It is important now, more than ever to look after your wellbeing. Below are some helpful resources and information to support you during the COVID-19 Pandemic and for the future.
We understand that it is going to be difficult to stay at home and avoid social situations. At the moment our daily routines have completely changed, although it is only temporary, it can still be stressful. But there are lots of things you could do to cope through it, and boost your wellbeing.
Even though you might have to self-isolate and avoid seeing people, that doesn’t mean you can’t be in contact with friends or family.
Here are some tips:
Staying at home can become repetitive, so here are some tips to help you get through it:
Although you will be spending more time indoors, you can still get the positive effects of sunlight at home:
If you are feeling anxious about Coronavirus, the British Association for Counselling and Psychotherapy (BACP) website has more information on how to cope.
There are many reasons why you may experience anxiety, and there are different things that might contribute to this feeling like: relationships, physical health, money problems, employment, social media or a stressful event.
“Everyone looks at me and judges me when I walk down the road” or “When I’m at home I think of all the possible things I could say in conversations” or “I can’t walk to the next lesson, unless someone is with me” are all examples of some worries you may experience when you feel anxious.
It is also important to understand that we all feel anxious at times because it’s a natural human response when we feel under threat. Anxiety can become a problem when it starts to impact our ability to live day-today life as we would want to.
Anxiety affects how we think, feel and act.
This means that when we worry about a potential threat (within or outside ourselves), an anxiety response can be triggered, we then may try to find relief to escape the situation.
In the short-term, solutions like isolation, avoidance, alcohol or staying indoors might seem to give us relief. In the long term the anxiety response can increase and those solutions we thought were helping us, become safety behaviours.
Check out this guide used within the NHS to find out if you have symptoms or anxiety, understand more about anxiety and find ways to manage or overcome anxiety.
You can find a different self-help booklet created by MIND, it explains anxiety and panic attacks, including possible causes and how you can access treatment and support. Includes tips for helping yourself, and guidance for friends and family > take a look.
If you are looking for something that will take less time than a booklet, you could also use some of the worksheets from Therapist Aid. They are great resources which we use in counselling and wellbeing sessions too.
Meditation can put us in touch with our stress and anxiety, and that’s why it can be so helpful. If you want to explore how mindfulness and meditation can help soften feelings of anxiousness, reduce stress, and calm a panic attack you try some of these resources:
YouTube videos e.g. The Mountain Meditation or Apps > Headspace, Calm, Smiling Mind, Simply Being Guided Meditation, Relax Melodies
If you are dealing with persistent worrying, why not try out this exercise:
Insomnia is difficulty getting to sleep or staying asleep for long enough to feel refreshed the next morning. It’s a common problem thought to regularly affect around one in every three people in the UK, and is particularly common in elderly people.
Get some self-help information and tips. You can also explore many books, worksheets and audio relaxation techniques.
We can all say that at some point in life we remember feeling “low”, “not bothered”, “really down” or “blue”. Feeling low is a normal response, especially when you’ve been in a difficult situation.
If you want to start managing low mood take a look at this > self-help guide
There are also a number of ‘TED Talks’ available online that look at how we cope with low mood and emotions:
Are you stuck on the same thoughts?
Caring about your body & mind
Here are some tips to help you start being more active:
Check out the informative posters and messages of positivity below. If you have any problems viewing them please don’t worry, you can also > download .pdf versions.