This is life changing in one way or another for everyone. The impact on people will be varied, come at different stages and may be unexpected. In a more obvious way you or a member of your family may be unwell with the virus, and everything that can come with that is a huge worry.
For those of us managing day to day life in quarantine in a lockdown, what do we need to be aware of? I found this infographic really insightful. It was sent to me through one my HR networks and I am sorry to say I cannot reference the source as none of us know where it came from. If you know, let me know so I can credit the person who put it together.
Change is a funny thing. People go through it at different speeds, and there is no right or wrong. Respecting one anothers differences and the fact that your friends or family are not feeling the same as you, is all part of supporting one another through this crisis. I can confirm on a personal level I had a week of ‘this is going to be fine’ and then had a total meltdown on Sunday when it felt like the weight of the world was on my shoulders. I cried, I felt exhausted and everything felt like too much. Cue Monday morning, and things felt much better.
This is a time to avoid judgement, care for one another (from afar), keep in touch, ask people how they feel and listen actively. And when I say ask how they feel, I mean really ask. You can all relate that sometimes it goes a bit like this:
How are you?
Good. You?
This is the moment, to ask ‘how do you really feel?’. How is the quarantine impacting your life day to day? Ask deeper questions to get a bigger answer, and you can offer more support in the right way.
And for yourself, think about what impacts your mood and feelings. For me, I have stopped watching the news. The negative impact on my mental health is too much. It heightens my anxiety, means I sleep less and in turn I then feel tired and I have less patience for the kids.