How to cope with the sudden isolation during lock down

Scott Kelly lived on a space station for one year and he shared some tips in the New York times of 21 March 2020 on how to survive isolation.

For him a daily schedule, hobbies, daily connection with nature and people are some of the most important activities. During lock down when connection with people is limited, online contact can ease isolation and loneliness. From what he says it seems that planning and pacing what you will be doing everyday is key.  It gives purpose and keeps sanity. In a country like South Africa with it’s wonderful mild weather it is very difficult for most people to be confined in a home. We are used to living outside and enjoy wide open spaces and nature.

Here are some well written tips from Dr. Eileen Feliciano on how to keep mentally healthy during a lock down.

COvid-19 Tracker: South Africa

South Africa

Confirmed

706,304

+0 (24h)

Deaths

18,656

+0 (24h)

Recovered

639,568

90.55%

Active

48,080

6.81%

COvid-19 Tracker: Worldwide

Country	Cases	24h	Deaths	24h	%	Recovered	%	Active
USA	8,520,307	0	226,149	0	2.7%	5,545,619	65.1%	2,748,539
India	7,649,158	0	115,950	0	1.5%	6,792,550	88.8%	740,658
Brazil	5,274,817	0	154,888	0	2.9%	4,721,593	89.5%	398,336
Russia	1,431,635	0	24,635	0	1.7%	1,085,608	75.8%	321,392
Spain	1,029,668	0	34,210	0	3.3%	-	0%	995,458
Argentina	1,018,999	0	27,100	0	2.7%	829,647	81.4%	162,252
Colombia	974,139	0	29,272	0	3%	876,731	90%	68,136
France	930,745	0	33,885	0	3.6%	106,839	11.5%	790,021
Peru	874,118	0	33,875	0	3.9%	788,494	90.2%	51,749
Mexico	860,714	5,788	86,893	555	10.1%	627,584	72.9%	146,237
UK	762,542	0	43,967	0	5.8%	-	0%	718,575
South Africa	706,304	0	18,656	0	2.6%	639,568	90.6%	48,080
Iran	539,670	0	31,034	0	5.8%	434,676	80.5%	73,960
Chile	494,478	0	13,702	0	2.8%	466,643	94.4%	14,133
Iraq	434,598	0	10,366	0	2.4%	366,134	84.2%	58,098
Italy	434,449	0	36,705	0	8.4%	255,005	58.7%	142,739
Bangladesh	391,586	0	5,699	0	1.5%	307,141	78.4%	78,746
Germany	380,898	0	9,955	0	2.6%	298,300	78.3%	72,643
Indonesia	368,842	0	12,734	0	3.5%	293,653	79.6%	62,455
Philippines	360,775	0	6,690	0	1.9%	310,642	86.1%	43,443
Turkey	351,413	0	9,445	0	2.7%	306,939	87.3%	35,029
