Maintaining Good Mental Health During A Pandemic

It's strange times lately, everything feels very different, very weird and very uncertain. The world is a bit of a scary place right now and when your head already feels like a scary place, this can make things even worse. Right now it's as important as ever to take care of our mental well-being and ourselves, and if you're finding that incredibly difficult right now, I'm with you.

Being in self-isolation can feel incredibly daunting, trapped and strange, but I'm trying to make the most of it, check out how in my recent blog post, How To  Productively Self-Isolate. Of course that doesn't mean you should be doing everything and anything now you're isolating, just an option for those like me that like to keep busy. Which includes keeping up with blogging, so I thought I'd write a little post on how I'm keeping my mental health on track and how you can do too, any further ideas feel free to comment them below or send me a little message using my social media links to the right.

Speak and See Loved Ones

One thing that's keeping me going as my rock is my boyfriend Patrick. Just speaking on the phone, facetiming or being with him (wellness permitting, we're self isolating together at the minute but of course if either of us becomes unwell or run down things will change) is keeping my spirits high. At the minute we're isolating at his flat, eating whatever we can make with the ingredients left over at asda, watching the entirety of netflix and crappy daytime TV, if you fancy hearing about the silly things we're doing and talking about I'm usually tweeting about it here! Talking on my group chat with my friends about current affairs and what plans we're making for when the doom lifts, as well as talking in my family group chat with my mum and sister about our worries and what we're up to keeps me feeling good too. It's good to chat about being worried because right now it's definitely okay to feel worried and anxious, but let it out to someone you love, they'll most likely be feeling the exact same! I was visiting my elderly grandparents but with the current state of things and taking into account their health and mine, I'm keeping away, but dropping in over the phone with them and making sure they're topped up with groceries and what have you. 

Keeping Fit

Another thing me and Patrick have started (completely not my idea) is keeping fit at home, he's a barman so off work for the forseeable and I'm waiting to start a new job so we both have an abundance of time to keep busy in, and as I was finally getting back into the gym, he's testing my will and patience with some dumb bells and his coffee table, going running round the river by his flat was mentioned but I don't think I'm quite ready for that yet! It's good to keep active and keep the brain running, going for a little walk or run locally is perfectly fine as long as you're keeping your distance from other people, just because we have to self-isolate doesn't mean you can't leave your home and stretch those legs. 

Doing Crafty Bits

I've so far ordered the following online in preparation for my self-isolating and time I'm not with Patrick; glue sticks, 75 photo prints (from free prints mobile phone app - not spon just think they're v good!), a new bullet journal, a new book, and some pens. I already have so many coloured pens and writing stuff for my old bullet journal so I'm pretty set there but as my old book was coming to an end I thought now was as good of a time as any to get back into my journalling, I am planning a future post with all my journal stuff in to show you so keep your eyes peeled! Another thing I'm planning on doing is starting my scrapbook. I've had a scrapbook laying around for years waiting to be filled and what better time than now to start it, so I got some pritt sticks from amazon, some free photo prints from the app on my phone and time to get stuck in. There's lots of other crafty things you can do from the comfort of your bed at home to keep your mind busy and active, you could do sewing, knitting, painting, adult colouring books, drawing, whatever it is you enjoy or did enjoy in the past, get it cracked out and have a go now! 

Blogging

I've always found blogging very cathartic and good for my soul. My grandad once asked me why I write such personal things on m blog for everyone to read and see and I answered, because it shows that I'm here, i'm fighting my illness and I'm showing people that if I can be unwell and keep my life going, so can others. I find it helpful for my own health to write down how I'm feeling, or what I'm doing to combat my feelings, and get this out to help others, the amount of DMs and messages I get from people saying they've read my blog and are feeling the same or thanking me for being so honest is amazing and definitely keeps me going in tough times. Anyone can start a blog for free, just google blogger.com and free blogger templates, youtube how to install blogger templates and hey presto you've got your own custom blog ready to go! I used to blog about makeup and review products and looks if any of my readers remembers meghobson.com, but now I've switched to mental health, but you can talk about anything and everything, share it to your social medias and you're raring to go. 

Times are tough lately, but we as a human race are tougher. We can do this together and remember, you're never alone. If anybody needs a chat or a rant as usual my social links are always to the right of my posts and are open to anyone. Stay safe and look after one another.

Meg x