Winter of course comes around every year, yet many people have very different opinions and feelings about it. Some love winter, the crisp mornings the cold air and even possibly snow! However, for a lot of people winter is the worst month as it is often also cold and wet with not a lot of sunshine.
Whether you enjoy winter or not, we usually make the most of the winter months by spending time with friends and family. However, this year we have all been affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. This has meant our usual activities throughout winter are a no go. At least in the summer we were able to walk in the sunshine, but with restrictions over winter it makes it a bit harder to make the most of this time.
This may have a knock on affect to our mental health if we don’t adapt and be mindful of it. This article will run through some things to consider which can help you through this very odd winter.
Ways to help protect and support your mental health
Do
Reach out for help early
Try not to let stresses build up and fester as this will only cause you more anxiety moving forwards. Reach out for help, or speak to someone else about it sooner rather than later. This will help avoid any long lasting and growing anxieties around those issues.
Stay in a routine and stay productive
Don’t slip out of your normal routine. Having routine helps bring structure to our lives, although it is easy to slip out of it when our way of life has been disrupted as much as it has. Try to keep yourself productive, set yourself some goals, things to do around the house, allow yourself to create a sense of success, this will help you maintain motivation.
Take a break and get some exercise
Having down time to relax and gather yourself is important, being swept up in the day to day can leave you stressed with not much time to wind down. Make sure you factor down time into your routine. Exercise can help too, whether it be light or intense exercise, it can help ease anxiety and give you a sense of productivity too.
Try and find the positives
It may be hard to see the positives in spending the winter in lockdown and having your social and family life restricted, but by trying to find some positives in it all will help it seem a bit easier to deal with. For example, most people have managed to spend less money, or pick up a hobby from home, or learnt to appreciate what is on their doorstep more, try and find the positives for you.
Stay connected with others
When in lockdown it is important to keep in touch with others for your wellbeing, otherwise you may begin to feel more isolated and lonely. Use different ways to have video calls, message and generally catch up or play games with others.
DON’T
Get caught up worrying
Sometimes easier said than done but try to not get caught up worrying about things that are out of your control. Accept it for what it is and make plans to make the most of the situation, rather than letting yourself get into a spiral of worry, thinking and talking about the ‘what if’.
Limit news and social media
Both the news and social media can be good sources of information, but they can also cause a lot of anxiety around issues. By restricting your intake of these will help you focus more on yourself and the positives, rather than becoming worrisome based on what you have seen.
Judge other people’s behaviours
Don’t get worked up over other people’s behaviours during restrictions, you can’t do anything about them so don’t concern yourself, otherwise you’ll leave yourself open to getting worked up over someone else’s actions which you can’t control.
Lose your work/life balance
If your home life is restricted you need to keep a balance. If you feel you need more home time, make some fun plans, think outside the box to mix it up during restrictions. If you’re working from home try not to let yourself start working more and more just because it is there, maintain a healthy balance.
More information
If you would like to view the Webinar on ‘Protecting and supporting mental health this winter’ please use the following link –
https://attendee.gotowebinar.com/register/4421838155079259151
If you feel you may need some support, you can contact Care first. Care first is a leading provider of confidential, professional counselling, information and advice services. All employees are eligible to use Care first, our services include; telephone counselling, information services and online support. Call Care first on the Freephone number provided by your organisation and you can speak to a professional in confidence.