Saudi Arabia	342,968	0	5,217	0	1.5%	329,270	96%	8,481
Pakistan	324,077	0	6,673	0	2.1%	308,020	95%	9,384
Ukraine	309,107	0	5,786	0	1.9%	129,533	41.9%	173,788
Israel	306,162	0	2,278	0	0.7%	282,505	92.3%	21,379
Netherlands	244,391	0	6,814	0	2.8%	-	0%	237,577
Belgium	230,480	0	10,443	0	4.5%	21,214	9.2%	198,823
Canada	203,688	0	9,794	0	4.8%	171,743	84.3%	22,151
Czechia	193,946	0	1,619	0	0.8%	79,108	40.8%	113,219
Poland	192,539	0	3,721	0	1.9%	95,956	49.8%	92,862
Romania	186,254	0	5,996	0	3.2%	134,395	72.2%	45,863
Morocco	179,003	0	3,027	0	1.7%	148,838	83.1%	27,138
Ecuador	154,115	0	12,404	0	8%	134,187	87.1%	7,524
Bolivia	140,037	147	8,526	24	6.1%	105,526	75.4%	25,985
Nepal	139,129	0	765	0	0.5%	96,609	69.4%	41,755
Qatar	129,944	0	224	0	0.2%	126,866	97.6%	2,854
Panama	125,739	0	2,585	0	2.1%	102,028	81.1%	21,126
Dominican Republic	121,973	0	2,204	0	1.8%	99,271	81.4%	20,498
Kuwait	117,718	0	714	0	0.6%	109,198	92.8%	7,806
UAE	117,594	0	470	0	0.4%	110,313	93.8%	6,811
Oman	111,033	0	1,122	0	1%	96,949	87.3%	12,962
Kazakhstan	109,623	0	1,768	0	1.6%	105,145	95.9%	2,710
Sweden	106,380	0	5,922	0	5.6%	-	0%	100,458
Egypt	105,705	0	6,142	0	5.8%	98,413	93.1%	1,150
Portugal	103,736	0	2,213	0	2.1%	61,898	59.7%	39,625
Guatemala	102,219	0	3,546	0	3.5%	91,604	89.6%	7,069
Costa Rica	97,922	0	1,222	0	1.2%	60,109	61.4%	36,591
Japan	93,480	0	1,676	0	1.8%	86,513	92.5%	5,291
Ethiopia	90,490	0	1,371	0	1.5%	43,638	48.2%	45,481
Honduras	89,381	0	2,576	0	2.9%	35,398	39.6%	51,407
Belarus	88,909	0	937	0	1.1%	80,503	90.5%	7,469
Venezuela	87,644	0	747	0	0.9%	80,316	91.6%	6,581
Switzerland	86,167	0	2,145	0	2.5%	54,600	63.4%	29,422
China	85,715	11	4,634	0	5.4%	80,834	94.3%	247
Bahrain	78,533	0	305	0	0.4%	75,089	95.6%	3,139
Moldova	67,958	0	1,617	0	2.4%	49,083	72.2%	17,258
Austria	67,451	0	914	0	1.4%	51,407	76.2%	15,130
Armenia	66,694	0	1,101	0	1.7%	48,734	73.1%	16,859
Lebanon	64,336	0	531	0	0.8%	29,498	45.8%	34,307
Uzbekistan	63,831	0	534	0	0.8%	60,910	95.4%	2,387
Nigeria	61,630	0	1,125	0	1.8%	56,797	92.2%	3,708
Singapore	57,921	0	28	0	0%	57,819	99.8%	74
Paraguay	56,073	0	1,231	0	2.2%	37,167	66.3%	17,675
Algeria	54,829	0	1,873	0	3.4%	38,346	69.9%	14,610
Kyrgyzstan	52,910	0	1,113	0	2.1%	46,139	87.2%	5,658
