With the outbreak of COVID-19 and isolation of quarantine, it’s no wonder global events and your mental health are related. A pandemic can cause more than fear and anxiety about the state of the world.
If you or a loved one’s mental health condition is worsened by the effects of COVID-19, contact Remedy Therapy to partake in counseling services. Even in these tough times, help is always available to those that need it.
Global Events and Your Mental Health
Everyone reacts to stressful global events differently. There are many factors that increase response and risk to stress, including your age, current physical health, and career. Knowing increased risk factors to stress can help individuals prepare for global events and mental health issues.
Mental Health Risks During Global Health Pandemic
When global events and mental health collide, anxiety is the most common disorder that comes to mind. However, there are many other mental health symptoms that can occur during these challenging times.
Anxiety
Anxiety may be the more familiar symptom of stress, but it is worth addressing. When anxiety impacts our day, it can create a sense of danger and physical effects along with it. But this is absolutely normal to feel anxious.
You don’t have to live with anxiety with or without a global health pandemic. An anxiety counseling program helps individuals overcome the following:
- Feeling nervous or tense
- Increased heart rate
- Rapid breathing
- Difficulty concentrating
No matter what worries you, your family’s health, investments, or career, there are ways to get help during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Obsessions
With a global pandemic, disease prevention easily turns into obsessions. It is more common for symptoms of OCD to worsen in those with preexisting contamination obsessions. But this is no reason to allow obsessive cleaning to take control of your daily routine. If wiping down surfaces and handwashing becomes an intrusive worry over needing to wash, clean, or sterilize, an obsession has formed.
Loneliness
Social distancing and self-quarantine isolation critically slows the spread of COVID-19. But what about its impact on our mental health?
Staying away from public places, our families, and friends can cause mental health and physical problems. Loneliness has the potential to trigger depressive episodes.
If you or a loved one notices symptoms of loneliness and depression, talk to someone at the depression counseling program. Ask Remedy Therapy’s licensed therapist about ways to relieve depression symptoms during isolation.
Traumatic stress
Quarantine events may cause traumatic stress. In fact, 29% of people subject to isolation during the SARS outbreak in 2003 experienced traumatic stress.
What to Do for Global Events and Your Mental Health
There are plenty of ways to take care of your mental health during global events. Taking advantage of self-care activities helps prevent worsening mental health symptoms during social isolation and quarantine.
Try out the following ways to reduce stress:
- Limit news. Limit how many news sources you hear from and the amount of news consumed daily.
- Practice acceptance. It may be challenging to do, but accepting uncertainty and trusting professionals and officials around the world can help. Focus on what is within your reach.
- Limit yourself to local concerns. Concentrate on what is happening locally, not globally. Any news or mandates that affect you will be from your local community.
- Reach out to someone. Ask a professional for help whether it’s keeping up with routine appointments or emergency.
- Stay connected with loved ones. Keeping in virtual contact with your loved ones can reduce loneliness and anxiety. Create a schedule to call or video chat with specific friends and family members.
- Keep busy. There are many ways to stay busy at home, such as chores, online courses, movies and tv, and online religious services.
- Help others. Find ways to help others in the community by calling senior citizens or making homemade masks.
Finding Mental Health Treatment
Don’t bury or keep feelings of anxiety or loneliness to yourself. This can worsen mental health symptoms during global events. Contact Remedy Therapy by calling 561.414.2607 to speak with a licensed therapist. Our caring experts listen to your worries and guide you in decreasing the symptoms of anxiety and stress.
