Don’t lose your head during quarantine

Being cooped up in one place for an extended period of time can be understandably frustrating.

Linda Sepa-Newell, Resident Therapist with local home care provider Loving Care and More, explains that the effects of the stay-home order have really started to settle in since those first few weeks when businesses first started closing and certain products were hard to get in stores.

“My clients were exhibiting an increase in anxiety, as well as uncertainty with the realization that ‘stay in place,’ meant stay at home and minimize your tendency to go out and do those routines in their daily lives,” she said.

Everyone’s home situation is different and every person responds differently to certain environments. For some who live at home alone, for example, spending some quality time isolated from the world sounds like a welcome vacation. To others who live alone though, spending time with nothing but one’s own thoughts can be frightening.

The same can be said about people with families. Increased time at home with the family could be positive bonding time for some, but could be claustrophobic for others.

Sepa-Newell explains that for individuals already challenged with anxiety and depression disorders, this stay-home order could be a time of absolute fear as their locus of control is now even more far reaching than their typical challenges.

“Clients who normally had the freedom to come into the office once, maybe twice a week, were faced with an entirely new set of challenges — telehealth or telephonic sessions,” she said. “Not everyone has the luxury of having the internet, much less the access to a laptop or iPad, to have face-to-face sessions.”

For those at-risk people who don’t have or don’t use their natural resources, communication with others and maintaining connections is essential.

Much of what Sepa-Newell focuses on now is weekly, and sometimes twice weekly, phone contact with her clients to check in and assess their anxiety and depression symptoms. Depending on the situation, she then assists by discussing coping skills that will help the individual realize that this is simply a passage in time, not the end of the journey.

Discussions also center on hobbies such as writing letters, making phone calls, exercising, or just doing “normalized activities” within their home.

For families, as most parents know, routine is important.

“Whether it is a vacation, a break, or now a stay-in-place mandate; routines are essential.”

Sepa-Newell explains that routines can be so essential that modifying them could disarm children (even teens) and cause “acting out” behaviors such as emotional meltdowns that appear in the form of sleep disturbance, change in appetite, and even aggression. These behaviors can add to that sense of being out of control.

“Let’s face it, we all like to control,” Sepa-Newell said. “When someone tells us ‘you can’t,’ it is human nature to do one of three things — adapt, resist and/or rebel.”

Tips to keep acting out behaviors to a minimum include keeping the communication going, allowing for input, encouraging networking via phone, and Facetime or Zoom when available with teachers and classmates.

With all schools in the state (and in the Silver Valley) embracing digital learning during the pandemic, students are right in the middle of taking their normal in-person classes online.

To help make this new learning method fun instead of a burden, Sepa-Newell recommends parents and teachers should collaborate to show that even though we are separated, we are still part of a team.

“Children need to understand these circumstances in the positive, which means recognizing their development age and capability to understand that uncertainty is measured by us — the adults remaining grounded and rational. When helping them to learn, being mindful, kind and slow down when needed. Do the best with what you have and find the humor in every situation, as laughter makes the mind settle, the spirit lifts and the body releases.”

Depression and anxiety aren’t age specific, this means that checking in on the senior/at-risk members of our community is just as important.

“For the elderly clients, TV has been their company,” Sepa-Newell said, “and now with the media confusion and drama, it has become a source of more anxiety.”

In these situations, this where Sepa-Newell and the patient discuss not feeding the “Drama Dragon,” which feeds and delights in anxiety.

“When you begin to realize that your frustration, irritation and anxiety are increasing, this is the time to STOP the viewing and change the channel to a comedy, a cooking show, exercise DVDs, music, etc. Anything that brings you a sense of well-being and control.”

An increase in free time can also be an opportunity for substance abuse to flourish. Limiting the use of alcohol and substances is a necessity for anyone who is challenged with addictive tendencies. To combat this, stay social and keep in contact with friends and family. For more severe cases, utilize resources such as AA and NA, abuse hotlines or a sponsor.

Sepa-Newell understands that we are all faced with a problem that has demanded us to look at the small things we can do to be part of the solution, such as change the mindset of inconvenience to, “I am doing my part to help prevent the spread while practicing positive self-care.”

The key is quieting the negative self-talk, using mindfulness and awareness, and not feeding into irrational worry and stress.

“Our bodies don’t think about stress, our bodies automatically react,” Sepa-Newell said. “Being the thinking things we are, we have the ability to ‘quiet’ the thinking errors and distortions that are bred by anxiety and worry. It is a conscious and deliberate effort!”

For more information and resources to get help, visit Idaho Department of Health and Welfare’s COVID-19 Behavioral Health Information page.