Are you feeling anxious? Are you feeling scared? There are certainly a number of reasons that you might be feeling strong negative emotions. Aside from the overwhelming sensation that something bad might be happening in the world, you might be a parent worried about how to feed your family because you haven’t been able to earn an income recently. You may be a teenager worried about what is going to happen with school in the coming months, “How will we catch up?” or “How am I going to keep my grades up to graduate without going to school?”
So many questions are circulating and most of them are going unanswered. The uncertainty of what is happening or what may happen can be cause for sheer panic. While pondering the ambiguity of these unprecedented times, one of the most important things you can do is take care of you!
Many times we can get wrapped up in the uncertainty, the panic, the self-doubt, the anxiety, the fear, and we neglect ourselves. If you’ve been on an airplane, you will likely know this reference. If you haven’t, hopefully you have heard it before. When partaking on the adventure of commercial flight there is instruction that is given at the beginning of the flight stating that in the event of sudden cabin pressure loss, you are to put the oxygen mask on yourself first before assisting anyone else. The reason for this is that when the pressure drops from the cabin so suddenly, the blood in your body can release air, just like when you open a can of your favorite carbonated beverage and you hear the fizz. These air bubbles can thin the blood and you may lose consciousness or experience an aneurysm. In scuba diving this is caused by ascending to the surface of the water too fast and is commonly referred to as the “bends” or decompression sickness. The oxygen helps keep you conscious adding oxygen back into your bloodstream. If you are not helping yourself first, you will not be any help to anyone around you.
Please remember to take care of yourself first in these trying times because if you aren’t putting yourself first, you will likely not be any assistance to anyone else. There are several self-help applications available for smart phones and computers that are effective at reminding you to take care of you.
While many are self-quarantining and socially isolating, you can still sit outside and soak up some sunlight which is evidenced to increase feelings of stability and happiness, go on a walk, read a good book, call friends and/or family members, journal, exercise, or anything that generally would put a smile on your face.
Remember if you are not taking care of yourself, you aren’t taking your best care of anyone else. Stay safe and stay healthy!