Ireland	52,256	0	1,865	0	3.6%	23,364	44.7%	27,027
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	50,906	0	746	0	1.5%	27,832	54.7%	22,328
Hungary	48,757	0	1,211	0	2.5%	14,637	30%	32,909
Palestine	48,129	0	421	0	0.9%	41,455	86.1%	6,253
Ghana	47,461	0	312	0	0.7%	46,752	98.5%	397
Azerbaijan	45,879	0	635	0	1.4%	40,272	87.8%	4,972
Kenya	45,647	0	842	0	1.8%	32,522	71.2%	12,283
Tunisia	44,450	0	711	0	1.6%	5,032	11.3%	38,707
Jordan	40,972	0	414	0	1%	7,123	17.4%	33,435
Afghanistan	40,357	0	1,499	0	3.7%	33,790	83.7%	5,068
Myanmar	38,502	0	945	0	2.5%	18,874	49%	18,683
Serbia	36,608	0	780	0	2.1%	31,536	86.1%	4,292
Denmark	36,373	0	688	0	1.9%	29,998	82.5%	5,687
Bosnia	35,389	0	1,017	0	2.9%	25,560	72.2%	8,812
El Salvador	31,975	0	929	0	2.9%	27,453	85.9%	3,593
Bulgaria	31,863	0	1,019	0	3.2%	17,414	54.7%	13,430
Slovakia	31,400	0	98	0	0.3%	8,004	25.5%	23,298
Australia	27,443	14	905	0	3.3%	25,126	91.6%	1,412
Croatia	26,863	0	382	0	1.4%	20,962	78%	5,519
Greece	26,469	0	528	0	2%	9,989	37.7%	15,952
S. Korea	25,424	91	450	3	1.8%	23,584	92.8%	1,390
Macedonia	24,196	0	850	0	3.5%	17,673	73%	5,673
Malaysia	22,225	0	193	0	0.9%	14,351	64.6%	7,681
Cameroon	21,570	0	425	0	2%	20,117	93.3%	1,028
Côte d'Ivoire	20,342	0	121	0	0.6%	20,044	98.5%	177
Georgia	19,857	0	158	0	0.8%	8,666	43.6%	11,033
Albania	17,651	0	458	0	2.6%	10,225	57.9%	6,968
Madagascar	16,810	0	238	0	1.4%	16,215	96.5%	357
Norway	16,772	0	278	0	1.7%	11,863	70.7%	4,631
Zambia	15,982	0	346	0	2.2%	15,038	94.1%	598
Montenegro	15,892	0	247	0	1.6%	11,581	72.9%	4,064
Senegal	15,459	0	320	0	2.1%	13,922	90.1%	1,217
Slovenia	14,473	0	192	0	1.3%	6,572	45.4%	7,709
Finland	13,849	0	351	0	2.5%	9,100	65.7%	4,398
Sudan	13,724	0	836	0	6.1%	6,764	49.3%	6,124
Namibia	12,367	0	132	0	1.1%	10,528	85.1%	1,707
Guinea	11,538	0	70	0	0.6%	10,447	90.5%	1,021
Maldives	11,271	0	37	0	0.3%	10,234	90.8%	1,000
Luxembourg	11,241	0	136	0	1.2%	8,471	75.4%	2,634
Mozambique	11,190	0	78	0	0.7%	9,007	80.5%	2,105
DRC	11,066	0	303	0	2.7%	10,362	93.6%	401
Uganda	10,788	0	97	0	0.9%	7,066	65.5%	3,625
Tajikistan	10,574	0	80	0	0.8%	9,617	90.9%	877
French Guiana	10,268	0	69	0	0.7%	9,995	97.3%	204
Haiti	8,976	0	231	0	2.6%	7,303	81.4%	1,442
Gabon	8,884	0	54	0	0.6%	8,452	95.1%	378
Jamaica	8,374	0	174	0	2.1%	4,002	47.8%	4,198
