Mental wellness & emotional wellbeing during covid19

We are living in these uncertain times, the new norm is staying home, having to conform to a night time curfew, people are out of work, kids are out of school, this global covid19 pandemic has the world at a standstill. The new socializing is by way of video chat Like zoom or fb messenger or facetime, when we go out we are told to wear face coverings and if we must go out we are told to stay 6 feet apart from each other.

So much has transpired in such a short period of time, Covid19/Corona Virus has some people still trying to wrap their heads around all of this, while their are others who just couldn’t quite take having to stay home, feeling like they were imprisoned or isolated and alone anymore so they decided to take their own lives because, for them, all of this was to much to bare.

I read two different articles about two young people, 1 was 34 year old Daniel Furniss and the other was a young lady, 15 year old Jo’Vianni Smith, (non related) both of these young people decided that this pandemic was to much so they decided to take their life,

Daniel Furniss was said to be a big kid at heart, and Jo’Vianni was described as being bubbly, loving and a light of her world but yet because of the confines of this pandemic, she was found at home, she hung herself

Both articles helped me understand that you never know what’s going on in a person’s internal, in their mind set, we often ask people how they are doing and more often than not the response is “I’m ok” or “I’m fine”, this pandemic is showing us just how NOT OK people are, we see people laughing or smiling and putting on a face and have no idea that they are screaming on the inside

During this time it’s important that you Check on your family, check on your peers, check on your associates and most importantly check on your children, be a little more attentive, open up conversations, be a listening ear, don’t be quick to dismiss how they feel, our children need us, especially in this time.

We are in a time where like never before we need each other, there are many people who struggle with mental health, there are others who struggle with anxiety, they feel like they have lost total control of their average day to day

Some of us now have gone from working parent, to a school teacher as well, meanwhile keeping the house clean, maintaining bathtimes and bedtimes and daily activities which can be overwhelming and cause us to feel stressed, these reactions are the very things that cause people to snap, it is important, or rather imperative that we guard our minds from day to day, 

This Pandemic has left many of us feeling angry, helpless and sad, I want you to know that it’s perfectly ok to feel that way, it’s called being human during a time of uncertainty.

For those of us who are struggling emotionally or mentally I want you to know that you can choose how to respond to your feelings.

(Go outside)  whether it be your backyard, a walk around the block or even outside your door just to breathe then do so, getting some fresh air and some quality time/alone time will do us some good

(do what feels safe) Right now for a lot of us staying indoors is what feels most safe to us, be sure to go easy on how much of the media you let get into your heads, as, it’s not altogether good for your emotional wellbeing

(Stay connected) I mentioned before, the new social norm is video chat because we are supposed to be indoors, if your feeling overwhelmed, pick up the phone, call someone who you know you can trust, sometimes we just need to talk, to express ourselves, our concerns, ours fears, reach out to people, it can be a comfort just to pick up the phone and connect with someone and say hey, this is how i’m feeling and i just needed to get some things off my chest,

Your mental health is Important please take care of it, we don’t know how long this pandemic will last but until further notice, take care of you, you are not alone, we are all in this together