Covid-19: The New Type of Isolation

Have you found yourself isolated during the current pandemic? Whether you're at high-risk, feel anxious to leave your home, or you don't have a reason to leave your home so isolating has become somewhat natural for you, this can cause your mental health to plummet rapidly.Without any social contact, fresh air and feeling as though you don't have a purpose, you can put yourself in a very dark place if you do not try and find ways to keep yourself happy and occupied during this uncertain and isolating time. Continue reading this article for a closer look into Covid-19 and isolation. I will be addressing the struggles that are a consequence of isolating yourself, as well as recommending ways in which you can look after your mental health while staying in the same four walls.

What Is Isolation?

Isolating yourself means staying in your home, sometimes room, away from any human contact. During Covid-19, individuals have been known to self-isolate if they have come in contact with someone who has tested positive or if they have tested positive themselves. This reduces the risk of further spreading of the virus.

How Can Self Isolation Affect Your Mental Wellbeing?

When self-isolating, you are essentially cutting yourself off from any human contact, socialisation and normality. By staying in one room, you are left with your own mind and limited opportunity to keep yourself occupied. Because of this, you're expending less energy and are at high risk of becoming lonely.Loneliness, if you didn't already know, is one of the biggest culprits behind depression. If you thrive off of other company and feel happiest spending time with those you love, it will be even more of a challenge for you to cut contact with your friends and family in order to isolate. Loneliness can cause you to feel empty, unwanted, and the longer that you stay alone, the more that these thoughts play on your mind.This isn't the only way that isolation can affect the mind. Cognitive decline is another consequence of being left with your own thoughts. Cognitive decline is the term given to one's mind as it begins to forget, lose concentration, find it difficult to learn new things and carry out day-to-day tasks. Energy retention, also, can cause you to lose out on sleep, thus leaving you sluggish and in a negative mood. All of these contributing factors can begin to deteriorate your mental health; therefore, causing permanent damage to your mentality, which post-isolation, you may find it hard to come back from.

How Can Self Isolation Affect Your Physical Health?

Not only can isolating cause dramatic effects to your mental wellbeing, but it can also have serious consequences on your physical health. Firstly, your immune system can begin to weaken; this is due to your body stress signalling, impacting the functioning of your immune system as it becomes inflamed. Secondly, potential heart problems can also be a result of isolation. Loneliness is a form of stress; this negative feeling increases the level of the stress hormone that you produce called cortisol. Because of this, your blood pressure can be increased, which subsequently causes the heart to work harder, damaging the blood vessels and worsening its health.

What You Can Do To Help Your Health

As isolation is somewhat beneficial and necessary, especially due to reducing the spread of Covid-19, I recommend that you find ways in which you can manage these thoughts and feelings so that they don't take a toll on your livelihood when you eventually return to normality.Firstly, interaction is vital. You might not be able to leave your room, but by contacting your friends through instant messaging and video/phone calls, you will still be attaining a level of communication and socialisation, which is scientifically proven to benefit your mental health. I also recommend that you continue learning; by finding a new hobby or learning a new skill, you can stimulate your brain, allowing it to focus on something else as opposed to how lonely you feel. This will also bring you a sense of feeling productive which is always rewarding.Lastly, keep calm by practising ways to relax the mind. Meditating and Yoga are just two ways that have been proven to help you practise mindfulness, which in turn reduces stress and anxiety. By taking the time to learn your mind and body, you will have a better idea of how to control your feelings and emotions in order to stay positive.There are several other ways that you can encourage a healthy mindset. Head over to Young Minds for their advice.

How I Can Help

If you feel that you need further assistance in dealing with Covid-19 and isolation, I am always available. Currently, I am offering online counselling sessions that have been highly rated during this uncertain time. Throughout a session, I will be there for you to talk to; no matter what you need to get off of your chest.If you're already struggling to cope with your mental health and isolation couldn't have come at a worse time, I can work alongside you to address these issues. This will relieve you from your thoughts and support you in finding a way to address the problem at hand, as well as a solution that'll help you during isolation and for the foreseeable future.If you'd like further information on my treatment, or for any further advice on Covid-19 and isolation, please don't hesitate to contact me on 07914952723 or through my website.