COVID-19/Guidelines for Mental Health

You're Unique and Yet so Similar...
A good friend in New York took her husband to the hospital. The medical staff quarantined him immediately without letting her say goodbye to him. She is grateful to be healthy and that she could take care of their daughter at home. However, she struggled to calm her worries.

We have our own unique story here in North Carolina, and I’m sure you have a unique set of conditions and configurations too, but we’re facing the same challenge with how to manage our stress when our loved ones are quarantined in the hospital.

1. Manage Screen Time and Sources
Do: Limit your exposure to news coverage of the event, including social media. Get updates only from reputable sources, and schedule the times. Don’t: Leave the news on, or check all the time: Bombarding your brain with repeated exacerbated news sources escalates your anxiety.

2. Write Down and Validate Emotion
Do: Name your emotions and write them down in your journal. It is normal to feel extremely stressed during this time. Recognizing your emotions will help you manage them.

Don’t: Feel bad for feeling stressed.

3. Maintain Routines and Set New Routines
Do: Try to keep up with regular routines. Create a schedule for self-care routines, grocery shopping and medication refills.

Don’t: Stay indoors all the time, or let stay up later and later and sleep in all day. Losing routine adds stress, and regular sleep protects your health.

4. Take Care of Yourself
Do: Take a hot bath, get plenty of sleep, exercise, and eat well. Exercise self-care lowers our anxiety, at any time. Practice mindfulness, yoga or deep breathing if this has helped you. Give yourself a break to take care of yourself.

5. Be Even More Connected
Do: Connect with your friends and family members using video conferencing, phone calls, texting. Stay even more connected with people who love you on regular intervals and let them know we are here for each other.

Don’t: Let physical distancing turn into social isolation.

6. Practice Gratitude
Do: Make a list the things and people you are grateful for. Take action to say or write a heartful thank you notes to people you care or medical staff. Act on kindness reduces your anxiety significantly.

Don’t: Focus only on what could go wrong, or what is challenging.

A Message from Our Team
Fellow Carolinians, we at the UNC Psychology and Neuroscience department know how challenging it is to juggle so much worry regarding CoVid-19. Just like you, we’re needing to cope and adjust too! These tips aren’t meant to be a comprehensive. However, we hope these ideas can help you and your family members immediately. We’ve included additional guidance and contacts below to address broader support. Let’s be strong and resilient together!

Dr. Eric Youngstrom, HGAPS Founder Angelina Tsai, PhD Program-Clinical Psychology

Additional Guidance and Support

 * NCDHHS – Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Response in North Carolina
 * CDC – Coping Advice
 * HGAPS – Helping Give Away Psychological Science