Mental Health in the Era of COVID-19

image via: Unsplash

Originally published to Linkedin on March 12th, 2020.

Today was... tough. I officially began working remotely and with that came the realization that I'm nowhere near as prepared as I want to be for self-isolation. In between last-minute shopping (everything's sold out!) and scrolling through social media (the world is on fire!) my anxiety took a beating and I found myself giving in to panic and making rash decisions based on fear rather than facts. I'm feeling much better now, but for anyone having a similarly hard time, here's what I found helped:

Focus on facts

My lovely friend made sure to keep me grounded by sending me clear and unbiased information from reputable sources about the virus and what I could do to protect myself and others. It sounds obvious, but when you're Extremely Online like I am, it's easy to get swept up in a sea of clickbaity media, memes, and misinformation. This helped me see that the situation, while very serious, isn't necessarily as dire as my brain had been spinning it to be.

Protect your mind

It's super important to practice excellent personal and mental hygiene right now. So, in an effort to stem the flow of disinformation and anxiety-inducing hot takes, I've committed to limiting time spent on social media and have muted certain words so that I can focus on straight facts (and stay sane while doing so).

De-center yourself

I find that when my anxiety is at its worse, it helps to think of other people (hence these posts and my blogging). The first person I saw on my way home was my building concierge. He was glad it was my last day at the office for a while but worried about COVID-19's impact on his job. He didn't feel safe and he didn't know how (or if) his company was going to impose a self-isolation policy for the staff. I didn't have any answers but our conversation did bring up the question: what can I do to help?

We already know what we should do to keep those with a compromised immune system safe (tip: don't shake hands like the emoji in my third point). But what should we be doing for those who aren't privileged enough to work from home right now? This is something I want to dedicate the weekend to think about.

In the meantime, I'd love to hear your thoughts and any other tips for navigating this trying time. After all, we're all in this together!

-D.