The Hidden Impacts of COVID-19 on Mental Health

Across the world, we are still experiencing some unprecedented bans and restrictions on our work lives, and our home lives, due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As a result, it means that more and more people are looking at the impact that the virus is having on individuals and families.

Many changes have happened and we have had to adjust to a lot of new things. Unfortunately, we don’t yet know what any of the lasting effects of this way of living will be. With that in mind, let’s take a look at how quarantine and living in lockdown can impact us as individuals and families. 

Isolation

As humans, we enjoy interaction with others and having personal relationships. Even if it’s only with a couple of people, we want to have contact and be in touch with people. Luckily, we have technology that can help us to feel less isolated and to help us to keep in touch with others. But for some, they will feel more isolated than ever. This can impact mental health of families. As well, if you’re working from home, this can impact your productivity and success. Could this have some long term effects on our overall health? We’ll have to wait and see.

Lifestyle

We all let off steam in different ways. For some people, it could be going for a drink with friends, while for others, it could be going to the gym. These kinds of things aren’t likely to be happening for a while and our way of life could be completely changed. We don’t yet know the kind of impact these kinds of restrictions will have on our mental health.

Right now, it’s really important to take steps to try and keep as normal a routine as possible. It may mean doing everything from home, but keeping a routine can make a difference to how you feel mentally.

Fear

The unknown about all of this is really tricky. You can’t make plans and look ahead to how things will be, as so much is still unknown. This leads to fear, which can have a direct impact on how we all feel.

Not only that, but for some people, being at home all of the time is the least safe place that they can be, and it means that they could be living in fear the whole time. For some, school is a safe place to be, and home isn’t. But with schools closed, it’s really tricky.  Children First has noticed the impact the coronavirus pandemic has had on families and children.

Unemployment is also something that is a big fear for many. With loss of jobs, loss of income and financial pressures, some people might be experiencing huge fear about the future. This coupled with the stress of health concerns can be extremely stressful.

Although we won’t really see the real impact of COVID-19 for some time to come, we need to make sure we’re looking after our physical health, as well as our mental health at a time like this.