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By New Zealand Mental Health Foundation29 April 2020
It’s a tense time for most of us. COVID-19 is scary, and it’s rapidly changing the way we work, socialise, travel, access healthcare, exercise, shop and live. We know many people are feeling anxious, stressed, worried and scared. It’s time to work out how we’re going to look after our own wellbeing and the wellbeing of our family and community as we get through this – together.
The number one message to hear is this: we will get through this if we work together. Connecting with people who make you feel safe and loved is the most important thing you can do to look after your mental health and the mental health of people around you. “Self-isolation” or staying at home makes this difficult, but not impossible. We’re going to have to get creative.
We also know that things are really tough right now for some people who live with mental illness. Stress and anxiety can make things worse. While we don’t have all the answers, below are wellbeing tips based on the Five Ways to Wellbeing and Te Whare Tapa Wha to help you find what works for you.
Connecting with others is so important for our wellbeing and helps to make us feel safer, less stressed and less anxious. We can support each other to get through this.
Some ideas to connect include: writing emails that share a favourite memory, playing video games with mates, playing online scrabble or other board games, joining or starting a virtual book club, sharing a favourite karakia or waiata with your friends on social media, having video catch-ups with workmates, calling friends and whānau who are in self-isolation and reaching out to neighbours to ensure everyone has what they need to get through.
Notice the beauty in the world around your home. Take time to feel the sun on your skin, breathe in fresh air whenever you can, make a list of what you’re grateful for, take the time to thank someone for how they make you feel, do a mindfulness exercise on YouTube, watch the plants in your home or outside your window growing and changing with each passing day.
We know this is a tricky one without gyms or sports but it can be done! Play ‘the floor is lava’ with the kids, do a yoga class online, try out a new workout on YouTube, go for walks or runs outside (just stay 2m away from others!), use the cans in the pantry as weights, stretch.
Give compliments, think about a skill you have you could share with your whānau/flatmates/friends, share a favourite recipe, let people know you’re there to help (and tell them what help you can offer – e.g. can you pick up food for a neighbour when you go shopping? Can you help your friends’ kids with their English homework via Skype?). Check on neighbours and members of your community who may need to hear a cheery voice or need a helping hand.
Staying curious and engaging with the world around you is a great way to uplift your wellbeing. Pick a question you’ve always wondered about and take some time to look it up. Call your parents or grandparents and ask them questions about life when they were growing up. Research your whakapapa or family tree. Look up stories, myths and legends from different cultures. Discover the name of the iwi, hapu, maunga and awa of the place you live. Download an app like Duolingo and start learning a new language. Ask your tamariki/kids to teach you something they learned at school.
While staying at home doesn’t mean you have to stay indoors all the time, it might feel safer for you to do so! Think about how you can connect with nature from your home. Can you bring some nature indoors? Put up pictures of maunga (mountains), whenua (land), moana (oceans) or awa (rivers) that have meaning to you. Have a chat with your pot plants (this really helps them grow!). Listen to nature sounds – birdsong is lovely background noise while you work. Open the windows as often as you can. Take time every day to feel the sun or the wind or the rain on your skin.
Don’t stop taking any of your regular medication without first talking with your doctor. Phone or email your GP to get any new prescriptions you may need. If you’re staying at home and that’s throwing off your routine, set reminders to take your medicine when you need to.
Talk to your GP, counsellor, caseworker or mental health team about how they can continue supporting you. Can your appointments take place over the phone, via email, text or video chat? What tips do they have to help you get through? Who can you call if you need help urgently? Write this down so you have it handy when you need it.
Routines sound dull, but they’re good for our mental health. Try to go to sleep and wake up at the same time, eat at regular times, shower, change your clothes, have regular e-meetings with colleagues or virtual coffee dates with friends, do your chores. This will help you to manage your days and adjust when life starts to go back to normal.
Many of us haven’t stretched our ‘relaxation muscles’ in far too long. It might take a bit of trial and error to find what works for you. Maybe it’s lighting a scented candle, switching off with a good book, playing a video game, having a silent disco, talking to a mate, watching ASMR videos online, reading a book, getting creative and making some art, try our mindful colouring, journaling or watching movies. We all need to find things that help us switch off and re-energise our minds and bodies.
Pick one source you trust and check it once per day. If you want to keep checking in with news coverage, take notice of how it makes you feel and set time limits or restrict your news sources to just one or two if you need to.
Accuro Health Insurance Society Limited (FSP3981) holds a Class 2 Financial Advice Provider Licence issued by the Financial Markets Authority. At Accuro we do not currently provide personalised financial advice under the Financial Markets Conduct Act. Please refer to our disclosure statement for more information.
This licence is subject to the standard conditions for full advice provider licences.
