Social isolation can be stressful, and the loss of normalcy can make people feel like they are losing control. We are all feeling it, but some are less protected than others from isolation during this time of social distancing, cancellation of just about everything, and separation from loved ones. I want to share with you a few thoughts about how to keep your head on straight if you are feeling isolated during the time of COVID-19. I also talked about this with our behavioral health clinician, Grace Plummer, LCSW. I included some thoughts from her below.
Keep your routines
Get up on time in the morning, eat nutritious foods, and get regular rest at night. Your daytime routine should continue in some way. If you normally would go to a coffee shop in the morning and chat with friends, try doing that from home. Make a coffee and phone date with those friends. Have things to do, make plans (even if they are just around your living space), and do them. If you have no plan, you might get a little cabin fever.
Exercise
I covered this a couple articles back. Don’t stop exercising just because you are stuck at home. Exercise improves health and mood. Stopping has the opposite effect.
Time to work on things
If you have a hobby or other interests, this is a good time to get more involved. What was that project you needed to do? Is there some genealogy you meant to look up? Did you forget to call your second cousin last year? If there is a book or an article you wanted to read, you may not have realized that you are actually in luck.
A glimpse from my own life: I was very busy in 2007, living a life of non-stop activity. Preoccupied by research, patients, writing, meetings, married with two almost-teenagers at home, planning on moving to Maine, I was “straight out” as they say. However, along came a medical issue. While recovering at home from surgery I was stuck in bed for a couple weeks. My colleagues covered the patients, my wife managed the young people (they would say they could have managed themselves), and I was suddenly left with nothing on the schedule. Though not feeling great for a while, I viewed that time as a gift. I delved into some things I had always wanted to learn: some medical, some musical. Looking back I still value that time (and I can still play that Muddy Waters song on the guitar). What’s the old expression, one door closes?
Learn something new
If you are not caught up on current events (other than this dreaded virus) or political viewing (yuck), there is plenty on the internet, just be careful of your source. And, Grace wanted me to interject, that you should probably limit the amount of time you are spending watching the news and reading the paper. Good advice. All anyone is talking about lately is unhealthy stuff. But there is other news or media you can investigate.
YouTube is a great resource both for legitimate information, and the other kind. I think YouTube is a net benefit because of the community of people who have enthusiastically put just about every kind of how-to video. I have found everything from music theory, to old episodes of Jeopardy, to how to remove the annoying buzzer from Mr. Coffee, to how to fix the exhaust fan in my bathroom. If you want some excellent distraction, there are entire episodes (I think entire seasons) of Dragnet that you can watch for free. Just listening to the theme music lifts my mood.
Favorite music
There is little that transports me as much as music. If you love some music of happy times, listen to it. It can take you places. It can relax, refocus, or help you process your feelings. Sometimes I will go through the entire catalog of an artist, or listen to several records back-to-back while working on a project in the house. Again, YouTube is full of music.
Virtual tours and live webcams
You could also use the internet to visit a virtual museum or peer through a live webcam. Several museums and other locations around the world offer this. For example, try some of these:
The National Museum of Natural History: https://naturalhistory.si.edu/visit/virtual-tour
The Louvre: https://www.louvre.fr/en/visites-en-ligne
Georgia Aquarium live web cams: https://www.georgiaaquarium.org/webcam/ocean-voyager/ I don’t think I have ever watched anything so relaxing on the internet. It might sound a little silly, but knowing it is live makes me feel very connected to those beautiful fish.
Yosemite Park: https://www.virtualyosemite.org/about-virtual-yosemite/
Stretch, meditate, relax
I would advise all adults, especially people with Parkinson’s, to have a daily stretching regimen. This can even be done while still in bed, though there are a variety of strategies. Just remember that we tend to carry stress in the neck and shoulders. Stretch those muscles out a couple times a day.
Try this for example: sitting in a chair, start with rolling your shoulders forward. Hold them there a few seconds, breath in an out deeply, then relax. Repeat this a few times. Now, imagine you want to hold a tennis ball between your shoulder blades. Move your shoulders backwards and grab that imaginary ball just over your spine. Hold it there for a few seconds. Breathe deeply. Relax. Gently turn your head left and right, up and down. Tilt your head back again and gently turn your head from side-to-side in that position. If any of this hurts of course, don’t do it. If your muscles are too tight to do this, try a little moist heat first.
There are many different stretches you may have learned and can call upon. YouTube has sites for gentle stretching and yoga. Stretching does more than help with flexibility. It increases blood flow, prevents injury, and makes us feel better generally. Loosening up the head and neck may stave off some types of headaches.
Grace wanted to remind people to keep in touch with spirituality, and to add prayer to the list if you are a person of faith. She also added:
Gratitude practices are known to be helpful too: making a list of five things one is grateful for. They can be small, tiny things, and you are encouraged to find five new things each day. That helps us stay focused on what we have, versus what we feel we have lost, whether the loss is temporary or permanent.
Meditation comes in many forms. If you already do it, great. If you do not, there are many resources on the web to help you. I have a form of meditation in which I sit or lie down quietly, clear my mind, and focus on a mental image. I can do this for short or long periods of time. The idea is to stay awake, and to stop thinking, in words and formed thoughts at least. This can be very relaxing. Stressful thoughts and recurrent unhappy themes can wear a person down. Meditation is a way to reset those thoughts, and get your “mind right” (a reference to Cool Hand Luke). I remember once reading a quote from Beatles guitarist George Harrison, who studied eastern philosophy, and said that meditating allowed him to “shut off the chattering monkey” of his mind. Get rid of negative thoughts.
It is okay to just relax. I was happy to hear from a relative who is a hair stylist in Seattle how great her body is feeling with a couple weeks off.
Do some self-care
Take a hot bath. Read a passage or two from a book you love. Watch a favorite movie.
Take it easy with mood altering medications and alcohol
If you are not in a good place with mood these things don’t help.
Stay in touch with loved ones
Grace recommends that families set times for daily phone chats. It gives you something to look forward to, and it is very calming to hear the voice of someone you care about. If you use texting, this is also a good way to stay in touch, especially with people who are in other cities. My wife and I have a group text with our family. Every day we check in, send pictures to each other, and find out if our loved ones are doing alright.
This is also a good time to write long letters (or emails).
If you know someone who is isolated, check on them, see how they are doing. It means the world sometimes.
So those are a few thoughts. Stay well.