Zimbabwe	8,187	0	233	0	2.8%	7,692	94%	262
Angola	8,049	0	251	0	3.1%	3,037	37.7%	4,761
Lithuania	7,928	0	118	0	1.5%	3,276	41.3%	4,534
Cabo Verde	7,901	0	87	0	1.1%	6,792	86%	1,022
Mauritania	7,634	0	163	0	2.1%	7,359	96.4%	112
Guadeloupe	7,329	0	115	0	1.6%	2,199	30%	5,015
Cuba	6,305	0	127	0	2%	5,806	92.1%	372
Bahamas	5,923	0	124	0	2.1%	3,525	59.5%	2,274
Malawi	5,861	0	182	0	3.1%	4,757	81.2%	922
Sri Lanka	5,811	0	13	0	0.2%	3,457	59.5%	2,341
Swaziland	5,800	0	116	0	2%	5,437	93.7%	247
Botswana	5,609	0	21	0	0.4%	915	16.3%	4,673
Djibouti	5,499	0	61	0	1.1%	5,384	97.9%	54
Nicaragua	5,434	0	155	0	2.9%	4,225	77.8%	1,054
Trinidad and Tobago	5,333	0	98	0	1.8%	3,758	70.5%	1,477
Hong Kong	5,262	0	105	0	2%	4,996	94.9%	161
Syrian Arab Republic	5,180	0	254	0	4.9%	1,596	30.8%	3,330
Congo	5,156	0	92	0	1.8%	3,887	75.4%	1,177
Suriname	5,144	0	109	0	2.1%	4,979	96.8%	56
Equatorial Guinea	5,074	0	83	0	1.6%	4,954	97.6%	37
Rwanda	4,996	0	34	0	0.7%	4,797	96%	165
Réunion	4,921	0	17	0	0.3%	4,445	90.3%	459
Malta	4,871	0	46	0	0.9%	3,282	67.4%	1,543
Central African Republic	4,858	0	62	0	1.3%	1,924	39.6%	2,872
French Polynesia	4,548	0	16	0	0.4%	3,202	70.4%	1,330
Aruba	4,355	0	34	0	0.8%	4,065	93.3%	256
Iceland	4,193	0	11	0	0.3%	2,930	69.9%	1,252
Mayotte	4,159	0	43	0	1%	2,964	71.3%	1,152
Estonia	4,127	0	71	0	1.7%	3,270	79.2%	786
Somalia	3,890	0	101	0	2.6%	3,166	81.4%	623
Guyana	3,796	0	114	0	3%	2,796	73.7%	886
Thailand	3,700	0	59	0	1.6%	3,491	94.4%	150
Gambia	3,655	0	118	0	3.2%	2,658	72.7%	879
Andorra	3,623	0	62	0	1.7%	2,273	62.7%	1,288
Latvia	3,609	0	47	0	1.3%	1,341	37.2%	2,221
Mali	3,411	0	132	0	3.9%	2,593	76%	686
Belize	2,886	53	45	0	1.6%	1,727	59.8%	1,114
South Sudan	2,847	0	55	0	1.9%	1,290	45.3%	1,502
Cyprus	2,839	0	25	0	0.9%	1,444	50.9%	1,370
Uruguay	2,623	0	52	0	2%	2,142	81.7%	429
Benin	2,496	0	41	0	1.6%	2,330	93.3%	125
Burkina Faso	2,406	0	65	0	2.7%	1,824	75.8%	517
Guinea-Bissau	2,403	0	41	0	1.7%	1,818	75.7%	544
Sierra Leone	2,336	0	73	0	3.1%	1,765	75.6%	498
Martinique	2,257	0	24	0	1.1%	98	4.3%	2,135
Togo	2,104	0	51	0	2.4%	1,555	73.9%	498
Yemen	2,057	0	597	0	29%	1,338	65%	122
Lesotho	1,918	0	43	0	2.2%	961	50.1%	914
New Zealand	1,912	25	25	0	1.3%	1,831	95.8%	56
Chad	1,399	0	93	0	6.6%	1,199	85.7%	107
