Living With Anxiety | COVID-19

I wanted to talk about this a little bit more, for my own sake more than anything else but if it helps someone else in the mean time then win win. Yesterday I fell down a news/media hole due to the number of COVID-19 deaths rising rapidly and I found myself reading some stories from some not so reliable sources and it just clouded my entire thought process and coping strategy to get through this whole shit show. However this isn’t the first time since the outbreak that I’ve found myself doing this therefore I do know what I need to do to stay in as positive head space as possible. I mentioned in my previous post that finding the balance between watching the news as a responsible adult, parent, member of society and knowing when I’ve seen and heard enough for the day was key for me, and it still is but we all have our off days don’t we?

One of, if not the main trait that comes along with my anxiety is irrational thoughts. I’ve made the mistake of having the news on whilst the kids are up and about, the daily death toll comes in and bam, my irrational thoughts hit me like a ton of bricks and I’m Facetiming my mom frantically. So I’ve decided to write a list of all the things that help calm my anxiety and really make an effort to do more of them whilst we’re all in isolation – not always easy with two children and having to fit in school work during the day but I’ve made it a priority.

• Reading A Book – When ‘lockdown’ was first spoken about and everyone was out panic buying toilet roll and pasta I was ordering all of the books I’d had my eye on for a while. Getting my head stuck in to a book makes me unwind like nothing else, it’s my absolute favourite past time!

• Podcasts – I’ve got a list of podcasts saved and I stick them on when I need to be distracted or when the kids are busy/napping. They make me feel as though I’m speaking to other adults rather than just standing in my kitchen window doing the washing up. I listen to anything from football ones to parenting ones, I find that podcasts encourage me to be more productive and are super for when I’m too busy to sit down with a book in hand.

• Houseparty – This app is an actual godsend. We spend so much time with our family on both sides so it’s really getting to us not being able to see them, and I would say it does trigger my anxiety sometimes so being able to get each household in to one video call on this app is amazing… and not only that you can play games on it too. It’s a brilliant way to pass the time and stay connected with family and friends.

• Crafting – Getting the good old PVA glue and glitter out with Lily is such a good distraction for me. I loooove Pinterest and whenever I look on there it always makes me feel like we don’t craft enough because there are endless ideas on there and it’s quality time together that children will always remember when they look back on their childhoods, or I do anyway…. and it’s a fab way for kids to learn whilst being off school.

• DIY – We’ve been in isolation for little over a week and I’ve already got so many jobs done that have been on the to do list for ages, I mean, we had the wall mount for Lily’s TV for over a year and now it’s finally up! Wardrobe clearouts have gone down, cupboards and toy clear outs have happened and now I’m just left with a load of bags for the charity shop but it’s such a good feeling to spring clean and get stuff done within the home that have been in the pipeline for what feels like forever.

And obviously, nothing beats spending time as a family, playing with the kids and just making each other laugh and smile through this scary time full of uncertainty. These are just a few things that ease my anxiety and will help me through staying at home during this time but there are lots and lots of things going on that you can do from virtual pub quizzes to live workouts, we just need to be as creative as possible with what we have throughout this.

Here are some useful websites that I’ve been looking at to help me with my own anxiety:

NHS – Worried About Coronavirus? | MIND – Coronavirus and your wellbeing. | BBC News – How To Protect Your Mental Health