In a reversal of what he said only a few days before, U.S. President Donald Trump announced Sunday that the coronavirus social distancing rules must continue through April 30. This includes “nonessential travel, going to work, eating at bars and restaurants, or gathering in groups of more than 10 for at least another month and perhaps until June,” according to The New York Times.
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For businesses and people who are not working because their jobs are not considered “essential,” this is devastating news. Many have hunkered down for nearly a month already — and now the president wants you to do it for at least another month, and possibly more. Some may even be wondering how they will feed their families for another week, let alone another month.
Such depth of stress and pressure surely will put a strain on even the strongest personalities. If this is happening to you, if you are need of stress relief, here are a few ideas to help deal with it — and they are all ideas that don’t cost money.
If you’re anxious about getting infected with novel coronavirus or you’re worrying about the health of family members, consider trying the Emotional Freedom Techniques (EFT) to ease your anxiety or the FAST technique from NET.
EFT is a psychological acupressure technique based on the same energy meridians used in acupuncture, but instead of stimulating the pathways with needles, EFT uses tapping with your fingertips along while voicing positive affirmations. EFT offers a wide variety of physical and mental benefits, ranging from pain and depression relief to eliminating food cravings and helping you reach your weight loss goals
It works because many types of negative emotions and trauma can lead to blockages or disruptions in the flow of qi, or vital life force; EFT uses physical tapping with your fingertips to input kinetic energy at specific tapping points, which helps to clear the blockages, freeing the pathways for revitalizing qi to flow.
NET FAST, or Neuro-Emotional Technique’s First Aid Stress Tool, is an alternative to EFT that has a video along with an excellent printable summary with visuals of the technique at Firstaidstresstool.com. Simply, with FAST you:
- Think about an issue that is bothering you and place your right wrist, palm up, into your left hand. Place three fingers of your left hand onto the area of your right wrist where you can feel your pulse.
- Place your open right hand on your forehead. Gently breathe in and out several times while concentrating on feeling the issue that bothers you.
- Switch hands and repeat steps 1 and 2.
A third way to address stress and depression while you’re self-quarantining is to try light therapy, something that will be easier to do as we get deeper into spring. It’s worth noting that full-spectrum light therapy is often recommended over antidepressants for the treatment of seasonal affective disorder (SAD), but it may be preferable even for major depression. Light therapy alone and placebo were both more effective than Prozac for the treatment of moderate to severe depression in an eight-week long study, and now that spring is here and you’re stuck at home, make it a point to go outside and soak up as much sun and natural light as you can.
Exercise can help too. Even a minimal amount of exercise may be enough to combat depression in some people — as minimal as one hour a week, according to an 11-year study in which people who engaged in regular leisure-time exercise for one hour a week were less likely to become depressed. So, while you’re outside, take a walk or jog around your yard.
Reaching out to talk with someone on the phone as opposed to through social media is another way to lift your mood (besides actually connecting you to someone outside your home.
That said, if you are feeling desperate or have any thoughts of suicide, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline, a toll-free number: 1-800-273-TALK (8255), or call 911.
Source:
The New York Times March 29, 2020