Hi my name is Dr. Michael Day the director of counseling here at IU
Southeast. I have five tips for you today to maintain your mental health
during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis.
Taking care of our physical health is something we all know we need to do,
especially nowadays, but keep taking care of our mental health is also very
important and there's some strategies that can help us. In the same way, as we
go through social distancing changes in our routine some of the lack of control
that comes along with that that can all contribute to difficulties
in our mental health. Sadness, anxiety sleep difficulties, anger, fear,
frustration, and even boredom. They're all very normal reactions to these things
that we're going through, but they're also things that can be
managed with a few tips. So here are my five tips for helping you during this
time. First, try to separate what you can
control from what you can't control. As human beings, control is important to
us and this is a time where we don't feel that. So what can you control? You can
wash your hands. You can in social distance. You can help those that are in
your immediate area. And those are very very important things to do. It helps to
decrease the spread of the virus and even though it's difficult you're making
a difference by doing that. You can also get good accurate information from the
CDC, from other trusted websites. You can also do something like start a new
project, or fix something, or learn something new with your time, or start or
revisit a hobby. The things you can't control is what's going on on the
national level the world level and those type of things. We need to let
those who are dealing with that deal with that. You can focus on how much of
that information you're getting. So maybe refrain from focusing on it too much,
from catastrophizing, from spreading gossip, and things like that. Sometimes
that feels helpful but it usually contributes to our anxiety. Tip number
two, do what helps you feel safe. Different people have different ways of
feeling safe. For me, I like to make lists and get things done.
It makes some of my friends kind of frustrated because I'm always writing
things down, but it seems to help me manage my anxiety. Spend time with your
pets, watch a funny movie, cook something special, talk with your friends,
practice faith, if that's important to you, draw something, focus on the positive,
and all those that are the helpers, as Mr. Rogers said take a walk out in
nature. Those are things that you can do to help you or anything that helps you
to feel safe. Tip number three is try to stay in the present. What I mean by that
is, oftentimes we can worry about the future trying to predict what's going to
happen. At the present time none of us can but that can lead to anxiety and
make us worry even more. Us regretting the past or thinking about what I should
have could have would have done can also times oftentimes contribute to
depression and make us even sadder. So if you find yourself stuck in the past, or
in the future, try to bring yourself back to the present by focusing on what you
can see, what you can hear, what you can smell, what you can taste, and what you
can do now. For tip number four I would say stay connected. We are all social
creatures and we need one another so even without physical presence we can
deeply impact one another and deeply be impacted by sharing our thoughts and our
feelings about what's going on. We can do that through social media, through phone
calls, through all the various platforms that we have through our technology. Be
creative. Maybe have some social distancing parties or have some
conversations or play some distance games that can kind of spend some of
that time with friends and family. And the last thing I would suggest is,
maintain a regular schedule for yourself. Humans need schedules and routines our
work, our school, oftentimes provide that for us and when we don't have that we
kind of get out of sorts. So you might want to try to think about how can you
impose some routine on yourself whether that's by making a daily schedule. Thinking
of things you can do so the time doesn't get away from you.
Make sure you pay attention to your sleep and when you get up when you go to
sleep, meals and tasks that you can do for the day. Maybe even set some goals
for yourself for each day. It can also be time to catch up on a neglected closet
that you need to clean out, or a project, or something like that. Finally, though
not an exact tip, I'd say pay attention to your check engine light. Just like our
cars have that little annoying light that goes on and sometimes we ignore it
until it's too late. If you find yourself getting particularly extra angry extra
grumpy, extra grouchy, or particularly extra depressed, or isolating yourself
even more. Make sure that you reach out and let someone know. You can call us
here at the Counseling Center. You can also use a lot of resources that are
available to you online. So I'd encourage you to think about these things and I
hope some of them are helpful. You can check out IU Southeast. Our main
webpage has some ideas as well as our Counseling Center has some ideas. As well
as active minds, and a variety of other online resources. Remember that your
faculty, your staff, your friends, your colleagues, we all care about you and
we're all in this together. So somehow, find some ways to practice some of these
tips and to reach out and find creative new ways to take care of your mental
health. Thanks and we hope to see you soon.