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Maintain Your Mental Health And Emotional Wellbeing During Covid Pandemic

What are Symptoms of stress to look out for?

“We see more patients presenting with stressrelated symptoms stemming from fears of going outside and/or of COVID-19 infection and deep concern about recently reported traumatic events like shootings and acts of violence. Stress can manifest in the body as loss of sleep or frequent waking in the night, abdominal pain, diarrhea, heart racing, racing thoughts, dizziness, sweating or unexplained fear of certain situations. Fearful episodes can be triggered by daily, seemingly routine tasks, such as visiting the grocery store.

“Toxic stress can be just as damaging as other physical ailments so it is important to take time to practice self-care by turning off the phone and limiting exposure to social media/media that may bring traumatic images to mind. Also take time to eat well, exercise and get at least eight hours of sleep. In addition, there are a number of meditation apps that can help people recenter and find peace, even if used for only for 10 minutes per day.”

Source: Keck medicine of usc

How Covid-19 pandemic severely impacts mental health of young people?

The Covid-19 pandemic severely impacted the mental health of young people, with increased levels of clinical depression being identified, a new study published in the journal Psychiatry Research reports. A decrease in alcohol consumption was also identified amongst young people during the pandemic.

Researchers found evidence of a substantial impact on the mental health of these young adults due to the Covid-19 pandemic, with a significant rise in depression symptoms and a reduction in overall wellbeing during lockdown compared to the previous autumn. Levels of clinical depression in those surveyed were found to have more than doubled, rising from 14.9 per cent in autumn 2019 to 34.7 per cent in May/June 2020.

Sleep quality was not seen to decline in the overall sample but, importantly, a correlation was seen between the rise in depression and lower sleep quality under lockdown. Also of concern, researchers identified a significant shift towards ‘eveningness’ (a preference to go to sleep and wake later), which has previously been associated with higher levels of anxiety and a greater prevalence of minor psychiatric disorders.

Source: University of Surrey