Looking after yourself during COVID-19

Dear Patient,

I thought this may be useful in these stressful times.

Best wishes,
Dr Singh (Principal Dentist)

How may this affect your physical & mental wellbeing?
During times of change and stress it is essential to look after mind and body:

Attend to your physical health;
Get enough sleep;
Prioritise daily physical exercise, even if you need to exercise indoors;
Eat healthily and regularly (Ideas here) ;
Create a new routine – this is good for your mind and body.

Create a new routine for yourself. Work out a plan of your activities.

Online learning can provide some structure for you. Engage with this whenever you can.
Try to stick to a schedule with consistent sleeping and waking up times each day.
Set a few manageable daily goals for yourself.
Take regular breaks from work to engage with enjoyable activities.
Do things that you enjoy. Carry on with anything that you enjoy, even if it must be online for now.
You may find that you have more time.
Are you always meaning to take up something new? Give it a try. A crisis can be a time of growth too.

Social connections – Stay in social contact.

You know who is important to you;

Stay in touch by Zoom, Facetime, Skype, phone, text, WhatsApp.
Helping others can help you (Read this)
If you feel able to, reach out to others who may be isolated.
Be kind to each other; we are all in this together; help others if you can.

Focus on positive aspects of your life.

We all still have things in life that we are grateful for.

Every day write down three things that you are grateful for and spend some time focusing on them.
Limit your exposure to stressful material. Yes, keeping informed up to a point is useful but try to limit the amount of time you check the news. Stick to one or two reliable sources.

Be Mindful – take it a day at a time

Accept your feelings.

It is a disorientating time and people will respond in a variety of ways. How you feel may also fluctuate over time. Sometimes you may feel that you are coping quite well and there may be some positive aspects to the changes you are experiencing.

At other times, you may feel anxious, confused, afraid, angry, stressed or sad about what is happening.

These are normal responses to an abnormal situation. Try to live in the moment rather than projecting worries into the future.

Ask for help – it’s okay!

Other sources of help.

The NHS has produced a list of Mental Health helplines:

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/stress-anxiety-depression/mental-health-helplines

https://www.nhs.uk/conditions/coronavirus-covid-19/

https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/public-health-england

If you need more urgent support:

The Samaritans call on 116 123.