Minding Your Mental Health During Lockdown

A recent RTE article discussed how this current lockdown "has heightened anxiety levels as many people trying to cope with working from home, home schooling, isolation, dark evenings and adhering to restrictions to keep COVID-19 from their homes."

These are challenging times for everybody as we are in the midst of a global pandemic. Employers, on a grand scale, are trying to do the right things by their employees. They understand we are all human and they are being flexible with employees to help them through this difficult time.

As the aforementioned article pointed out "while employers can support staff, employees themselves are best placed to mind their mental health".

Here are some of our top tips on keeping positive during this lockdown:

1. Have a Daily Routine: Having a regular structure to your day can be reassuring and can make your world feel a bit more predictable and safer. An important part of your daily routine should be to get a good night's sleep.
2. Exercise: Exercise is known to help improve mental health by reducing anxiety, depression, and negative mood and by improving self-esteem and cognitive function. Exercise has also been found to alleviate symptoms such as low self-esteem and social withdrawal.
3. Nutrition: Research has shown that what we eat not only affects our physical health, but also our mental health and wellbeing. A well balanced diet is key to staying well both mentally and physically.
4. Keep Occupied: Read a book, watch a new show or try your hand at cooking! There are so many ways to keep yourself distracted, find what works for you!
5. Disconnect: More than likely you will be on your computer all day if working from home - probably on numerous Zoom calls. Make sure you disconnect when the work day is over and have a psychological bridge between work and home life.
6. Reconnect: Pick up the phone and ring a family member or friend! Talk about anything and everything - it will reenergise you!