Mental Health During a Pandemic

What’s up peoples of the world. This is indeed a historic time to be alive that will undoubtedly be described in the pages of our grandchildren’s history books. The world has been turned upside down with staying in apparently being the new trendy thing to do. Or as Mark Mason hilariously noted, we now have “FOGO” (fear of going out) instead of “FOMO” (fear of missing out).

The island life is now a distant memory. We moved back to BA a week ago. Missing these summery evening walks

COVID-19 has become the household name for our arch enemy because some Chinese guy supposedly chowed down on a bat that had been sold at a wet market. The truth is that this virus couldn’t really care less about us. It is merely serving its most basic purpose which is to spread and multiply as efficiently as possible. As a substantial portion of the world’s population are currently self isolating in their houses either alone, with their other half or with their families I thought it would be a good time to talk about our collective mental health.

Early morning sunrise a few weeks back when I woke up super early and couldn’t get back to sleep. I was definitely glad that my body refused to sleep any more

The experience lived during this time of isolation varies enormously depending on the social class to which one belongs. Many people are unemployed as a result of recent events and are set to face a very different world in a few months time. We all have our different techniques of coping. Some of us better than others. I’m guessing that a lot of people out there will be experiencing chronic anxiety during this time, and for good reason. Well, at least you can rest easy with the knowledge that you are definitely NOT alone.

Back when we had freedom and the world was our oyster

So how can we ease our restless minds with such an uncertain future looming? Here are a few suggestions that I find help me to get through each day:

Daily Goals

Writing down some daily goals can be a great way to take your mind off what is happening in the news and commit yourself to doing something more productive. Alternate between things that you love doing and thing that you are heavily procrastinating. Start small and set realistic achievable goals that you know you can achieve.

A few shots of the sourdough I have been trying to perfect over the past few years. I made a batch recently that I’m super proud of. I know it’s just bread but….just look at this beautiful specimen

Writing down your goals gives a sense of personal accountability. Your thoughts have now been written on your phone, or even better on paper and thus exist in the physical world. Don’t be too hard on yourself if you don’t complete everything on the list. Just be proud of yourself for what you did do and for even giving this a go.

Meditation/Breathing Exercises

With the world being the state that it is currently in, there has never been a better time to get to know yourself a bit better. Meditation and breathing exercises like those of Wim Hof are a great way to do just that. I personally have found mediation an extremely useful tool especially during these past few weeks.

Caught a snap of this local muchacho from Tilcara. He seems to be deep in the throes contemplating life and all of its mysteries

The human brain is constantly searching for something to worry and stress about and sometimes it can just be overwhelming. Meditation is essentially focused breathing while observing the plethora of thoughts that enter and exit our minds in a non-judgmental way.

The power of nature! I’d give my left arm to be this guy now even knowing there’s a few big ones coming my way that I’m about to cop on the head

We all have good and bad thoughts at different times of the day. Problems begin to arise however when we give negative thoughts too much significance, provoking an irrational emotional response. When we actually dedicate the time to sitting down and just listening to our thoughts, we can realise how noisy it is. Try it out for yourself. Just know that there is no right or wrong.

Total Zen. Sometimes I wish I was a cat. Life seems so simple for them. Always living in the here and now and not worrying too much of what’s to come

Controlling the mind is an extremely difficult skill that some spend their entire lives striving to achieve. I use the headspace app which has a free membership for some basic courses. If like me you want to learn a bit more then I suggest subscribing to the premium membership which is pretty reasonable. I have also heard Sam Harris’ waking up course is very good but a bit more on the pricey side.

Physical Exercising

The world always seems a lot less complex and confusing after I have done some physical activity. Not only is it incredible for your health but it helps with sleep, physical appearance, concentration, creativity, elevated mood as well as a host of other benefits. I aim to do an hour of yoga every day in the morning. Alternating between strengthening exercises and stretching to balance out the stress that my muscles have been put through the previous day.

What a catch! This beautiful person makes me incredibly happy every single day. Mel trying to retrofit a makeshift lock on the cat lap to stop a rogue local cat from breaking and entering after the sun goes down. She loves cats by the way, at least that’s what she claims.

I was recently recommended an app called down dog by a friend which I find to be amazing. You can customise every aspect of your workout such as target muscles, voice of instructor, music, length of practice and length of shavasana. All you need is a yoga matt. The best thing is that the app is free until the start of May.

Tabata/circuit training is another great way to keep fit at home. Many muscle-burning exercises like burpees, squats, press-ups and tricep-dips need no equipment at all as they use body weight to load the muscles. There are loads of circuit training timer apps out there that you can get creative with and make your own workouts. Alternatively you can download a ready-made workout plan and follow an instructor.

What strange times we live in

Sex can also be great exercise and it obviously feels amazing. With so much free time on our hands why not get creative and experiment with new things. Dust off the pink furry handcuffs, if that’s your kind of thing, and keep the flame burning bright with your other half. Communicating with each other abut how you are both feeling at this time is very important as most of us are not used to spending so much time together and it can at times become quite intense.

These two know what I’m talking about

Learning

Whether it is learning a new language, an instrument, a new craft or honing your kitchen skills, now is the perfect time to pick up something new or build on something that you already know.

When you’ve got nothing else to do, why not shell 1/2kg of pecans

I am currently passing the social isolation in Argentina in my partner’s mother’s house. This has been an immersive Spanish learning experience to say the least. When I first arrived in Argentina a few months ago I had quite a basic level of Spanish. I now feel that I have a good grasp of the fundamentals of the language and can communicate with others with a level of fluency that I never believed I could have achieved. This has been a great way to pass the days as there is always something new to learn.

Casual French onion soup that I whipped up on Easter Sunday. I reckon I cooked/baked for 4 or 5 hours that day in a giddy frenzy controlled by my inner voice of obesity

The best advice I can give to anyone trying to learn a language is to quarantine yourself in a native speakers house…..and also to focus on incorporating learning into what you love doing. I found that reading books and watching movies in Spanish is a useful and enjoyable way to pick up new vocabulary and develop a better ear for listening to the phonetics of native speakers.

In case you haven’t realised I’m a small bit obsessed with cooking. Here’s a coconut flour chocolate cake with peanut and pecan butter chocolate frosting. It is heavenly good. It tastes like fererro rocher and doesn’t make you feel like complete crap after a slice

Cooking and baking is a really fun way to spend your free time too. There are literally millions of recipes out there, so get cracking. I personally love baking and have been giving sourdough a go.

Volunteering

With the healthcare system under so much pressure right now it is a great time to volunteer. Not only will you be helping those in real need, but you will give your day real purpose and you can be extremely proud of yourself at the end of the day. There are many old people who cannot leave their house and need people to pick up their groceries for them. Have a look on your local council website or check in with elderly neighbours to see if they are doing ok. Just make sure not to actually get too close because you might end up doing more harm than good.

Framed view of downtown Buenos Aires back when life was relatively normal

I hope you found some of these suggestions useful and they don’t come across as too preachy. Some of these methods are simply what help me get through the days, leaving me with some remaining sanity. Others are just ideas that I picked up from others.

Remember, stay at home and if you do need to go out, nickers function as a great make-shift face-mask to protect yourself from all the coronies.

ST

Throwback to fun times exploring BA with Mel and Guadi shortly after arriving to Argentina mid-February