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How to manage emotions in times of quarantine?

Home quarantine plays an important role in preventing the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-19: the outbreak of the new coronavirus has led people to become involved in social alienation as a critical way to help “flatten the curve”, or contain the spread of the disease, to help keep infection rates as low as possible.

This situation has revealed emotions, which has had a negative psychological impact on some people. Excessive worry, stress, anxiety and anguish are absolutely normal feelings in the face of unfortunate situations, such as the one we are currently facing, as indicated by a study carried out by Help Guide, a website specialising in mental health and well-being.

At Campus Experience Real Madrid Foundation we promote a healthy lifestyle, so we offer some guidelines to manage anxiety caused by quarantine:

• Choose carefully which media are consumed: It is recommended to choose a news source that has good reputation, in addition to limiting the listening of news per day. The same goes for social media: Facebook, instagram and similar media can be an excellent way to stay connected to positive sources of social support, but they aren’t good places to get reliable information.
• Being aware of things that can be controlled: The more you focus on things that you can’t control, like how much the coronavirus is spreading or the business closures that will affect your daily life, the more anxious you will feel. So focus on the things you can control, such as the steps you can take to keep yourself safe and how your time will pass. Getting a sense of control over something can help you feel calm.
• Plan a daily routine: It is very important to plan a daily routine, as people need to have a minimum of daily order to be able to cope well with an exceptional situation like this quarantine. We will also be able to assimilate internally those situations that have not yet happened but that we know we will have to resolve. This way, we will have planned how to face a task and be able to finish it as soon as possible, which will give us a sense of control and tranquility.
• Maintaining interpersonal contact: Fortunately, our electronic devices allow us to stay connected easily, even while we are socially estranged. And while video calling doesn’t provide the same emotional benefits as direct face-to-face contact, electronic media allows us to maintain the social support we need right now. Talking to other people about other issues, not referring to the situation we’re going through, reduces anxiety. Just be sure to talk about things that make you better and not make catastrophic predictions that feed your anxiety.
• Maintaining healthy living habits: Physical activity helps to greatly reduce anxiety. Try to keep up with your usual sleep and meal schedule, as well as maintain a good diet, because that will improve your mood and sleep quality.

Therefore, in order to avoid increasing anxiety in quarantine, it is important to provide spaces for the activities that sometimes don’t give us time to do because of the stress of our daily life. Some of these activities can be: reading, talking and enjoying with our loved ones, cooking, among others.

Maintaining physical and psychological well-being in extraordinary situations can be somewhat difficult. That is why, at Campus Experience Real Madrid Foundation we recommend these guidelines to carry out together with your family and so, you can combat the side effects of the quarantine more easily.

If you want to know more about our programs click on: https://campusexperiencermf.com/en/