The impact that the Coronavirus outbreak has on mental health and life, in general, is not to be neglected. In fact, Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak situation has caused a lot of troubles and many people are now at home, self-isolated and worrying about “What will be next?”.
As a consequence, what Coronavirus does to you, as a result of self-isolation, is affecting your well-being in general without you being aware of that.
In addition to this, the lack of social contact and no human interaction makes it more difficult to distract oneself from existing mental health issues. Here are 5 issues that Coronavirus does to you, without you knowing, and some advice for you to overcome that, so you will be more confident, healthy and at ease :
1. Increased health anxiety
According to Robert Leahy, the director of the American Institute for Cognitive Therapy, we are all locked in “an international human trauma, where everybody has a sense that their life, or the lives of people they love, is threatened”. When we are anxious, he says: “We tend to equate uncertainty with the worst outcome. There are a lot of ways in which Coronavirus is increasing your health anxiety, but how can you overcome that?
What to do:
Meditate, Laugh, Watch something funny or inspirational, Talk with the people you care about and they care about you. Or just share yourself and your concerns with your friends/family. It’s a sensitive situation, right?
Don’t be afraid to share your concerns and thoughts with the people you trust. Keep a positive mindset and see all the time the “half-full side of the glass”
2. Intense panic and fear about “what will happen”
Most of us crave stability. “We want predictability,” says Daniel Freeman, a professor of clinical psychology at the University of Oxford. “We want to be assured that the way our world looks when we get up in the morning is the way it will look when we go to bed. And if a change occurs, we prefer it to be on our terms.” But sometimes life has other ideas. Panic and fear are caused by “not knowing what will happen” and, as professor Daniel Freeman says, lack of stability.
One thing is certain, we can’t control circumstances!
However, we can control the way we respond to the circumstances.
What to do:
Watch a TEDx Speech or an inspirational movie.
One of my favourite movies is called “Bucket List”, this movie gave me an insight into how important my life is and that I can do anything I want to do now and also how I can enjoy every moment in my life. Give it a try! You will love it.
3. Conversations switched from “grow” to “fear”
Picture this, you open your phone and you see an article about something that happened in the world, how many people died due to Coronavirus. You turn on your TV and you are seeing the same. You get a call from your friends/family and the only subject is “coronavirus”. It is obvious that all your conversations are switched from “grow” to “fear”, there is no “hope” and everything seems that “the worse will come”. How can you keep your mindset on and have creative and generative conversations with people?
What to do:
Journaling, read books, dream, plan your life, look at what you would like to accomplish. Imagine, right now is 2030, you are 10 years older, what have you accomplished? What dreams have you fulfilled? Where have you been? What are you the most grateful for that happened with you? What would you like to do now?
See everything in life as an opportunity and keep your vision high and your mindset focused on growth and development, rather than fear.
4. Decreased financial security
Businesses shut down, many people facing sudden and severe financial challenges, no income. The coronavirus pandemic will fundamentally change the way we live our lives. It’s an anxious and upsetting time, and while the primary concern is health, our financial wellbeing is also important. A lot of people are worrying about losing their jobs, paying their mortgages or even worse, debt.
What is left to be done?
What to do:
Freelancing. There a lot of platforms online and a lot of people that are waiting for you to help them. What are your talents? What people are keeping telling you that you are good at? What is something you would love to learn? How about you can monetize that? What needs to be done so you can generate the money that you want?
5. Extreme social withdrawal
Restaurants closed, bars, pubs, even your favourite coffee shop. Everything is closed and, on top of that, you now got a message on your cellphone that says “COVID-19 CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC.
You are not allowed to go out, if not a case of emergency”. Social withdrawal is an important factor for our mental health and general wellbeing. The question is: “How can I overcome that and still be connected with people in my life? What should I do to not feel lonely?
What to do:
Messaging, video messaging, calls, chats, etc.
There are a lot of ways to interact with people and have fun, you just have to google it and you will find a lot of new ways to interact with people.
How about playing pool online? Or maybe chess?
Or participate in a watch party on Facebook.
Or be part of some groups that you may be interested in.
It is important to keep your mindset high and to talk about your concerns. Sharing helps you to connect with people and also with yourself, sharing is caring. Make sure that the conversations are focused on development and growth.
To support you in that, we have created Voltura, which is a self-development game that allows you to create a deep connection with anyone, anywhere in less than 30 seconds and by doing so, you are able to tap into your full potential.
Our vision is to expand human greatness and human potential.
Voltura Game promotes connection and helps you strengthen your relationship and discover who you really are. With Coronavirus around the world, now it’s the time to have people connected, no matter what and to break all the boundaries.
Keep dreaming, keep speculating, share your thoughts and find solutions, ask yourself questions that you didn’t ask before and look all the time for opportunities.
How do you keep your mindset on in this period?