By now, most of us have been staying at home—at least far more than before the coronavirus outbreak—for quite some time. Although we’ve globally made efforts to normalize our current way of living, this doesn’t mean it’s without new challenges or discoveries.
At The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, mental wellness is always top of mind. We understand how this moment in history might be challenging to you in more ways than one and hope to help ease this by serving as a resource. Read on to learn more about the psychological impacts of staying home and for solutions on how to combat these challenges.
Why is it so hard to stay at home?
Likely, there’s been a time in your life when you longed to enjoy the luxuries of staying at home. Now, however, you might be feeling the total opposite, wishing you were able to go through your old morning routine and commute.
Psychology Today suggests this shift is can be attributed to the requirement of having to stay at home rather than a personal choice. With stay-at-home orders come the feeling of being forced as well as restlessness. You might not feel motivated to get dressed in the morning or fulfill the normal routine that gets you ready for the day.
More negative factors associated with staying at home include:
- Isolation
- Problem: Whether you live alone or have had to quarantine alone (perhaps due to exposure or to avoid risk factors), your access to others, like loved ones, has likely been reduced massively. Feeling isolated isn’t just about being around others. It can include feeling disconnected from the world too. This feeling can contribute to sleep issues, low energy, negative feelings, and can even manifest in physical symptoms.
- Solutions: Although staying at home is precisely what’s keeping you from seeing the people who are most important to your life, consider expanding how you communicate with others. Try writing a letter or sending a postcard, calling people over the phone, video conferencing, or connecting with people who share your interests in online forums.
- Time management
- Problem: For some, the greatest change to their day-to-day workflow is that everything is now happening at home. This includes work, child care, exercise, meal preparation, and more. With so much to manage in one place, you might be feeling stretched thin, stressed, or overwhelmed.
- Solutions: Since your home is now housing all the different aspects of your life, it might help to create the same distinctions in your home. For example, instead of having your desk in your bedroom, if possible, consider separating the two spaces so that one area is designated for sleep and the other for work. Crossing these boundaries can make it easy to continue working past 10 p.m. or to start work an hour later.
You might also find it helpful to create a more defined schedule that delineates when each part of your life begins and ends. Being able to enter and exit establishments created finite starts and finishes to each part of your life. Creating a schedule that you can stick to can help mimic this structure.
- Feeling confused about your life’s path
- Problem: The current health crisis has created a significant paradigm shift for many. If you’re asking yourself big life questions or considering the possibility of changing career paths, getting married, having kids, buying a home, etc., you’re not alone.
- Solutions: Making big life changes can sometimes be indicative of searching for purpose or a sense of direction. This is a great time to revisit your values and figure out which are most salient to your identity. Based on what you’re finding is most important, use this information to set goals and anchor your decisions on how you’d like for your life to change.
This period in our lives is a challenging one. To help you find relevant information, we’ve created a list containing updates on the current global pandemic and resources for how to deal with stress, anxiety, depression, grief, or other issues associated with the current health crisis.
Finally, if you’re facing psychological impacts, consider reaching out to a therapist or counselor. There’s no shame in asking for help and utilizing resources who are experts in their fields to supplement improving your mental wellness.
Ready to begin your career in mental health and wellness through an online program? Choose the Chicago School of Professional Psychology to start your online journey today!
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