Dealing with an Anxiety Order: Quarantine Edition
The world has completely shifted in a matter of two weeks. Schools, stores, salons, offices… Practically everything—with the exceptions of pharmacies and grocery stores—is closed. It feels like a bizarre episode of Black Mirror.
To make it harder, life was so good. The weather was getting warmer, the sun was shining more and things were falling into place on campus—until that fateful email from Connie Book came, advising students to pack up and get ready to head home for the next three weeks (and now, the rest of the semester).
The COVID-19 scare is not something to be taken lightly—seriously, stay inside. There are thousands of people getting diagnosed with this mysterious virus each day, and it’s a very real danger to everyone. Sorry your vacation was postponed, but it’s for the best babe.
For college students, including myself, this is something out of a nightmare. Don’t get me wrong, I love my parents and my dog, but I did not envision my sophomore spring spent at my childhood home in New Jersey. I know for sure that I’m not alone in feeling this way, and I’m sure millions of college students are in their beds, rewatching The Office, all while fantasizing about being back in their crappy college dorm.
From a personal standpoint, this quarantine hasn’t been the best for my mental health. I’ve dealt with anxiety and depression for almost nine years. My biggest coping strategy is spending time with friends, walking around, going on car rides and doing other things typical of the average college student.
So, as you can probably imagine, adjusting to doing nothing at home all day has been pretty taxing on my mental state. But, I’ve developed some ideas to help cope with the real reality of being stuck at home. Hopefully, these ideas can help alleviate some added stress that has hit us at this weird time in life.
Take a cold shower
If you’re experiencing panic, chest pain or shortness of breath (a.k.a the tell-tale signs of an anxiety attack creeping up on you), get in the shower. I am a big blast-music-in-the-shower gal, so turn on some tunes, and instead of doing a boiling hot shower, which we all know and love, switch the temp to cool. It’ll slow down your heart rate, shock you a little from the temperature change and distract you from your anxiety.
Change your environment
Yes, we obviously need to stay in our houses. But, why not change it up? Rearrange your room, redecorate it, vamp up your basement, etc. I know it seems like everything is out of your control right now, but your environment is still entirely in your control. Do what will make you happy, and make the most of your space.
Download Houseparty
This is the time for a Houseparty comeback. Remember that video chat app from middle school? Download it again! If you need to commiserate, vent or just want company from your friends, this is the perfect app to do so. Even just having someone on Facetime in the background can be comforting and can sort of bring you back to college. (Eh, maybe not really. But it’s as good as we get right now.)
Embrace your creative side
Wanna write a blog? Do it! Start a YouTube channel, record songs, create a scrapbook, make TikToks or take pictures! Now is a better time than ever to do the thing you’ve always wanted to learn. Channel your emotions and energy into something creative. This will help you express frustration, excess energy, sadness, or whatever you may be feeling.
Work out
Yeah, I do not like working out and honestly (confession alert) get extreme gym anxiety. At-home exercises and running around your hometown is basically all you can do right now. Put your headphones in and cancel out everything. Take your worries, stress and fear of not going back to school and channel them into bettering yourself. Working out might suck at first, but action alleviates anxiety. Getting active during this time will save you.
Journaling
This might seem dumb because you feel as though you aren’t doing anything too noteworthy. But who’s judging? Schedule times to put your phone and laptop down and express whatever you’re feeling through journaling. When I’m anxious, I put music on and start writing. It doesn’t matter if it’s grammatically correct or not, just write. You’ll feel better.
These tips aren’t going to magically fix the anxiety you’re experiencing, but keeping busy will always be beneficial to your mental health. We’re all going through something we’ve never really experienced before, but it’s important to remember that no one is alone in this difficult time. So, be sure you’re taking care of yourself. Sleep, eat, take your meds and heal. We’ve got this.