4 Ways Quarantine Is Affecting Us
This global health crisis is unseen — so are the levels it’s impacting our mental health. At Ashley, we really value your mental wellbeing. So we feel it’s important to identify what may be going on in your mood and causing these negative feelings for you. So that you know it’s normal, so that you know you’re not alone. We’re also going through this hard time and navigating rough feelings but don’t forget, we’re in this together.
- Lack of structure.
We had some sort of a routine, going to the office or at least a work environment that we are used to or coffee shops. Now we have to stay inside with all the house members, this can trigger issues with your partner, family or housemates. The lack of structure is making it incredibly difficult to be productive and causes us an extra layer of stress on all of us.
2. Emotional irregularities.
Many of us are feeling very sensitive. Our sleep is impacted. We feel less in control. We’re feeling a collective sense of disregulation all around the globe. For those with depression, hearing so much talk of death toll rise can increase their thoughts of suicide. And for those who already suffered from OCD, seeing the increase in sanitary precautions talk may trigger their obsessive thoughts and fear.
3. Anxiety.
Almost all of us are experiencing an increase in our mental health challenges. For those with anxiety, seeing so many people get so tense can make their anxiety much worse. But you’re not alone. There are roughly 40 million people in the US with anxiety and this pandemic can worsen their symptoms so much more. This is a time that requires you to be more compassionate than ever with yourself. This is all new territory so please don’t be hard on yourself.
4. Difficulty coping and taking care of ourselves.
For those with PTSD, they can already experience a harder time assessing their coping strategies. Many of us are struggling to keep up with self care that we know would be beneficial and then feeling guilty for struggling to do so.
Let’s use this time to learn about ourselves more, cook a nice meal, discover some new music we love, jot down our thoughts and tell our loved ones we love them.
Stay safe, pursue positivity and persevere always.
