How to stay sane during a coronavirus quarantine, and when you should reach out for help
While most of us are social-distancing by staying in more, working from home and avoiding large gatherings, others are in a more serious situation: an actual quarantine.
We don’t have data on the number of people in North Carolina (or in the U.S.) who have been officially asked to self-quarantine, but that group typically includes people who have tested positive for COVID-19 coronavirus, people who have had direct contact with someone who has tested positive, or people have recently returned to the U.S. from a “hot spot” that has experienced a serious outbreak.
Those people are asked by the health department to isolate themselves for a period of time (it can vary depending on date of exposure, but can be up to 14 days) while they monitor for symptoms, such as fever.
But whether your quarantine is official or precautionary, it can eventually take a mental and physical toll.
We talked to Jonathan Abramowitz, Ph.D, a clinical psychologist and professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, about things people can do to stay sane during isolation — and when they should get help if the stress becomes too much to handle.
Keep busy, but relieve stress
Abramowitz told us that the stress of isolation can vary from person to person, but that for the most part, we are all social beings and will miss aspects of our pre-coronavirus lives.
“People will start to feel cooped up, almost like it’s a jail sentence — especially if it comes to the more extreme measures as they’ve had in Italy,” Abramowitz said.
He recommends exercise as the best way to relieve stress. Going for a run or a walk — unless you are under strict isolation — does wonders, but you can also do workouts inside your home.
“There are lots of good smartphone apps that have workouts you can do, even without equipment and without a much of an open space,” he said. “That is really important if you get to a point when you can’t go outside and take a walk.”
Other good ideas are meditation, yoga and reading.
Abramowitz, who isn’t under a strict quarantine but is working from home and avoiding going out, says his family has also been doing a lot of cooking, catching up on TV shows on Hulu and Netflix, and spending time cleaning up and clearing out rooms.
He also plays a musical instrument and has been practicing a lot. “You can go online and play music with your friends in real time and it actually sounds OK,” he said.
And don’t forget to use apps like FaceTime, Zoom and Skype to stay in touch with friends and family members, he said.
“It’s a healthy way to communicate and actually see the person.”
Stricter quarantines mean more isolation
For those under a strict quarantine, life gets trickier.
Those under a strict quarantine aren’t supposed to be out in public or have any contact with others, and that includes going for walks. But if you have a yard that isn’t shared with others, you can spend time there.
People under strict quarantines are not supposed to visit stores either, so delivery services (or the kindness of others) will become more important.
Allie Jacobs of Raleigh is flying home this week after a trip to the Netherlands, and even though she and her husband are symptom-free, they expect to be quarantined for 14 days. Jacobs said they had not expected this and had not been able to plan ahead, so they’re relying on a little help to get them through the quarantine.
“Fortunately my mom lives in Cary and she went shopping for us and is going to deliver the food to our house before we arrive,” Jacobs said. “Otherwise, no, we had eaten everything before we left!”
When it all becomes too much
Abramowitz says exercise and meditation are both helpful for those starting to feel too stressed over their circumstances.
But if stress leads to depression, reach out for help.
Some signs to watch for, said Abramowitz, are having negative thoughts about yourself or about the future of the world, sleeplessness, lethargy or unintended weight loss.
“Just feeling down most of the time, or feeling hopeless,” he said. “I imagine some people are feeling hopeless and like this will never go away. Especially those with anxiety, or the elderly or maybe those with a new baby. It’s perfectly appropriate to be worried.”
Abramowitz says reading about depression can help (he recommends resources at the website of Anxiety and Depression Association of America at adaa.org), but also recommends reaching out to a professional if it becomes serious.
“In most cases, you do need to see someone for this kind of help,” he said.
This story was originally published March 16, 2020 at 5:20 PM.
