Taking care of our mental health
In the face of the Covid-19 epidemic and due to the period of quarantine that the world continues to undergo, the World Health Organization (WHO) states that “Managing stress and psychosocial well-being during this period is as important as managing physical health.” Mary organizations around the world have also made recommendations to adequately address this pandemic psychologically.
Among the various recommendations, governments should reduce subjecting citizens to alarm situations as much as possible. How do you know if you are being affected? If you have any or more of these sensations, your mental health is being affected: nervousness, agitation, feeling of imminent danger, constant thinking about the disease or high concern about getting infected, a need to be constantly informed about the subject and know the numbers of infections and / or deaths day by day, difficulty performing the tasks that you carry out daily, difficulty concentrating, you feel that your breathing accelerates at certain times of the day, you have headaches you did not have before, anger or impulsive temperament, difficulty sleeping or you wake up in the middle of the night without apparent cause. What to do? First of all, it is necessary that you understand that this is a problem worldwide and that to find a solution is not up to you, on the contrary it is better to avoid being stressed, since stress lowers your defenses and you would be more likely to fall sick from another disease. Although healthy distance is recommended, it’s important to rely on friends and family, whether they live with you or not, you can use technology to avoid loneliness. Also beware of rejection or discrimination, as fear generates impulsive behaviors. While information is important, you should not believe everything that is read or heard, without first knowing where it comes from. It is important that you identify what type of population you are in, if you are in the risk population do not panic, do follow the prevention measures recommended by the health authorities. Physical activity is recommended for everyone as it helps to generate endorphins, and these help you feel in a better mood. It is important to know how to identify negative thoughts, as they can trigger depression, a common mental disorder that affects more than 350 million people worldwide. To identify them you must be aware that they exist, normally these thoughts are brief and very toxic, for example, you will catch yourself thinking that you will get infected or that you will die because of this disease. Once identified you must learn to replace them with other thoughts that have a realistic, logical, rational and positive foundation. For example, “If I follow the recommendations of health organizations, I am less likely to get infected.” It is important that these exercises are written out, preferably by hand, since it is scientifically proven that when performed, the motor, visual and cognitive areas in our brain are activated. Writing is a great emotional channeler, as it facilitates expression without any limit, judgment or restriction and it is possible to increase with it realistic and positive thoughts, which are greatly needed during this pandemic. 
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