Coronavirus: How to look after your mental health

Many people in the North West have been forced to self-isolate and keep social interaction to a minimum to help stop the spread of Covid-19.

You might be worried about coronavirus and how it could affect your life. This may include being asked to stay at home or avoid other people.

Mental health charity Mind says there are things you can try that could help your wellbeing.

Here are a few tips from the charity on looking after your wellbeing.

  • Staying at home or 'self-isolating'

Eat well and stay hydrated:

"Find out about getting food delivered. For example, you might be able to order food online for home delivery. Or you could ask someone else to drop food off for you.Think about your diet. Your appetite might change if your routine changes, or if you’re less active than you usually are."

Take care of your immediate environment:

"If you are spending a lot of time at home, you may find it helpful to keep things clean and tidy, although this is different for different people.If you live with other people, keeping things tidy might feel more important if you’re all at home together. But you might have different ideas about what counts as 'tidy' or how much it matters. It could help to decide together how you’ll use different spaces. And you could discuss what each person needs to feel comfortable."

The charity says to eat well and stay hydrated. Credit: PA

Stay connected:

  • Make plans to video chat with people or groups you’d normally see in person.

  • You can also arrange phone calls or send instant messages or texts.

  • If you’re worried that you might run out of stuff to talk about, make a plan with someone to watch a show or read a book separately so that you can discuss it when you contact each other.

  • Think of other ways to keep in contact with people if meeting in person is not possible. For example, you could check your phone numbers are up to date, or that you have current email addresses for friends you've not seen for a while.

Try to keep active:

  • Build physical activity into your daily routine, if possible. Most of us don’t have exercise equipment like treadmills where we live, but there are still activities you can do. Exercising at home can be simple and there are options for most ages and abilities, such as:

  • cleaning your home

  • dancing to music

  • going up and down stairs

  • online exercise workouts that you can follow.

Mind says Credit: PA

Find ways to relax and be creative:

  • arts and crafts, such as drawing, painting, collage, sewing, craft kits or upcycling

  • DIY

  • colouring

  • mindfulness

  • playing musical instruments, singing or listening to music

  • writing

  • yoga

  • meditation.

Click this link to Mind's website for much more help and advice when it comes to looking after your mental health and wellbeing during the coronavirus pandemic.

Coronavirus: Everything you need to know