WAYS TO COPE IN ISOLATION

Saving Your Mental and Physical Health

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced the majority of the population to stay indoors and to only step outside when it is absolutely needed. Due to this, the mental health and the physical activity levels of the population has been slowly deteriorating over the past months. Fortunately, there is a handful of things that we can do inside and around our homes to ensure we maintain our well-being during these unfortunate times.

SOCIAL SUPPORT

Looking Out For Each Other!

The first and most important factor in coping with the pandemic is... supporting one another! According to Chinese scientists, COVID-19 exposure was linked with increased risk of depression and anxiety symptoms. This is due to the lack of communication between peers and the shutdown of entertainment and activity venues, forcing everyone to stay inside with little to do. The study conducted by these scientists included 7,202 adolescents; only 24.6% had high levels of social support. The 24.6% mentioned showed the least amount of depression and anxiety symptoms. The 70% of the medium support group and the 5% of the low support group both reported higher indications of anxiety which could possibly lead to depression. It's been mentioned that the more support we provide to one another, the better our mental health would be (Qi et al., 2020). Families and friends all have the impact to save not only the youth, but literally everyone around them just by showing empathy and care. This little act of kindness is an amazing and easy way for us to cope during these times; positivity is contagious and we need it the most during the pandemic.

"The more social support adolescents receive, the better their mental status. A possible reason is that family members or friends reduce anxiety and depression levels of adolescents by sharing empathy with them [11]. Social support also improves an individual’s sense of self-efficacy and leads to more understanding, respect, encouragement, courage, and self-fulfillment, all of which can help an individual maintain relatively stable emotions even under pressure [43]."

(Qi et al., 2020)

PHYSICAL ACTIVITY

Staying Active During Isolation!

Something that everyone is familiar with that can benefit our overall state of health, is physical activity! As it's been mentioned that we're forced to stay inside, it's natural for us to become sedentary and spending less time in the light; thus, making the rates of physical activity fall down drastically. Due to this, we become more prone to depression which can lead to further problems. In a study that looked at physical activity, sedentary behavior, and depression symptoms, 4,257 adolescents were used longitudinally. As age increased from 12-16, physical activity tended to decrease for most of the population. With that, the decrease in physical activity lead to higher depression scores at the age of 18. It's been found that moderate to vigorous levels of exercise depicted the depressive symptoms in the later years. Therefore, if you participate in high levels of exercise, the lower chance of depression you will have in both short and long term periods. For every additional 60 minutes of time outside, the percentage dropped even lower (Kandola et al., 2020). Although this study isn't directly correlated with the pandemic, physical activity still affects our well-being as adults in these times. Walking your dog, stretching, or just getting up and moving is still considered physical activity. The more we participate in physical activity during the pandemic, we become more capable of fighting the negative effects that comes with isolation, not only for adolescents but for everyone.

SURVIVE THE PANDEMIC

Help One Another & Get Moving!

As you can see, the two biggest factors mentioned in helping everyone get through these hard times is supporting one another and engaging in exercise. There's many things that can affect these factors, not everyone is able to receive the support needed or engage in the right amount of physical activity every-time. The biggest thing is to be there for one another and engage in healthy activities together; we can get through this together. Lastly, take one day at a time and be gentle with yourself.