Mental Health & Coping with Stress during COVID-19 - PowerPoint Presentation

Slide1

Mental Health & Coping with Stress during COVID-19

Project

Number

2020-1-LT01-KA203-078100

Prepared by

:

ITPIO

Most of us have not faced such a crisis as the one we are currently experiencing due to the coronavirus

outbreak. People are worried not only about whether they will get sick from the virus, but also if this happens, how the disease will progress in them, they worry about their loved ones – children, parents, relatives, friends, colleagues. There are also worries about how the economic image of the world will change, how this will affect our lives now and in the future, and if we will be able to cope.Infectious diseases such as COVID-19 can be scary and can affect our mental health. Sometimes fear is rather connected with the unexpected, the unknown. Our emotions often range from extreme optimism through inexplicable sadness to fear and horror. While it’s important to stay informed, it’s also vital we look after our mental health and wellbeing.

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Our mental health during COVID-19

Because not only the physical side of COVID-19 is scary, many people are experiencing a more severe pandemic due to COVID-19-related mental health issues.

Providing

psychosocial support in crisis situations to preserve mental health includes various approaches such as adherence to basic measures to deal with the pandemic, strengthening public relations and family support, providing specialized services to citizens in more serious condition by providing of specialized help from various health professionals, etc.In every epidemic, and especially a pandemic, it is common for people to feel stressed and anxious. Common reactions of people directly and indirectly affected include:3

Our mental health during COVID-19

• Avoiding

health facilities for fear of infection;

• Fear of losing one’s livelihood, inability to perform one’s duties during isolation, fear of being fired or not being able to find a new job;• Fear of social isolation / quarantine;• Feeling powerless to protect loved ones and fear of losing loved ones;• Fear of separation from close and caring people due to quarantine;

• Fear of who will take care of children or the elderly if their relatives

are

quarantined or ill;

•

Feelings of helplessness, boredom, loneliness and depression due to isolation;• Fear of a previous experiencе during an epidemic.

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Mental health and

psychosocial

reactions to COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic is also associated with some more specific stressful events, especially for people living in outbreaks, or infected / sick, or knowing someone who is

sick, e.g.:

• the risk of infection and transmission of the virus to others;• symptoms of other diseases (especially respiratory) could be incorrectly considered to be symptoms of COVID-19;• people with underlying diseases, where complications are more common, are at risk of deteriorating physical and mental health.5

Mental health and

psychosocial

reactions to COVID-19

• closing schools and kindergartens increases stress for parents and caregivers;

• fear of the long-term consequences of the pandemic, including economic;

• deterioration of social relations;• feelings of anger and dissatisfaction with the government and medical staff;• possible distrust of information provided by the government and other official bodies;• people with a mental illness may avoid treatment or visit health facilities even if they need to.6

Mental health and

psychosocial

reactions to COVID-19

Some of these fears and reactions are associated with real dangers, but the behaviour of the population is changing due to lack of knowledge, rumours and misinformation. Measures must be taken to address stigma and discrimination at all levels during a pandemic. It is important to maintain contacts between

people,

to share information with isolated / quarantined, if they do not follow social media, to support them at all levels.Mental health measures during the COVID-19 pandemic must be accessible and adapted to the needs of children, the elderly, other vulnerable groups (e.g. people with compromised immune systems, minority ethnic groups), health workers, etc.During quarantine, where possible, safe communication channels must be provided to reduce loneliness and psychological isolation.7

General principles for maintaining

mental health

• Feelings of fear, anger, sadness, worry, or frustration• Changes in appetite, energy, desires, and interests

• Difficulty concentrating, depression

• Sleep disturbances or nightmares• Physical reactions: headaches, body pains, stomach problems, heart diseases, high blood pressure, skin rashes, obesity• Worsening of chronic health problems• Weakened immune system• Worsening of mental health conditions

When

stress persists, it can take a toll on your health and

well-being

• Increased use of tobacco, alcohol, and other substances

Fear, worry, and stress are normal responses to perceived or real threats, and at times when we are faced with uncertainty or the unknown. So it is normal and understandable that people are experiencing fear in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Added to the fear of contracting the virus in a pandemic such as COVID-19 are the significant changes to our daily lives as our movements are restricted in support of efforts to contain and slow down the spread of the virus.

While we are faced with new realities of working from home, temporary unemployment, home-schooling of children, and lack of physical contact with other family members, friends and colleagues, it is important that we look after our mental, as well as our physical health.9

Mental health & COVID-19

In

public mental health terms, the main

negative psychological problems to date are the elevated rates of stress or anxiety. But as new measures and impacts are introduced, especially social distancing, isolation, and quarantine, that affect many people’s usual activities, routines or livelihoods, levels of loneliness, sadness, depression, stress, anxiety, grief, worry and fear, are expected

to rise and the impact can be overwhelming and makes the situation even more challenging.

Therefore, we have to learn

ways to cope during this pandemic

.

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Mental

health

&

COVID-19

11

Healthy

ways to

cope

with

stress

Take care of your body. Be mindful about your physical

health

Get enough

sleep, sticking

to a regular bedtime

routine

Exercise regularly

(

e.g. yoga, tai chi, stretching

)

Eat healthy, choose a well-balanced diets

Avoid excessive tobacco, alcohol and substance / drugs use

Limit

screen time

– in front of the TV, a tablet

,

computer, smart phone

Make time to unwind, relax

and recharge: take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate,

soak

in a bubble bath, listen to music,

read

books

or

magazines

Continue

with routine preventive measures (such as vaccinations, cancer screenings, etc.) as recommended by your healthcare

provider; get

vaccinated with a COVID-19

vaccine.

