Quarantine During The Pandemic Can Take A Toll On Your Mental Health

Isolating a person and restricting his movement in case he gets exposed to a contagious disease by coming in contact with an already infected person or thing. This period of quarantine helps to see if he falls sick. It may be possible that sometimes people do not develop any symptoms; this step helps in controlling the spread of the disease during the asymptomatic period as told by The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).

Looking at the current scenario and with the pace, Covid-19 is spreading its wings around the globe, it has become mandatory to follow social distancing to flatten the curve and quarantine also plays a major role in doing so if you get exposed to the disease. But the disruption it causes in your normal routine can be really disturbing and can take a toll on your mental health. We are social creatures who cannot feel normal without socializing with others and thus, it is essential to be among people as a part of normal life.

As the lives of the people went topsy-turvy due to closing of schools and colleges, workers from home, and social events being cancelled, being confined to your home because of the fact that you are quarantine can be intimidating. The sense of isolation makes the time creeps by slowly after you’ve been at home for a long period of time.

According to some reports lack of sleep, bad cardiovascular health, poor immunity, and depression or anxiety due to factors like social isolation or domestic violence are some of the effects of quarantine. Moreover, you may experience loss of focus, control your emotions, loss of self-control, remember information, and follow directions when executive function skills are not functioning properly or are weakened.

An online psychologist can be of great help to cope up with these situations as it becomes easy when you communicate your emotions and feelings to a person who helps you deal with it. With the increasing problems of mental illness.

How COVID-19 impact people who get quarantined?

COVID-19 may impact those who are quarantined in many ways and the psychological distress these people go through is experienced during and after the quarantine. People may experience:

● Fear

● Sadness

● Numbness

● Insomnia

● Confusion

● Anger

● stress symptoms

● Depressive symptoms

● Felling Low

● Stress

● Emotional fluctuation

● Irritation

There are some that may have long-term effects that include smoking, substance and alcohol dependency that can have a severe consequence on the health. Every individual is different and may have different effects on physical and mental health but the feeling of loneliness, dejection, anxiety, fear or stress is normal.

Factors that play an important role:

The way you deal with the stress

If you are resilient enough to face the stress, you may be able to cope up with the situation easily and may not end up having negative effects that will help you manage yourself while being quarantined.

Your personality

People with different personalities react to situations differently. It will be seen in the manner you cope up with the situation. If you are an extrovert, you are more likely to have the feelings of loneliness as these people always like to be surrounded by people and feel the need for regular interaction with the people. Thus, they may find staying at home more difficult.

Thus it is best to get yourself engaged on social media platforms and join online communities. It can be a great way to maintain connections and fulfil the need for socialization.

People who are introvert feel easy and comfortable while staying alone as they enjoy solitude. This is why they may find it easy to cope up with the hard times as limited social interactions are not what they appreciate much

How long you are in quarantine?

The duration of quarantine is an important factor that can determine how easily you can deal with the situation. If you are quarantined for a smaller period then it can help a lot. On the other hand, if the duration is maximized it can have prolonged negative effects on health.

But usually, a minimum of 14 days of the period is recommended when it comes to quarantine a person to curb the spread of disease.

Things that help you to cope up with the situation

There are simple and easy ways that help in decreasing the effect of the quarantine and help you keep your mental health stable. Some of them are:

Maintain a routine: Find yourself a routine for yourself that can keep you engaged and keep you engrossed in activities.

Become as active as possible: Try to keep yourself as active as possible with exercises that will keep you fit physically and mentally.

Find ways to stay occupied: Get engaged with a favourite book of yours or play indoor games or find yourself an activity that can keep you busy.

Communicate with people and stay connected: Try to communicate with your favourite people over a call or stay connected via social media.

Keep yourself well informed: Keep yourself well informed with the latest activities and news that is happening around the globe so that you do not get cut from the outside world.

Online counselling in India is taking over and is helping people in providing a solution to cope up with the situation.