Liberia	1,384	0	82	0	5.9%	1,273	92%	29
Niger	1,212	0	69	0	5.7%	1,128	93.1%	15
Vietnam	1,141	0	35	0	3.1%	1,046	91.7%	60
Sao Tome and Principe	933	0	15	0	1.6%	898	96.2%	20
Channel Islands	768	0	48	0	6.3%	659	85.8%	61
San Marino	766	0	42	0	5.5%	688	89.8%	36
Curaçao	759	0	1	0	0.1%	466	61.4%	292
Sint Maarten	756	0	22	0	2.9%	675	89.3%	59
Diamond Princess	712	0	13	0	1.8%	659	92.6%	40
Turks and Caicos Islands	698	0	6	0	0.9%	689	98.7%	3
Gibraltar	608	0	0	0	0%	471	77.5%	137
Papua New Guinea	581	0	7	0	1.2%	541	93.1%	33
Burundi	550	0	1	0	0.2%	497	90.4%	52
Taiwan	543	0	7	0	1.3%	495	91.2%	41
Saint Martin	531	0	8	0	1.5%	380	71.6%	143
Tanzania	509	0	21	0	4.1%	183	36%	305
Comoros	504	0	7	0	1.4%	494	98%	3
Faroe Islands	488	0	0	0	0%	472	96.7%	16
Eritrea	452	0	0	0	0%	388	85.8%	64
Mauritius	419	0	10	0	2.4%	379	90.5%	30
Isle of Man	348	0	24	0	6.9%	321	92.2%	3
Bhutan	330	0	0	0	0%	301	91.2%	29
Mongolia	326	0	0	0	0%	312	95.7%	14
Cambodia	286	1	0	0	0%	280	97.9%	6
Monaco	271	0	2	0	0.7%	227	83.8%	42
Cayman Islands	235	0	1	0	0.4%	214	91.1%	20
Liechtenstein	235	0	1	0	0.4%	142	60.4%	92
Barbados	222	0	7	0	3.2%	204	91.9%	11
Bermuda	188	0	9	0	4.8%	174	92.6%	5
Caribbean Netherlands	150	0	3	0	2%	121	80.7%	26
Seychelles	149	0	0	0	0%	148	99.3%	1
Brunei	147	0	3	0	2%	143	97.3%	1
Antigua and Barbuda	119	0	3	0	2.5%	101	84.9%	15
St. Barth	72	0	0	0	0%	55	76.4%	17
British Virgin Islands	71	0	1	0	1.4%	70	98.6%	0
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	68	0	0	0	0%	64	94.1%	4
Macao	46	0	0	0	0%	46	100%	0
Saint Lucia	36	0	0	0	0%	27	75%	9
Dominica	33	0	0	0	0%	29	87.9%	4
Fiji	32	0	2	0	6.3%	30	93.8%	0
Timor-Leste	29	0	0	0	0%	28	96.6%	1
Grenada	27	0	0	0	0%	24	88.9%	3
Holy See (Vatican City State)	27	0	0	0	0%	15	55.6%	12
New Caledonia	27	0	0	0	0%	27	100%	0
Lao People's Democratic Republic	23	0	0	0	0%	22	95.7%	1
Saint Kitts and Nevis	19	0	0	0	0%	19	100%	0
Greenland	16	0	0	0	0%	16	100%	0
Saint Pierre Miquelon	16	0	0	0	0%	12	75%	4
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	13	0	0	0	0%	13	100%	0
Montserrat	13	0	1	0	7.7%	12	92.3%	0
Western Sahara	10	0	1	0	10%	8	80%	1
MS Zaandam	9	0	2	0	22.2%	-	0%	7
Anguilla	3	0	0	0	0%	3	100%	0
Solomon Islands	3	0	0	0	0%	-	0%	3
Wallis and Futuna	1	0	0	0	0%	-	0%	1

