Hello it's Dr Beth Colby, psychiatrist from London, on YouTube channel Talk
Mental Health. There's a lot to be anxious in these unprecedented times. It
seems as though every answer to a child's question is Coronavirus or COVID-19. Why
can't we visit Grandma in her Nursing Home? Why can't we take you out to the
pub for Mother's Day? Why is Daddy working from home? Why can't I go to
school? Why are people wearing masks? Why do I have to wash my hands all the time? Why
can't I have a play date? I'm sure you could tell me lots of other questions
that people are asking at this time, grown-ups as well as children. in January
2020, the World Health Organization called the COVID-19 pandemic a public
health emergency. To me, it seems as though it's not just a physical health
emergency, but a mental health one as well. People have responded with fear,
anxiety, worry and stress. Anxiety is a normal response to a threatening
stimulus, and it's designed to keep us safe. It gets us ready for the fight and
flight response, and gets us prepared for action. However, the threat of danger is
uncertain, the rules keep changing, and different countries' rules are different
to ours, as they're at different stages in the disease. People are becoming
subject to a prolonged state of threat. New words and phrases have sprung up;
COVID, self-isolation, social distancing. New human behaviors have developed:
fights over toilet rolls; taking all the posture off the shelves; wearing masks;
sending funny videos of toilet rolls and hygiene measures. Some people are
ignoring bans on pubs and social gatherings, as if they're denying the
disease or thinking they're invincible, and that's not protecting other people;
elbow bumps and ankle shakes. As well as anxieties of the disease
itself, people may have anxieties about their jobs, money, paying the rent,
medication, food. COVID-19 has caused a mental health emergency. How can we keep
ourselves sane and mentally healthy in unsane times? Well, we know that physical
and mental health are interlinked, and 'exercise is mental health', as Joe Wicks said
in his Body Coach video for children this morning.
It's important that we eat healthily, regularly. You know that tinned fruit and
vegetables and frozen fruit and vegetables are as healthy as fresh ones.
Keep yourself hydrated (but not with alcohol, please). Do regular exercise. You
could do that inside, as well as, if you're keeping a safe distance, walking
in your neighbourhood or in the woods or the park, but remember two meters away is
what they're saying. Have regular rest time; get fresh air; have a good sleep
pattern. The other hygiene measures, as well as social distancing; hand-washing
regularly for 20 seconds or more; greeting people with the ankle kick and
elbow bumps; coughing and sneezing into your elbow or into a tissue and then
putting it in the bin; being careful about the environment - touching things. We
used to say, and maybe some people do, that we're too busy, we don't have enough
time for anything, and now it seems as though we've got too much time; our lives
are on hold, or some people feels as though their lives have stopped. Try
maintain as normal a routine as you can, to maintain some form of normality. If
you're working from home, try not to blur your work and rest boundaries. Set
yourself breaks; diarise things you need to do; have regular short walks in the
fresh air; even consider wearing work clothes, and
then change out of them when you finished. It's very important for
children to have a regular routine; bedtime, mealtimes, going to their home
school at the normal times, and having break times when they normally do - that's
good for the parent's mental health as well! Think about how you can use this
time, if you've got too much time on your hands.
Think what new projects you might want to do, how you might, what you might want
to do in the house or garden; put photographs in albums, if you're of
that age. Restrict your exposure to fake news or overwhelming, distressing
information. Get your news from trusted sources, such the World
Health Organization, Department of Health, or NHS; and, of course, stimulate your mind
with reading, crosswords, Sudoko, learning a foreign language. What about behaviour?
Don't make important decisions while everything's uncertain. People tend to
make bad decisions when they're under stress. It's important to feel in control
and have the facts, and act to keep ourselves and others safe, because then
people feel empowered and less anxious. Think of others; be kind, patient to other
human beings; be supportive. One good thing about this epidemic is that
communities are coming together, people are getting to know their neighbours and
supporting them. Do things to take your mind off your anxieties, and as Boris
said, 'Stay Home, Protect the NHS, Save Lives'. Take time to smell the roses -
literally, if you can. Do what you can to remain calm, like listening to music,
reading, watching something relaxing on television, whatever you find relaxes you -
apart from alcohol, of course. Don't spend too much time on electronics or on
social media, because that can exacerbate a sense of panic and worry,
unless it's being supportive and positive. It's very difficult for people
who live on their own and are self isolating, because humans are social beings. It's
not natural and good for our mental health to be on our own, or in 'solitary
confinement', which is a punishment. So make sure that you keep in touch with
people who are on their own and self-isolating. People who are self-
isolating, try and keep in touch with your nearest and dearest by phone or
social media or FaceTime. Hugs and handshakes are part of our basic core
social interactions, and we're not meant to be doing that now, to help prevent the
spread of coronavirus, so that's hard on everybody. It's important to have a
support network around you, especially people in your inner circle and close
family, not just social acquaintances.
Diarise things you want to do, things you can look forward to, even if they're not
going out to the cinema or pubs and clubs and everything else, or gyms,
everything else that we used to be able to do. These are strange times, I think
everyone agrees that. The people who are most at risk of decreased mental
well-being is people who already have a pre-existing mental health condition, so
for you guys, take extra care and get support where you need it. If you've got
OCD, please don't over wash your hands more than you normally would anyway, if
that's one of your compulsions. I'll end by a quote said 2,000 years ago, 'Do to
others what you would want them to do to you, for this sums up the Law and the
Prophets.' Okay, we're in this together. Be patient, be kind, keep well, spread
kindness not Coronavirus. Thank you for listening.