Coping with anxiety during Covid-19 lockdown and after.

Hi guys and welcome to my latest blog post, this post will be a little different from the normal posts as we are going to take a look at simple ways we can help to manage our anxiety during the Covid-19 pandemic. It has been a difficult time over the last eight weeks or so for many people and I’m sure most of you guy’s are no different, It may be that you’ve been self-isolating, furloughed from work, stuck indoors because of lockdown or acting not only as a full time parent but also a teacher. Whatever effect this has had on your day to day life, it is likely that it has caused you some stress and anxiety, it’s also likely that now lockdown has started to ease, this as well could be causing some anxiety. To start, lets take a look at how our lives have been effected, well for one we are currently worried about a virus that in the worst circumstances may kill us, but its important to remember that this is only in the very worst of cases, for the majority of us this virus has had very different effects, and its not necessarily the virus itself that is causing the anxiety, it may well be that the measures we have all had to follow to help the NHS and keep ourselves and our loved one’s safe has actually had a very big impact on our mental health. Its important to remember that this event may well have made many of you feel isolated, nervous, anxious, depressed, worried, stressed or any other range of emotion and feelings. Well, be assured you are not alone, this is an event unlike any we have ever seen in living memory so if you are feeling different because of it, that’s ok. In this time of social isolation there are things we can do to help maintain our mental wellbeing, below I’ve put together a list of six tips and activities that may well help at this time.

1. Talking to a family member or close friend you trust about what's making you anxious. It may be that just having someone listen to you and show they care can help. If you aren't able to open up to someone close to you, the Samaritans and Anxiety UK both run helplines that you can call to talk to someone.

2. Write down the things that are making you anxious and keep them in a particular place – for example, you could write them in a notebook or on pieces of paper which you put in an envelope or jar, this will allow you to feel more in control of those thoughts and fears. Also many people find keeping a journal of their thoughts can help as well.

3. Try to take regular gentle physical exercise, this could be going for a nice walk or bike ride, any activity that gets you moving is a good place to start.

4. Try to get a good nights sleep, most adults need between 6 and 8 hours sleep on a regular basis, a good nights sleep can give you the energy and strength to face the world with a different outlook.

5. Try breathing exercises and mindfulness, I won’t go into any specifics here but there is plenty of information available for free with a simple google search, there is also some breathing exercise tips available in my face book group should you want to read them there.

6. My final tip here is that as much as possible try to keep a routine to your day, for example if your working from home, keep the same routine in the morning as you would if you were leaving the house to go to the office, it’s very easy to fall into the habit of spending all day in your PJ’s , but this can be very detrimental to your wellbeing, Humans are creatures of habit and a routine is a very good way of combating anxiety.

Well guys that’s about it for this short blog post, I hope some of you find some of this useful, as ever if you would like to give me feedback or contact me for any reason, please feel free to use the form available on my website or alternatively you can contact me via our Facebook page.

Remember although we are going though a very difficult time right now, this too will pass, one day we will look back at this time as nothing but a memory to tell the next generation.

To your best life.

Tom.