Hi! Hello! How ya doing? How's tricks? You holding up ok?
We're in the middle of a pandemic right now, and we're all very worried about our physical health. As we should be! But it's also important to take care of our mental wellbeing — and for some of us, this is a really rough time in that way as well. A lot of people aren't used to working from home, and for those who are working from home, living alone and unable to really go anywhere, things can start feeling a little rough. A lot of people have been deemed "essential" and can't stay home and are freaking out about that.
On the bright side, as long as we do this right, we're not going to have to do it for that long. It's a few weeks. We can manage. We can read some books, we can do some puzzles, we can watch some Netflix and we can play some board games. We'll figure it out. We'll be good. But in the meantime, here are some things you can do to help things be easier on yourself and those you care about.
Get Therapized!
This is a tough time for everyone, but it's an especially tough time for anyone with any mental health issues, particularly those of us prone to anxiety and depression. Make sure to check in with yourself, that you're eating properly, sleeping properly, exercising, taking your meds, talking to other people and doing things that take your mind off of this crap.
If you have a therapist that will see you over telemedicine, great . If you don't, but you wanna talk to someone, check out Talkspace or another online counseling site. Talkspace costs $65-$99 a week, for not only video sessions but the ability to message your therapist whenever you've got an issue.
There are also a ton of mental health apps these days, for anxiety, depression, addiction, eating disorders, obsessive compulsive disorder, PTSD, bipolar disorder, schizophrenia and more (and they don't all cost money). Some paid apps like Sanvello and Headspace have even released free coronavirus-specific material. Working from home with ADHD is tough (I should know, I've been doing it for years), so if you're having issues with that, there are a whole lot of productivity apps that can help. Although honestly, the main thing I do is run YouTube videos with this ADHD-assisting music in the background while I work. It's weirdly helpful and there are a ton of them.
Stay On The Wagon
This is also a difficult time for people in recovery — stress can be a trigger and obviously in-person meetings are a no go. However! There are tons and tons of online AA , NA , EverythingElseA groups that you can go to while sheltering-in-place.
Check In On Your People!
I have always found that taking care of other people makes me feel a lot better in general. Check in on some old friends, outside of social media. See how they're doing. Actually talk on the phone. I've gotten a few calls from old friends this week and it's been neat. Although, just a word of advice, if you're gonna video call someone, let them know first so that they have a chance to make sure their hair isn't insane.
Especially check in on people who you know might need to talk to someone, and might not have a lot of people around them making sure they're okay.
If you're craving social activity, consider holding a videochat party with some of your friends, or sign up for a social media site like Houseparty that will allow you to do that without having to officially personally invite anyone. Hey! Maybe even some of you Wonkers could get together and have a little party yourselves?
Just In Case
1 (800) 273-8255 National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
1 (800) 799-7233 National Domestic Violence Hotline
1 (800) 996-6228 Family Violence Helpline
1 (800) 784-2433 National Hopeline Network
1 (800) 366-8288 Self-Harm Hotline
1 (800) 230-7526 Planned Parenthood Hotline
1 (800) 222-1222 American Association of Poison Control Centers
1 (800) 622-2255 Alcoholism & Drug Dependency Hope Line
1 (800) 233-4357 National Crisis Line, Anorexia and Bulimia
1 (888) 843-4564 GLBT Hotline
1 (866) 488-7386 TREVOR Crisis Hotline
1 (800) 221-7044 AIDS Crisis Line
1 (800) 422-4453 The Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline
1 (877) 565-8860 The Trans Lifeline
Hope this is helpful! We love you and we want you to take care of yourselves. Tell us in the comments what you're doing to keep it together in these tough times. And if you're not keeping it together, let someone — let us — know.
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How Are We All Doing? Are We OK?
I'm fine. I'm an introvert that can easily work from home. The housemate is home, but he is a lot less people than I usually see in the office, so it is surprisingly tolerable to see that bastard so much.
I wish I had an office at home, but we don't have a spare room. As far as I know all my family is healthy and doing fine.
i love the phuck out of you guys. thanks for caring about us. at least some entity does.