Self-care strategies

are good for

our

mental and physical health and can help

us

take charge of

our life and

benefit

our

mental health

.

Here are some

tips

to help you, your

friends and

your

family to look after

your

mental health.

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Healthy

ways to

cope

with

stress

Take care of your mind. Reduce stress

triggers

Keep

your regular

routine/maintain

a regular daily schedule

Do not stay glued to the

news. If we

are staying at home, it might feel tempting to spend

a lot

of time scrolling through social media and the news.

Try

to find a balance between staying informed and feeling overwhelmed by the

news

Search

for information from reliable/reputable news and information sources.

/Reduce

the time to search for information (1-2 times a day, not every hour

)

Stay busy, e.g. enjoy

hobbies that you can do at home

Focus

on positive

thoughts and

cognitive

exercises, or learn

new things online – for example free

online courses

Set priorities, reasonable

goals

and

outline steps you can take to reach

them

Make

a personal financial plan.

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Healthy

ways to

cope

with

stress

Make

connections

and talk

with people you trust about your concerns and how you are

feeling

Connect with your community – While

social distancing measures are in place, try connecting online, through social media,

by

phone or

mail

Talk to

your

children. They often

copy the emotional outbursts of adults, so it is important for parents to manage their own emotions well and stay calm by listening to and supporting children's concerns.

Try to stay connected, build

support and strengthen relationships

Do something for others – During times of social distancing, it is especially important to stay connected with your friends and family, neighbours, etc. Helping others cope with stress through phone calls or video chats can help you and your loved ones feel less lonely or

isolated.

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Healthy

ways to

cope

with

stress

Recognize what's typical and what's

not

Mental

health

concerns during

the COVID-19

pandemic

and

can

push

us

beyond

our

ability to

cope.

Despite our

best efforts,

we

may find

ourselves

feeling helpless, sad, angry, irritable, hopeless, anxious or afraid.

We

may have trouble concentrating on typical tasks, changes in appetite, body aches and pains, or difficulty sleeping or you may struggle to face routine chores.

When these signs and symptoms last for several days in a row, make

us miserable

and cause problems in

our

daily life so that we find it hard to carry out normal responsibilities, it's time to ask for help.

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Healthy

ways to

cope

with

stress

Get help when you need it

Hoping mental health problems such as anxiety or depression will go away on their own can lead to worsening symptoms. If you have concerns or if you experience worsening of mental health symptoms, ask for help when you need it, and be upfront about how you're doing.

Continue your self-care strategies

You can expect your current strong feelings to fade when the pandemic is over, but stress won't disappear from your life when the health crisis of COVID-19 ends. Continue these self-care practices to take care of your mental health and increase your ability to cope with life's ongoing challenges.

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Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on

university

students’ anxiety disorder

The continuous spread of the pandemic, strict isolation measures and delays in starting schools, colleges, and universities across the countries is expected to influence students’ mental

health. University students began

to experience a new kind of university life, characterized by

distance

learning, and online relationships with their

peers.

Young and more educated

people

are more likely to present a worsening in depressive and anxiety symptoms during the COVID-19 pandemic, compared to older people. The reduced ability of

youth

to tolerate uncertainty about the future could explain these differences in terms of mental health reactions depending on the

age.

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Effects of COVID-19 lockdown on

university

students’ anxiety disorder

Several analyses applied to university students

have shown

higher rates of anxiety/depression and financial instability due to the pandemic all over the world. A positive association between high levels of anxiety symptoms and occurrence of sleep problems among

university

students

has been

detected during the lockdown period.

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A

guide for young people: What

Can I Control?

Focus on what you can control and acknowledge what you can’t

There

is a lot that feels uncertain right now, like exam marks, university, job or apprenticeship offers, and what the world will look like in a few weeks or months. It can feel scary and overwhelming when we don’t know what will happen, and a lot of it will be out of our control. Trying to identify the things that you do have control over, and those that you don't, can help make this feel a bit more

manageable.

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The Circle of Control

You

could try a Circle of Control exercise, where you think about what’s stressing you out and write down the things you have no control over, the things you can influence, and the things you can control. We feel more anxious when we focus on the things we can’t control and forget about the things we can.

In

any difficult situation, there are factors we can control and factors we cannot control. There’s also all the stuff in between, where we can kind of push it in a particular direction but don’t have the final say over how it turns out. (Other people’s behaviour often fits into this category.)

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The Circle of Control

Anxiety

often comes up when we focus disproportionately on the factors we can’t control, while neglecting to think about the things we actually can change. Often, especially during times like these, those are the basic self-care things: sleep, hydration, food, moving our bodies.

Unfortunately

, this becomes a feedback

loop – anxiety

tends to perpetuate itself, keeping us focused on the big scary things we have little or no control over, and making it even harder to focus on things like drinking water.

This activity can help us refocus.

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Prompts to Use the

Circle of

Control

to

manage stress and

anxiety

1.

What was your experience with filling out the circles? What came up for you?

2. Do any of your circles have noticeably more or fewer items in them than the others? Which were easiest to think of answers for?

3. Which circles do you tend to think about the most when you're feeling worried?

4. Look at your "No control" and "Some control" items. Can any of them be broken down into smaller pieces that might go further in?

(E.g.

you can't control social distancing guidelines, but you can probably control how you choose to implement them.

5. Look at your "Some control" and "Most control" items. Should any of them be broken down into smaller pieces that might go further out? It's important not to expect yourself to control things that aren't actually totally under your control.

6. How would it feel to take some concrete steps with your "Most control" items?

THANK YOU FOR YOUR ATTENTION!