4 Recommendations on Coping with COVID19 Relapses
Back And Forth | One step forward, two steps back.
Let me just start by saying - that doesn’t stand true for the COVID crisis alone but also for so many of its repercussions.
I am based in Melbourne and just recently, we underwent a snap lockdown for five (very long) days. Everyone was convinced that an extension will be the most definite outcome, but the snap lockdown worked and yay! We were back to (post-COVID) normal within five days.
However, the mental health implications took way longer to snap out of. I observed a familiar fear take over those in my surroundings, over the social media and in the general public sentiment.
How can we deal with constant pressure of accepting the new normal, a normal that’s constantly changing and barely understood?
I realised that in the generalisation of COVID caused crisis, there were specific issues that hadn’t yet been spoken of in the capacity they needed to. Living in the age of social media, if you do not read about it or find an active conversation addressing it – it is not unusual to think that it probably only exists in your mind.
Furthermore, suffering from any kind of mental trauma can isolate you, therefore, you may feel nobody would understand or relate to whatever you are feeling and going through. Therefore, through the means of this article I wanted to address two issues which haven’t received their due discussion and are personally relevant to me as a recent graduate, living overseas and miles away from family.
The uncertainty we have to constantly factor in since the beginning of the pandemic, has no bounds. Cancelled holidays, no foreseeable end to the travel ban, spike in airfare prices, declining work life balance and social life are some of the factors adding to the COVID triggered mental health problems.
EDUCATION IN THE TIMES OF COVID-19
There are questions looming surrounding the resumption of face-to-face learning and the impact of this resulting absence on the experiences of the current batch of students. Especially those of the international students where they are having to pay a hefty tuition fees for distant learning and the expected ROI seems almost impossible to achieve.
All around the world, academia is having to factor in the pandemic while assessing student performances and the submitted coursework has invited several discussions into its authenticity and quality.
There is a very valid doubt that what value will their education hold in the future and how would this institution recover from all the changes it is having to make in order to function during such a time.
It has also severely impacted the present and future of recent graduates. The state of the world economy and therefore, the job market has limited their options. There are those struggling to make the ends meet and those having to survive in less than ideal job situations, due to a lack of option. The loss of dreams, aspirations and sense of achievement experienced by our youth is significant.
YOU CAN ALWAYS GO HOME.
BUT CAN YOU?
We have never known of a time when we couldn’t go home. No matter wherever in the world, it was as easy as catching the next flight and being with our loved ones.
So for all of those living in cities and countries far from home – there is a sorrow of “I wish I had visited home while I still could” or “I wish I knew when next I will”.
Although we are lucky to live in a time of such advance technology where connecting with our family and keeping up with our friends is as easy as the click of a button. But nothing compares to the warmth and comfort of their physical presence.
Choosing not go home versus not being able to are two very different sentiments and the latter hits differently.
It is a bittersweet feeling.
Although, I have to agree that an upside of work from home, lockdown and all the ways in which our lives have slowed down has instilled a greater effort in me to keep up with those who matter. It is not only limited to the greater availability of time but also an increased willingness to consciously reach out, be there and keep the bonds from growing distant.
At a time like this when regrets from the past and worries of the future make it so hard to stay in the present, you may ask - what is it that we can do?
4 Recommendations on how to Cope with COVID19 Relapses
Practise Self-Gratitude
It can seem like a lot, whatever is happening and how it is personally affecting your state of mind. You have to accept that we all respond to the same situation in our own unique ways and we may not always receive the validation and acceptance we hope for.
So, validate your own feelings and experiences. It is okay to feel how to feel. To deal with, however you’ve with dealing with. Congratulate yourself on things as little as getting out of the bed each day and taking the effort to cook, feed and look after yourself. The very fact that you are still willing to try and haven’t given up speaks volumes of your strength and capability.
Easier said than done? Start small. Keep a gratitude journal, write about all those things you are grateful for and especially those which you provide for yourself. Do not attach any measure to weigh what can and cannot go into the journal, every little effort counts just as much.
Focus On What Has Remained Unchanged
As Ruskin Bond once said “The world keeps on changing, but there is always something, somewhere that remains the same.”
Take a few minutes every now and then to reflect on what has remained unchanged. It could be that work day ritual that you kept up, it could be that one friend who never gives up and continues to support you through it all, it could be that book that brings you the same solace every time you reach for it.
Something, anything to fall back on and hold closely as we navigate through that which is ever-changing and continuously evolving. In a time like now, such reflections go a long way in bringing us the comfort we need.
#CCRECOMMENDS APPLICATION TO PRACTICE MINDFULNESS
365 Gratitude
An iOS and Android friendly app which sends you prompts of positivity throughout the day and includes activities to help you practise gratitude. It takes a note of your daily mood, you can even start filling a virtual gratitude jar and engage with a larger community of gratitude practitioners.
Balance
As a response to the COVID-19 crisis, the iOS and android friendly app has made its membership absolutely free of cost for a whole year from the day you start. It includes activities and meditations across a range of categories, depending on how you are feeling and what is it that you are seeking on a particular day. Such as midday reset, concentration, reflection, breathing exercises, some sleep sounds and music etc.
If we can embrace this period as a time of self-care, without any judgments - we can equip ourselves with the tools to move forward despite uncertainty.
Written by Garima Mangal
