Background story...
In the middle of the COVID-19 pandemic period, one of the neglected issues is about mental health. This problem may affect everyone, not only those who suffer an economic crisis, but also those who settled on their comfortable mansion. |
| Sepuluh Meter |
This issue mentioned well on Sepuluh Meter, a short movie made by Yandy Laurens with pandemic settings. (If you haven't watched it, WATCH IT NOW, SERIOUSLY!)
The actor choices were perfect, as Ringo and Nirina both are the main characters on Keluarga Cemara (2018) and can perform well together as natural as it should be. Ringo felt sad about being "trapped" with no exact hope, but guilty at the same time as he thought about others who more unfortunate than him.
Nirina positioned herself as a luckier person who can manage to maintain her good lifestyle, thus she can cope with a mental health problem. She even shared good positive vibes to her best friend in need. We need more Nirina on WhatsApp Group's chats :( When Ringo's problems worsened, Nirina can change the way she talked to Ringo. She knew when to joke, and when something got serious. Basically, we need more Nirina on real-life :(
What should we do then?
Nirina's advices were in line with a notable telehealth website recommendation1. Do exercises
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| Exercise is a must! https://www.mensjournal.com/health-fitness/10-home-workouts-build-muscle-under-20-minutes/ |
Actually, exercise itself already a modern problem in this busy society. In a pandemic situation, we should have more time to move our bodies in both aerobic and anaerobic exercises. The main difference is we can't do this thing in the public areas; Just do them on your home. Ringo's plan was actually too high for him, as he never exercised before, so he still looked under pressure. Exercise should be fun! Exercising under pressure may even increase our stress level.
2. Make our own schedule
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| https://www.calendar.com/blog/creating-a-daily-schedule-in-the-midst-of-the-coronavirus-pandemic/ |
Reducing our commuting time may increase our leisure time. Left unscheduled, this period of time may increase our stress level as we don't know what to do next. Nirina guided by writing obvious routines, such as take a bath, me time, and exercise with kids. She even mentioned that we have to schedule our lazy time, so we know that we are in control of our laziness.
In advance, we can plan to develop our new skills, such as cooking, designing, even starting to be a parent of baby plants. Leisure time killed, as well as productivity increased. Killing two birds in one stone, right?.
3. Keep contact with relatives
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| https://www.nytimes.com/2020/04/02/learning/is-the-coronavirus-pandemic-bringing-your-extended-family-closer-together.html |
Physical distancing doesn't mean social distancing. We can call our families and best friends without worrying to contaminate each other. Technologies really help us to connect our souls, even if our body apart. We can share with them what we feel, what we think, what we scared of, and vice versa: ask them first, what they feel about this pandemy. And please, find supportive people who understand the meaning of mental health if you want to share your mental issues. Talking with unaware folks only worsens your feeling. Furthermore, supportive people will also recommend you to go to psychiatry, or at least to call them (physical distancing, right?).
The rest were not mentioned in the film, but can also keep our sanity level above normal
4. Eat healthy food
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| http://rsupfatmawati.id/home/konten/GIZI_SEIMBANG |
You start to learn to cook in this pandemy? Start to cook healthy food then. We gain double benefits from it: a new skill & good nutrition for our body. Good nutrition is needed to increase our immune system. Moreover, if you start to exercise as well, you might need extra calories to maintain your body weight, so you won't end up too skinny.
Healthy food consists of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, minerals, and vitamins, in a portion that depends on your need. Don't forget to hydrate well!
5. Stop unhealthy habits
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| https://www.psychbytes.com/fear-of-change-unhealthy-habits/ |
If you still smoking or even drinking alcohol, stop it. Those can increase your fatality rate if you somehow affected by diseases, including COVID-19.
Another neglected bad habit is to sleep late at night. Less sleeping may reduces your mood and also affects your physical health.
6. Filter information
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| https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCkN9scfRMuqivXuO8Q_ZwFA |
The more you open your social media, the more information you can get. This might be good, but also bad. If you only received negative information, your brain will make you feel more anxiety and fear. That's why it's even better to not open social media at all if you don't feel like you can filter information that good. This also applied on TV & other news applications/websites.
To make it easy for you, just subscribe to legal & valid information sources, such as from medical institutions, governments, etc, (and Angkacaa maybe? haha)
To sum it up
Changes are inevitable, both internal and external changes. But it's us that need to take actions in order to prevent major changes affect our healthy life condition.
If you feel this article helpful, please share it to your relatives. Sharing may also good for others, right? Let's fight this pandemy together!
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