelling on past mistakes etc.) or in the future (worrying about if we have enough groceries for next week). All this worry can cause us to feel sad, irritable and tense. Now is a good time to try mindfulness meditation consistently. You can find videos on YouTube of different lengths. Find a quiet place and try one. It can be a good practice to start your day with this exercise.

• Exercise is powerful! You won’t always feel like doing it, but when you are done, you will most times be glad you did. It can improve our mood, release stress and tension, help us concentrate better and improve our overall health. We can’t go the gyms now, so it’s time to be creative and have fun with it. If you need some company, tag three friends and start a virtual accountability group. Use your water bottles as weights, jump into the virtual sessions being hosted by fitness instructors now and get your heart rate up! Your body will thank you.

• The news can be stressful. Yes, it’s important to keep aware of the national and international situation, but we should be mindful not to overexpose ourselves. Limit your intake of the news to once or twice daily. Outside of your time slots, tune out. If you are feeling especially anxious, nothing is wrong with skipping the news for that day. Also be mindful of WhatsApp messages from groups and friends. Do not feel pressured to read and respond to every COVID-19 update nor chain message. You can mute a group or ask persons to cut down on how much Corona news (or false news) they send you or to stop altogether. Protect your mental health.