Following the increase in numbers of coronavirus patients, the fear in people has consecutively increased. The increased apprehension has taken a toll on the health of common people not only in terms of physical health but also their mental peace. The repeated thought of the global pandemic has caused stress worldwide. Though most of the signs are overtly visible in physical symptoms such as headache, body pain but mostly the symptoms are covert in nature or related to our cognitive processes such as negative thought process, lack of attention. This leads to many unanswered questions in everybody’s mind – 1) Why are we easily stressed? 2) Why our immunity tends to leave our side? 3) What fitness regimes one should follow to benefit and live healthy?
History has shown us that any illness that has spread worldwide or in the nation has caused a lot of economic loss to the country, hence, leaving many citizens in distress has forced them to be anxious about their livelihood. Same is observed in the current period where the spread of coronavirus has led to severe economic loss as the nation has been completely shut down. The lockdown has restricted the movement of the people and has hampered their work. This has become one of the main reasons of worry in people which has caused them to think questions like, ‘How will I manage the livelihood?’, ‘How will I take care of my family? , ‘Is my job secure? Should I search for other things? Such concerns over and over again have caused people to stress out.
Another reason why we are easily tensed during these times is that we are so uncertain about the situation around us. The constant thought of ‘when will things go back to normal’ is always at the back of our mind. As we are stuck in our homes worrying about many things and not able to do anything has caused us to overthink. The sudden change in our patterns of living including change in sleep timings, sitting or lying so much at one place, feeling lonely as many are stuck alone or not able to go outside and not able to breathe fresh air has caused in weakening of our immune system. Additionally, the poor management of our stress has added to being tired all day. This is because our mental health is directly linked to our physical and physiological health, thus, hindrance in one causes disturbance in another.
The pandemic has also made us inactive in our daily lives as our routines have become unorganized. To stay healthy and happy and to cope up with stress and apprehension in times of pandemic, World Health Organization has but forward certain messages for the population. These include minimizing watching news and only relying on trusted sources as this contributes to our tensed mind, staying in contact with family members, eating healthy and staying fit. An important note here is that fitness not only means eating healthy and doing certain kind of exercises but also includes meditating, staying positive, engaging in creative activities. Other techniques to minimize stress is maintaining a regular routine and engaging in proper sleep patterns. This will not only help to minimize stressed behavior but also to improve the immune system and to keep us healthy. It is an important time to take care of oneself as staying healthy and staying safe are the two best options to beat the global pandemic.
References-
- Mental health and psychosocial considerations during the COVID-19 outbreak. World Health Organization. March 18, 2020.
- Care and connection-Loneliness Affects All Ages. News in Health.
- 6 Unsuspecting ways you are weakening your immune system. Health care associates.
- The pandemic is taking a toll on mental health. HT Editorial. Hindustan Times. May 14, 2020.
