Keep Your Distance, But Make Sure to Keep Your Sanity Too

People everywhere are going through a whole range of situations and emotions during quarantine. Social media is telling many of us to use this time wisely, leaving people with insecurities about how they are handling the COVID-19 crisis.

As a person with disabilities who has battled with a great deal of anxiety and depression, I am fully aware of how overwhelming it can be when a huge societal shift like this happens — especially if it’s something out of our control.

I have gone through many phases over the last few weeks, ranging from being hyperactive to thinking, “Unless you are a bag of cheetos, please stay away from my living room pillow fort.” I have spent hours reading about the coronavirus, and even more hours wondering what’s going to happen after it’s all over.

This week, I actually felt much better. Getting there wasn’t easy, and my anxiety is not totally gone, but these things helped:

Limit your social media time. Most of us tend to be on social media a lot, and I found myself getting overwhelmed by all of the posts. The news made it impossible for me to put the pandemic on my mental back burner. Checking for updates so you know what’s going on is important, but it’s also hard on your nerves to keep seeing them all day.

You don’t have to be productive right now. Some people might be using this time to learn how to play an instrument, speak a language, or paint. You don’t have to become Bob Ross, although following along with him is super fun. If all you did throughout the day was change from your morning pajamas to your evening pajamas, that is completely okay. The pressure to produce is something we all know well, and if people can do it, that’s good. But if not, don’t feel like you’re doing something wrong by binging The Office for the third time (this week).

Do one fun thing per day, whatever that is for you. Play video games, jump on your bed, read, or watch cat videos on Tik Tok. Do something that makes you smile and helps ease any anxiety. This part of your day should be about having a good time, not about being productive.

Stay connected. Social distancing is a bit of a misnomer because what we are trying to do is maintain physical distance, not separate ourselves from our social groups. Call, text, or videoconference with your friends. It’s very easy to feel like we are actually connecting with people when we follow them on Facebook, but reaching out to someone personally when we need to can be extremely helpful.

There isn’t a right way to get through a situation like the COVID-19 pandemic. No one is going to deal with this crisis the same way. It’s okay to feel overwhelmed by the things that we, as students, have to get done and the things we can’t do because of social distancing. But there are things you can do and things you don’t have to worry about, so take a load off and be kind to yourself.

Now, if you’ll excuse me, The Office isn’t going to watch itself for a fourth time.