25 MENTAL HEALTH WELLNESS TIPS for QUARANTINE

– from Eileen Feliciano

I can’t control a lot of what is going on with COVID-19 right now, but I can contribute this content to consolidate my advice and make a list that I hope is helpful to all.
Dr. Eileen Feliciano. PsyD, Clinical Psychologist in Brooklyn, New York

1. Stick to a routine. Go to sleep and wake up at a reasonable time, write a schedule that is varied and includes time for work as well as self-care.

2. Get showered and dressed in comfortable clothes, wash your face, brush your teeth. Take the time to do a bath or a facial. Put on some bright colors. It is amazing how our dress can impact our mood.

3. Get out at least once a day, for at least thirty minutes. Open the windows and blast the fan. It is amazing how much fresh air can do for spirits.

4. Find some time to move each day, again daily for at least thirty minutes. If you don’t feel comfortable going outside, there are many YouTube videos that offer free movement classes, and if all else fails, turn on the music and have a dance party!

5. Reach out to others, you guessed it, at least once daily for thirty minutes. Try to do FaceTime, Skype, phone calls, texting—connect with other people to seek and provide support. Don’t forget to do this for your children as well. Set up virtual playdates with friends daily via FaceTime, Facebook Messenger Kids, Zoom, etc—your kids miss their friends, too!

6. Stay hydrated and eat well. This one may seem obvious, but stress and eating often don’t mix well, and we find ourselves over-indulging, forgetting to eat, and avoiding food. Drink plenty of water, eat some good and nutritious foods, and challenge yourself to learn how to cook something new!

7. Develop a self-care toolkit. This can look different for everyone. A lot of successful self-care strategies involve a sensory component (seven senses: touch, taste, sight, hearing, smell, vestibular (movement) and proprioceptive (comforting pressure). An idea for each: a soft blanket or stuffed animal, a hot chocolate, photos of vacations, comforting music, lavender or eucalyptus oil, a small swing or rocking chair, a weighted blanket. A journal, an inspirational book, or a mandala coloring book is wonderful, bubbles to blow or blowing watercolor on paper through a straw are visually appealing as well as work on controlled breath. Mint gum, Listerine strips, ginger ale, frozen Starburst, ice packs, and cold are also good for anxiety regulation. For children, it is great to help them create a self-regulation comfort box (often a shoe-box or bin they can decorate) that they can use on the ready for first-aid when overwhelmed.

8. Spend extra time playing with children. Children will rarely communicate how they are feeling, but will often make a bid for attention and communication through play. Don’t be surprised to see therapeutic themes of illness, doctor visits, and isolation play through. Understand that play is cathartic and helpful for children—it is how they process their world and problem solve, and there’s a lot they are seeing and experiencing in the now.

9. Give everyone the benefit of the doubt, and a wide berth. A lot of cooped up time can bring out the worst in everyone. Each person will have moments when they will not be at their best. It is important to move with grace through blowups, to not show up to every argument you are invited to, and to not hold grudges and continue disagreements. Everyone is doing the best they can to make it through this.

10. Everyone find their own retreat space. Space is at a premium, particularly with city living. It is important that people think through their own separate space for work and for relaxation. For children, help them identify a place where they can go to retreat when stressed. You can make this place cozy by using blankets, pillows, cushions, scarves, beanbags, tents, and “forts”. It is good to know that even when we are on top of each other, we have our own special place to go to be alone.

11. Expect behavioral issues in children, and respond gently. We are all struggling with disruption in routine, none more than children, who rely on routines constructed by others to make them feel safe and to know what comes next. Expect increased anxiety, worries and fears, nightmares, difficulty separating or sleeping, testing limits, and meltdowns. Do not introduce major behavioral plans or consequences at this time—hold stable and focus on emotional connection.

12. Focus on safety and attachment. We are going to be living for a bit with the unprecedented demand of meeting all work deadlines, homeschooling children, running a sterile household, and making a whole lot of entertainment in confinement. We can get wrapped up in meeting expectations in all domains, but we must remember that these are scary and unpredictable times for children. Focus on strengthening the connection through time spent following their lead, through physical touch, through play, through therapeutic books, and via verbal reassurances that you will be there for them in this time.

13. Lower expectations and practice radical self-acceptance. This idea is connected with #12. We are doing too many things in this moment, under fear and stress. This does not make a formula for excellence. Instead, give yourself what psychologists call “radical self-acceptance”: accepting everything about yourself, your current situation, and your life without question, blame, or pushback. You cannot fail at this—there is no roadmap, no precedent for this, and we are all truly doing the best we can in an impossible situation.

14. Limit social media and COVID conversation, especially around children. One can find tons of information on COVID-19 to consume, and it changes minute to minute. The information is often sensationalized, negatively skewed, and alarmist. Find a few trusted sources that you can check in with consistently, limit it to a few times a day, and set a time limit for yourself on how much you consume (again 30 minutes tops, 2-3 times daily). Keep news and alarming conversations out of earshot from children—they see and hear everything, and can become very frightened by what they hear.

