Mental Health Amid the COVID19 Pandemic

Like a great artist once said, “Everybody makes mistakes, everybody has those days.” LOL for real though. I know a lot of people with and without mental health history are having a really rough time right now. I mean, the unknown is scary and that fact that our government doesn’t even know what’s happening from one day to the next is even scarier! People are losing their jobs, students of all ages have to continue their education from home, parents having to take care of their children while also working from home. It’s an extremely high stress time.

To be honest, I’ve had my days of ups and downs but I’ve really surprised myself at the way I’m coping thus far. Although I consider myself to be an extrovert, I’m really enjoying this time to myself. I’m the type of person who never gets bored. I can ALWAYS keep myself busy and entertained. Now that we’re all on lockdown at home, let’s look at the positives of this. Yes, I can write an article on how horrible this whole situation is (which, it definitely is) but there’s enough negativity going on right now. The best thing about everyone being forced to stay home is that there’s no more FOMO. That’s a big one, especially in today’s society with social media being the epicenter. We finally have the time to do all of the things we’ve always wanted to get done but never had the time to! Yes, I’ve seen all of the posts about “you don’t have to take this time to be productive and blah blah…”. That’s great and all and supportive for people that get overwhelmed seeing that everyone around them is working out, cleaning out their closets and learning a new skill. But guess what? You don’t have to be forced to do anything you don’t want to do! Don’t get me wrong, I am constantly putting pressure on myself to do more and strive for better and sometimes it really gets to me and I get super overwhelmed. The best way I found to cope with those thoughts is to tell myself that it’s ok, tomorrow is a new day. Get some sleep and start fresh. That’s what has been helping me the most through this time of quarantine. I really do think that everyone should take this time to do something new and take it as an opportunity to do those things that you’ve always wanted to do! And that’s my humble opinion.