Managing Anxiety While Social Distancing

Circumstances aside, getting the directive to work from home indefinitely seems like a dream come true. Sleep until 9 AM, then roll over and log into work while still in your panties and bonnet? Yes, please.

Despite this, I can’t stop thinking about the people who rely on certain diversions and routines to keep their anxiety at bay.

Personally, I’ve been working on my social anxiety by doing things outside of my comfort zone in public spaces, like going to movies, restaurants, and fitness classes by myself. I also get really anxious when I feel like I’m not being productive with my time. When I do take a moment to relax, my mind is going over things that need to be done or ways to get ahead. It’s very hard for me to sit idle (stillness is one of my personal intentions for the year. I’m learning). Now that everything is closed and we’re being encouraged to stay home, I’m a little nervous about regressing into a space overwhelmed by loneliness and anxiety.

Luckily, I only have to do this “quarantine” thing part-time (because I work in a hospital). I know it’s driving y’all crazy thanks to all the jokes on Twitter and Instagram, but for some people, the mental health effects are a little more serious.

I won’t pretend to have all the answers. Just like y’all, this is my first pandemic, and the entire experience is very unfamiliar and uncomfortable. The routines that have become home for me have been drastically interrupted. If you feel the same, maybe some of these activities will not only keep you busy, but help you emerge from this uncertain chapter a more replenished, enriched version of yourself.

That new skill you’ve been thinking of learning for months now? Start.

If you’ve been sitting on the idea of learning a skill or picking up a new hobby, there will probably be no better time to start than now. Maybe it’s learning a new language, or how to play an instrument. Maybe you wanna learn how to code, or dive deeper into astrology and crystal healing.

My co-worker taught me how to cross-stitch and now I’m addicted. I’ve been wanting to learn how to crochet for years (clearly, I’m like 80 with 6 grandkids on the inside). I have always loved photography, and want to learn how to use a DSLR camera.

Now that I can’t run my usual errands, I plan to order more cross-stitches to stay busy (and happy! It’s honestly so therapeutic). I may finally have the time to crochet a huge chunky blanket, and I’ve found an online photography class to enroll in.

Try some new recipes.

The “we got food at home” crowd is rejoicing right now.

We resort to eating out because we’re tired, or we don’t have time to cook, or we can’t cook… now, there’s no excuse. Cooking from a recipe is literally as simple as ABC. And luckily, we have a plethora of recipe blogs at our fingertips. If you need some inspo, some of my favorites are Budget Bytes, Damn Delicious, Cooking Classy, Plant-Based Bre, Recipe Tin Eats… I could go on and on.

You could even take it up a notch and create your own recipes. Cooking is an art… you can be creative and have fun with it. Start by choosing a recipe as a guide, and add your own flair and flavors to it. Switch out the ingredients. Experiment with different spices. You’d be surprised at how easy it is to freestyle a bomb meal.

Feel free to reach out to me if you still need some quarantine-meal ideas!

Use these apps to stay physically and mentally fit.

I’m touched by how many businesses are offering free services to help people through this pandemic. Of course, gyms are closed and fitness classes are cancelled, so we have to stay active in other ways. To my utmost delight, a couple of my favorite apps are offering some really great promotions.

Down Dog

Down Dog is a yoga app that allows you to customize everything from the intensity of the routine, to the background music, to the instructor’s voice to create a personal yoga practice. The app is completely free until April 1st for everyone, and until July 1st for students and teachers.

Nike Training Club

If you aren’t into yoga, the NTC app is amazing! They provide free guided workouts, which is perfect for someone like me who literally has no idea what I’m doing in the gym lol. They’re offering free access to NTC Premium for all Nike members until further notice.

Headspace

To maintain our mental clarity during this crisis, meditation app Headspace is offering free access to Headspace Plus through 2020 for healthcare providers. Not you? No problem. They’ve also created a free selection of meditations, sleep sounds, etc. for everyone to enjoy, under the “Weathering the Storm” category in the app. I love to see it.

Explore teletherapy.

Whether your therapist made the difficult decision to temporarily suspend in-person services or you’ve been interested in starting therapy, teletherapy can be a valuable resource during this time.

If you currently see a therapist, they may already offer online or over-the-phone therapy options. If not, or if you feel you may need mental health counseling as you cope with the crisis, there are tons of teletherapy options available! One that I’ve been doing a little research on is BetterHelp.

Of course, therapy isn’t always feasible for some people finance-wise. Many online services like BetterHelp aren’t insurance-friendly options, unfortunately. And, if you’re uninsured, therapy can seem like a long shot altogether.

If you are insured, I’d suggest doing what I did to find my therapist — call your insurance company and have them send you a catalogue of in-network mental health providers in your area. From there, you can see who offers teletherapy, and research your options to find the right fit. It might require a little legwork, but it’s the best way to get therapy without going broke.

Get a head start on spring cleaning.

If you’re still in need of a diversion to keep you busy and productive, give your space a deep clean. Now’s a great time to declutter and get rid of things you don’t need. Start transitioning your closet to the spring wardrobe that you’ll pop out to the living room and go on FaceTime dates in.

Not only will you feel refreshed, you’ll also be able to rest assured that your home is disinfected and COVID-free.

Go outside!

Social distancing doesn’t mean social isolation (unless you have the virus lol). This pandemic sucks even more because we just made it out of SAD season, and now we’re being faced with a different kind of seasonal depression — being stuck on lock-down right as it’s warming up outside.

Although we can’t gather in large groups of friends for brunches, day parties and happy hours, we can still get some fresh air. If it’s a nice day, go outside. Stand in the sun. Take a walk. Have a boxing match with our collective arch-nemesis Polly Pollen. Just remember to stand at least 6 feet apart from others, so we can get this virus under control.

Unplug.

Everyone is on social media all day, every day now that there’s nowhere to go and nothing to do outside of our homes. Between the 500 TikTok challenges, “I’ll sleep when I’m dead” Twitter preaching about using this time to turn your hobbies into income, and the minute-by-minute COVID-19 updates, there is an overwhelming amount of content to digest.

If you need to, log off. Don’t feel pressured to join the content rat race. Don’t feel bad for using this time to rest, instead of becoming the next 30-day entrepreneur. If being inundated with COVID hot takes is giving you anxiety, mute those channels for the next 24 hours. It is absolutely okay to disconnect for a while.

In fact, now is a great time to just… be. Everyone is sharing how they’re staying busy, but sometimes, stillness is where anxiety goes to rest. This can be your moment to sit with yourself, and meditate, journal, reflect, or simply take in and enjoy the space you’re in right here, right now.

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Let’s take this new challenge day by day, friends. This is not ideal, and every day I wake up praying that some kind of breakthrough is on the horizon. But this doesn’t have to be a completely insufferable experience.

When things change, we adapt. We grow. We lean on one another for support, and we look within ourselves for strength. Despite the horror at our doorsteps, we can still choose peace. We can choose joy… to shift our perspectives and see the good. And that is one thing that can’t be taken from us.

So, stay positive, lovelies! Until next time, and happy social distancing!