15. Notice the good in the world, the helpers. There is a lot of scary, negative, and overwhelming information to take in regarding this pandemic. There are also a ton of stories of people sacrificing, donating, and supporting one another in miraculous ways. It is important to counter-balance the heavy information with the hopeful information.

16. Help others. Find ways, big and small, to give back to others.

17. Find something you can control, and control the heck out of it. In moments of big uncertainty and overwhelm, control your little corner of the world. Organize your bookshelf, purge your closet, put together that furniture, group your toys. It helps to anchor and ground us when the bigger things are chaotic.

18. Find a long-term project to dive into. Now is the time to learn how to play the keyboard, put together a huge jigsaw puzzle, start a 15 hour game of Risk, paint a picture, read the Harry Potter series, binge watch an 8-season show, crochet a blanket, solve a Rubix cube, or develop a new town in Animal Crossing. Find something that will keep you busy, distracted, and engaged to take breaks from what is going on in the outside world.

19. Engage in repetitive movements and left-right movements. Research has shown that repetitive movement (knitting, coloring, painting, clay sculpting, jump roping etc) especially left-right movement (running, drumming, skating, hopping) can be effective at self-soothing and maintaining self-regulation in moments of distress.

20. Find an expressive art and go for it. Our emotional brain is very receptive to the creative arts, and it is a direct portal for release of feeling. Find something that is creative (sculpting, drawing, dancing, music, singing, playing) and give it your all. See how relieved you can feel. It is a very effective way of helping kids to emote and communicate as well!

21. Find lightness and humor in each day. There is a lot to be worried about, and with good reason. Counterbalance this heaviness with something funny each day: cat videos on YouTube, a stand-up show on Netflix, a funny movie—we all need a little comedic relief in our day, every day.

22. Reach out for help—MOBIEG LIVE CHAT is there for you. If you have a therapist or psychiatrist, they are available to you, even at a distance. Keep up your medications and your therapy sessions the best you can. If you are having difficulty coping, seek out help for the first time. There are mental health people on the ready to help you through this crisis. Your children’s teachers and related service providers will do anything within their power to help, especially for those parents tasked with the difficult task of being a whole treatment team to their child with special challenges. Seek support groups of fellow home-schoolers, parents, and neighbors to feel connected. There is help and support out there, any time of the day—although we are physically distant, we can always connect virtually.

23. “Chunk” your quarantine, take it moment by moment. We have no road map for this. We don’t know what this will look like in 1 day, 1 week, or 1 month from now. Often, when I work with patients who have anxiety around overwhelming issues, I suggest that they engage in a strategy called “chunking”—focusing on whatever bite-sized piece of a challenge that feels manageable. Whether that be 5 minutes, a day, or a week at a time—find what feels doable for you, and set a time stamp for how far ahead in the future you will let yourself worry. Take each chunk one at a time, and move through stress in pieces.

24. Remind yourself daily that this is temporary. It seems in the midst of this quarantine that it will never end. It is terrifying to think of the road stretching ahead of us. Please take time to remind yourself that although this is very scary and difficult, and will go on for an undetermined amount of time, it is a season of life and it will pass. We will return to feeing free, safe, busy, and connected in the days ahead.

25. Find the lesson. This whole crisis can seem sad, senseless, and at times, avoidable. When psychologists work with trauma, a key feature to helping someone work through said trauma is to help them find their agency, the potential positive outcomes they can effect, the meaning and construction that can come out of destruction. What can each of us learn here, in big and small ways, from this crisis? What needs to change in ourselves, our homes, our communities, our nation, and our world?

© 2020 Dr. Eileen Feliciano. PsyD, Clinical Psychologist in Brooklyn, New York

MOBIEG thank Eileen for her generous permission that allows us to use her article to help people in South Africa.  We appreciate your input!

Eileen Feliciano
NYS Certified School Psychologist
NYS Licensed Psychologist