Impact of Lockdown on Mental Health and Tips to Overcome It

Due to COVID-19, the entire world seems to have been through a terrible transformation. From economy to basics, employment to healthcare everything is a mess. This is making a huge impact on every individual’s life. The sudden changes in lifestyle have affected the entire human race emotionally, mentally, physically, and financially. 

Social distancing has changed from being a term to being a necessity. Social distancing, masks, gloves, sanitizers are mandatory to stay alive. The people who are with their loved ones are frustrated because they are being locked with the same people and the ones who are far away from their loved ones are craving for togetherness. So, millions of people are facing millions of emotions.

COVID-19 has affected the children, too. The schools are being shut and they have to spend time with their family. They are introduced to the term ‘lockdown’ at such an early age. This was their exploration time, which they are spending indoors. But to everyone’s surprise, children are learning to keep themselves busy and are adapting much better than adults. 

The activities such as drawing, painting, writing, nursing essay writing should be encouraged in children. Of course, screen time has increased, but nowadays life is better that way. In this article, we are going to discuss the impact of lockdown on every age group and tips to deal with it.

What is mental health?

The mental health of a person is as important as their physical health. It’s just that the concept is a little difficult to understand. The diagnosis of the problem takes time to be seen and more than that, the mental health problem is seen really with a negative mindset in the society. 

Mental health doesn’t only include the problems with the brain but they are emotional problems too. How a person feels, how the changes in his personal life impact his thinking and lifestyle all is inculcated in mental health. 

Every person suffers from anxiety or depression at some point in life. Some come out without help, some need an extra hand and some give up. But if mental health is given importance and people are properly educated, the negative impacts of depression and anxiety can be reduced drastically.

A person with mental health may seem quite hale and hearty but his insides must be all hollow and lonely. Thus, the mental health problems of a person are difficult to be diagnosed. At times such as lockdown, a person has to help himself by taking aid from loved ones or a doctor. It can also be diagnosed if the loved ones keep a close watch on the person and notice considerable changes in behavior patterns.

Impact of lockdown

Anxiety

This is the most common state of mind. The reason for anxiety varies from person to person. Thinking about the future, current, or even the past situation can lead to negative thoughts thus leading to anxiety. The period of anxiety determines its intensity. The longer a person is anxious the more problematic it becomes.

In today’s sudden change of lifestyle due to COVID, anxiety has been prevailing in the mind of every individual. Due to the economic breakdown people have lost their jobs, there are individuals who cannot meet their loved ones, and are locked with the same people with no scope of change or outing to relax the mind. So, at this time, the mind tends to get anxious. 

Tip:

To keep the mind from getting anxious, it is important to adapt to the current lifestyle. Make your body clock work accordingly. Plan a schedule to do your daily chores and keep yourself busy. Stop worrying about the future and just take a day as it passes by. 

Stay away from negative thoughts, people, and news. In these changing times, it is difficult to concentrate on the positive things, but you have to train your mind to do that. An anxious mind leads to an unhealthy body. So, it is very important to keep anxiety at bay.

If you tend to feel anxious or are really feeling disturbed, try talking to your friends and family. Social distancing is a norm but there are still alternate ways to connect. If you feel unwell emotionally, always remember help is available around the corner.

Depression

Depression is the worst state of mind. It is a state when the mind differs from accepting anything positive. It just wants to make you cut out from the world. Nothing makes you happy in a depressed state.

In these challenging times, depression is one thing that has seen rise just like COVID. Worrying about the future has made the mind depressed and this depression is going common in the youth these days. They are giving up easily. 

COVID has made coping with life really tough. The day to day chores is taking a toll, the future is unknown, and all this is getting cramped up and thus leading to suicides, depression, and negative decisions.

Tip:

Depression is a very critical topic. People refrain from discussing that they are depressed because they think others will deem them to be mentally unfit. This reflex of their problems makes them take harsh decisions when they are depressed.

The solution to depression is to talk it out and take help. Not every problem has a solution,but talking it out will make you feel better. The solution for depression is to take things slowly with that person. You need not be harsh or blunt with the person. 

The problems may not seem big enough for you but they are killing the other person on the insides. If you think you cannot help, make sure that the person gets the right help. Just make sure not to leave the person alone with his problems no matter how much he insists.

No motivation and total distraction

The unpredictability of the future is leading to laziness and no motivation. The youth does not know when this will end and when the economy will be stable, thus they have lost motivation in doing everything. This has led to a stand still in their creativity. Only binge-watching and zero activity are also taking a toll on everyone’s health, mentally and physically.

Tip: 

The solution for this is concentrating on your inner abilities. Pursue your hobbies and passion. The online platform is emerging as the new workplace, so test your abilities by learning or brushing up your skills and put them to use for a brighter future. 

Set up a routine to exercise or for any physical activity. You are confined does not mean you have the license to be lazy. Initiate working on your own or start something with your friends.

To conclude, 

Make this lockdown an opportunity to do things that you could not pursue for a long time. Do things that you never had time for and wished to do them. The human body has survived all the changes due to the adaptive nature. 

This is the time to stay the same and not lose hope. Things will be back to normal soon and who knows we might end up remembering, cherishing, and missing the lockdown. Well, let’s maintain social distancing, stay safe, and stay happy to tell stories about, “how we survived the lockdown together?”