Whilst the recent announcements about Christmas being canceled will have been met with absolute sadness and frustration, we have to recognize that we are in a slightly better position than we have been before. Mental health expert Tiffany Ash was discussing this very topic a couple of days ago, about the importance of not letting this new lockdown damage us mentally. The way in which we can do that is to learn the lessons of the past and use them to make this a far more positive experience than it was the first time around.
Working Towards Something
It became clear very early on last time just how important it was for us all to be working towards some kind of project or goal. For some that was learning to play games like chess, others tried to pick up a foreign language and some even sought to set up their very own business. The point of this is that creating some kind of goal to work towards was important in order to stay busy and from a mental health standpoint to remain positive and have something to focus the mind on.
Staying Close
There is of course no digital medium which can replace being with your friends and family but at the very least we do have options with the likes of Skype and Zoom which help you to connect with them regularly. If you did it the first time around then continue to stay in touch with your friends and family with weekly calls, if you didn’t then this is something that is well worth doing this time around. As we say, it is not the perfect situation but it is making the best of a bad situation.
Making Sure That You Exercise
Understandably there were a great many of us who gave in a little too much to temptation the last time that we were in lockdown, and given the unprecedented situation that made a lot of sense. We have to make sure that we are in better physical health however and there are a number of reasons for that. The first reason is that there is a virus out there which seems to be treating people worse if they are in bad shape or if they have underlying conditions, the second is that mental health is closely linked with physical health and thirdly that if we do not focus on physical health, we could easily pile the pounds on as we are cooped up once again.
Don’t give in to the temptations of spending your time at home, try your best to stay active, remain social with your friends and family and most importantly be sure to focus heavily on your mental health and find ways of keeping yourself entertained and working towards something. In doing this you will find that lockdown runs much more smoothly than it did the first time around. We can get through this and the end is almost in sight.
