Life in Isolation: Covid19 & Mental Health

Published by Xiao on 21/03/202021/03/2020

It has been more than a month of self-isolation and so far it’s has been brutal.

It all started by mid-January when the media reported the first cases of assault on Chinese people.

So, it didn’t take me by surprise when Prime Minister Conte decided to put first the north of Italy and then the whole country under quarantine.

Introvert vs Isolation

The first two weeks weren’t all that bad.
I spent most of the time catching up on movies that I wanted to watch in a while and on YouTube.

Being an introvert used to be by himself, really gives you an edge in this kind of situation.

With this being said, days go by slowly, and soon enough I started running out of ideas on things to do.

You can only do so much at home by yourself and in the end, we are still social animals.

A good way to spend time, is chatting with friends and family, even though talking through a phone is no way near being face to face.

Living alone & Irrational thoughts

As time progresses, I started to develop strange skin itchiness and all-around nervousness.
Maybe it was just dry skin, I said to my self, but it wasn’t going away by moisturizing.

Maybe it was my head playing tricks on me.
Isolation is terrible on our psyche and there have been many instances of prisoners that went crazy during isolation.

Of course, we’re not in such a dramatic situation,
but fear exaggerates everything.

The worst part though, it’s not being able to be close to the ones you love.

We all know that we have to stay away from our family and friends, but it’s almost impossible not to wonder what you could do if they get sick.

Especially when it comes to your parents and grandparents.

And worst of all is the chain of irrational “what if” that start to crowd your mind. Starting from “what if I die and nobody notices”.

Maintaining Mental Sanity

I’ve decided to take so precautionary measures before reaching a breaking point.

I’ve found that writing about it quite therapeutic.
It helps clear your fear fogged mind by letting off some steam, without worrying others about you.

Another great way is reading.
The Art Of War is a great ancient Chinese practical manuscript, that gives great insight into how our minds shape the reality that surrounds us.

As part of my exercise to overcome my fear of being on camera, I took a video just to sorta slap myself and reminding me to remain sane.

In a situation like this is useful to focus on things that we do have control over and let the outside world run its course.

The first thing I did, was to stop checking the news so often and limit it to just a 10-20 min on during lunch.

The constant bombarding of the news does not help if you’re already feeling a little bit anxious.

Every morning, I stay under the sun on my balcony for at least 15min.
I’ve read in many articles that sunlight boosts one’s mood and it’s part of what scientists call phototherapy.
Where they mimic sunlight in the lab to improve patients’ health.

Strangely enough, after applying this, my itchiness went away.
So it was indeed my mind’s way to say “hey buddy we need some vitamin D in here”.

I soon realized that I needed to shift my focus on things that I can control and not let my mind wander into the unknown.
We can control our little bubble and let the outside world run its course.

So I picked up a list of things that I previously made and start working on it.

My handwriting needs improving, I know, but I was in a hurry Ahah.

I’ve already made huge improvements on point 6, where I managed to clean my diet from junk food.

In the end, we can either spend our time lost in our thoughts and fear or actually do something useful.

I choose the second one, what about you?