Taking care of your emotional health during Covid-19
Below are some tips to support you and your senior’s emotional health:
• Take breaks from watching, reading, or listening to news stories, including
social media. Constantly hearing about the pandemic repeatedly can upset you
and those around you.
• Take care of your body. Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate. Try to eat healthy,
well-balanced meals, exercise regularly, get plenty of sleep, and avoid alcohol and
drugs.
• Make time to unwind. Try to do some other enjoyable activities you enjoy like
taking a walk around the neighborhood or reading a book outside.
• Connect with others. Call and talk with people you trust about your concerns and
feelings. Sharing your emotions can help relieve stress. Use technology such as
FaceTime or Skype to stay in touch with family and friends.
Now is the time to draw on skills used in the past to manage previous life’s adversities.
Use those skills to help manage your emotions during the challenging time of this
outbreak. Our elderly population have probably lived through difficult times and may
want to share what that was like and how they got through it.
If you, or someone you care about, are feeling overwhelmed with emotions of
sadness, depression, or anxiety, and stress gets in the way of attending to daily
activities for several days in a row, call your healthcare provider.