How to Survive and Thrive During Lockdown

The Coronavirus pandemic has been exceptionally difficult for everyone and is having a huge impact on all of our lives. With half of Australians in lockdown at the moment, it is important that we are doing all that we can to look after ourselves. Latest national research and data* indicate that this pandemic has had a negative impact on people’s mental health. So, if you have noticed that your mental health has been affected — it is totally understandable and you are not alone.

In order to ensure that you look after your mental health during this pandemic, especially during lockdown, we have put together our top 7 tips to help you survive and thrive.

1) Maintaining a normal structure and routine

Daily routine is important in providing a measure of predictability and organisation in our day to day lives. This is so important for us to do in a time where there is a lack of predictability and a lack of control. Keeping a regular routine and structure throughout your day gives you something that you can control, which decreases our anxiety.

One key aspect to a daily routine is sleep. Maintaining a regular sleep schedule to what you would normally do when not in lockdown is important. Also, because we may be more inactive or bored during lockdowns, we may be more inclined to take naps throughout the day. However, napping can lead to a disturbance in our sleep’s natural circadian rhythm, making it more difficult to keep a regular sleep pattern overnight. So try to avoid naps throughout the day if you can.

2) Engage in meaningful activities

We know that being physically active is important for good health, however human health and well-being is multi-dimensional, and what is less talked about is how every person who experiences a variety of activities that are meaningful to them will experience wellness and satisfaction. Activities could involve, cooking, self-care activities, gardening, playing games, crafts, doing a hobby, etc. Doing activities that you enjoy will lead to benefits, such as, hopefulness, feelings of pleasure, improved mood, and greater resilience and ability to cope. Engaging in activities will also help create a structure to your day and help reduce boredom. Finding activities to do outside the home can also help to reduce that feeling of cabin fever we’re all likely experiencing.

3) Practice self-compassion

For many of us, we will be noticing a decrease in our motivation. Not only does engaging in activities throughout the day help with improving our motivation, but another thing we can do is doing some self-compassion. Research suggests that self-compassion can actually enhance motivation and helps people respond positively and actively to setbacks.

One simple thing you can do in order to do ‘self-compassion’ is to ‘normalise’ how you are feeling at the moment; that is to validate what you are experiencing, reminding yourself that it is actually normal to feel this way, and that these feelings are likely what half of Australians are feeling and encountering right now.

Another way is to speak more kindly to yourself, be less critical. You can do this by saying to yourself what you might say to a friend who is going through a similar situation.

4) Allow difficult emotions

We’ve all probably felt emotionally drained by everything that’s been going on, and we would have experienced many unwanted feelings at this time, such as, anger, sadness, lack of motivation and anxiety. And these types of emotions can make us feel like there’s not much to look forward to and feel less hopeful.

When difficult emotions arise, we normally try to suppress or push them away — which is not an effective way of managing or coping with difficult emotions. Why? Because no matter how much you try to avoid them or push them away they still turn up again don’t they, or even get worse?! So instead, we need to learn how to ‘allow’ and experience all sorts of unpleasant emotions so that we can handle them much better.

So, in order to do this, the first step is to check in with our bodies as to how we are feeling, recognise our emotions, acknowledge them and allow them to be, instead of ignoring or avoiding them. To learn how to do this you can listen to a free guided exercise available on my business page https://www.kemar.com.au/free-resources-allow-emotions

5) Connecting with others

One of the most important things us humans need for good health and wellbeing is social connectedness. This is certainly something that is much more difficult to do during lockdowns. So try to connect with others as best you can. Have a chat with your neighbour over the fence, strike up a conversation with the checkout person whilst having your groceries packaged, phone or video call friends or family members. Arrange to do outdoor exercise with one other friend that lives close to you. Arrange a zoom call with a group of friends and play games. There are many apps out there that can allow you to do that. One that I like is ‘Psych!’.

6) Turn off social media / news

Take a break from social media and the news — and even challenge yourself to go a whole day without it. Doing this will have a surprising positive effect on your psychological wellbeing. This will also free you up to do something else more productive with your time…make that phone call, go for a walk, enjoy some sunshine, enjoy the food you are eating, clean up around you…and see how that makes you feel!

7) Control what’s within your control

When things are so uncertain, what’s important for us to do is focus on what is WITHIN our control — as opposed to what is NOT in our control.

By waiting for a set of circumstances to change that we have no control over in order to feel ‘happy’ again, ie. waiting for the government to ease restrictions, will only lead to us feeling less satisfied.

So instead, of wasting precious energy struggling with our angry emotions, blaming others, or focusing our attention on all the bad things about being in lockdown, let’s shift to what we can control. And what we can control is where we choose to focus our energy and ‘attention’, and what ‘actions’ we choose to take. So where should you be focusing your attention right now, and what actions can YOU take that will bring you more fulfilment right now?

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Don’t forget to also check in on how others are coping, especially those that you might be worried about. And if you have been struggling yourself then don’t be afraid to ask for help. We need to lean on each other for support now more than ever! And if you are needing to seek professional support please call Beyond Blue Coronavirus Mental Health Support on 1800 512 348 or for crisis support call Lifeline on 13 11 14.

* Based upon Professor Harvey Whiteford and Professor Jayashri Kulkarni recent webinar presentation in June 2021, and latest Lifeline data (3rd August, 2021).