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

1,430,648

+0 (24h)

Deaths

42,550

+0 (24h)

Recovered

1,263,476

88.31%

Active

124,622

8.71%

COvid-19 Tracker: Worldwide

Country	Cases	24h	Deaths	24h	%	Recovered	%	Active
USA	26,166,201	0	439,517	0	1.7%	15,942,757	60.9%	9,783,927
India	10,702,031	0	153,885	0	1.4%	10,372,818	96.9%	175,328
Brazil	9,000,485	0	220,237	0	2.4%	7,798,655	86.6%	981,593
Russia	3,774,672	0	71,076	0	1.9%	3,202,483	84.8%	501,113
UK	3,715,054	0	101,887	0	2.7%	1,673,936	45.1%	1,939,231
France	3,106,859	0	74,456	0	2.4%	220,570	7.1%	2,811,833
Spain	2,774,014	0	57,291	0	2.1%	-	0%	2,716,723
Italy	2,501,147	0	86,889	0	3.5%	1,936,289	77.4%	477,969
Turkey	2,449,839	0	25,476	0	1%	2,331,314	95.2%	93,049
Germany	2,179,679	0	55,358	0	2.5%	1,866,000	85.6%	258,321
Colombia	2,055,305	0	52,523	0	2.6%	1,880,041	91.5%	122,741
Argentina	1,896,053	0	47,435	0	2.5%	1,682,563	88.7%	166,055
Mexico	1,806,849	17,944	153,639	1,623	8.5%	1,362,525	75.4%	290,685
Poland	1,489,512	0	36,054	0	2.4%	1,246,267	83.7%	207,191
South Africa	1,430,648	0	42,550	0	3%	1,263,476	88.3%	124,622
Iran	1,392,314	0	57,651	0	4.1%	1,183,463	85%	151,200
Ukraine	1,200,883	0	22,202	0	1.8%	980,085	81.6%	198,596
Peru	1,113,970	0	40,272	0	3.6%	1,028,120	92.3%	45,578
Indonesia	1,024,298	0	28,855	0	2.8%	831,330	81.2%	164,113
Netherlands	961,593	0	13,733	0	1.4%	-	0%	947,860
Czechia	956,155	0	15,791	0	1.7%	841,518	88%	98,846
Canada	761,227	0	19,533	0	2.6%	683,951	89.8%	57,743
Romania	718,612	0	18,015	0	2.5%	662,400	92.2%	38,197
Chile	709,888	0	18,040	0	2.5%	666,799	93.9%	25,049
Belgium	696,642	0	20,879	0	3%	48,224	6.9%	627,539
Portugal	668,951	0	11,305	0	1.7%	484,753	72.5%	172,893
Israel	621,590	0	4,605	0	0.7%	542,345	87.3%	74,640
Iraq	616,259	0	13,018	0	2.1%	586,327	95.1%	16,914
Sweden	560,472	0	11,425	0	2%	-	0%	549,047
Pakistan	537,477	0	11,450	0	2.1%	492,207	91.6%	33,820
Bangladesh	533,444	0	8,072	0	1.5%	477,935	89.6%	47,437
Philippines	518,407	0	10,481	0	2%	475,542	91.7%	32,384
Switzerland	517,705	0	9,260	0	1.8%	317,600	61.3%	190,845
Morocco	468,383	0	8,207	0	1.8%	446,181	95.3%	13,995
Austria	408,781	0	7,564	0	1.9%	386,351	94.5%	14,866
Serbia	389,045	0	3,944	0	1%	31,536	8.1%	353,565
Japan	371,680	0	5,252	0	1.4%	308,164	82.9%	58,264
Saudi Arabia	367,023	0	6,363	0	1.7%	358,545	97.7%	2,115
Hungary	361,881	0	12,198	0	3.4%	246,596	68.1%	103,087
Jordan	323,111	0	4,262	0	1.3%	311,080	96.3%	7,769
Panama	315,400	0	5,176	0	1.6%	266,534	84.5%	43,690
Lebanon	289,660	0	2,553	0	0.9%	170,067	58.7%	117,040
UAE	289,086	0	811	0	0.3%	263,730	91.2%	24,545
Nepal	270,375	0	2,020	0	0.7%	265,069	98%	3,286
Georgia	255,564	0	3,108	0	1.2%	245,527	96.1%	6,929
Ecuador	243,535	0	14,704	0	6%	204,071	83.8%	24,760
Slovakia	241,392	0	4,361	0	1.8%	202,148	83.7%	34,883
Belarus	241,133	0	1,678	0	0.7%	227,068	94.2%	12,387
Croatia	230,359	0	4,913	0	2.1%	222,396	96.5%	3,050
Azerbaijan	229,584	0	3,105	0	1.4%	221,717	96.6%	4,762
Bulgaria	217,014	0	8,944	0	4.1%	181,622	83.7%	26,448
Bolivia	208,074	2,866	10,167	62	4.9%	154,377	74.2%	43,530
Dominican Republic	207,455	0	2,579	0	1.2%	150,804	72.7%	54,072
Tunisia	202,323	0	6,446	0	3.2%	151,214	74.7%	44,663
Denmark	196,540	0	2,050	0	1%	183,647	93.4%	10,843
Malaysia	194,114	0	707	0	0.4%	151,018	77.8%	42,389
Costa Rica	192,066	0	2,584	0	1.3%	150,748	78.5%	38,734
Ireland	191,182	0	3,120	0	1.6%	23,364	12.2%	164,698
Kazakhstan	181,117	0	2,476	0	1.4%	163,156	90.1%	15,485
Lithuania	179,212	0	2,716	0	1.5%	123,562	68.9%	52,934
Armenia	166,427	0	3,056	0	1.8%	156,053	93.8%	7,318
Egypt	163,761	0	9,115	0	5.6%	127,963	78.1%	26,683
Kuwait	162,862	0	957	0	0.6%	155,739	95.6%	6,166
Slovenia	161,662	0	3,425	0	2.1%	140,353	86.8%	17,884
Moldova	157,626	0	3,396	0	2.2%	147,864	93.8%	6,366
Palestine	156,996	0	1,808	0	1.2%	146,934	93.6%	8,254
Guatemala	156,497	0	5,513	0	3.5%	141,481	90.4%	9,503
Greece	154,083	0	5,724	0	3.7%	142,136	92.2%	6,223
Qatar	149,933	0	248	0	0.2%	145,251	96.9%	4,434
Honduras	142,880	0	3,486	0	2.4%	60,597	42.4%	78,797
Myanmar	138,802	0	3,089	0	2.2%	123,170	88.7%	12,543
Ethiopia	135,045	0	2,083	0	1.5%	121,594	90%	11,368
Oman	133,574	0	1,525	0	1.1%	126,486	94.7%	5,563
Paraguay	130,163	0	2,668	0	2%	105,353	80.9%	22,142
Nigeria	126,160	0	1,543	0	1.2%	100,365	79.6%	24,252
Venezuela	124,525	0	1,159	0	0.9%	116,785	93.8%	6,581
Bosnia	120,864	0	4,643	0	3.8%	93,657	77.5%	22,564
Libyan Arab Jamahiriya	116,064	0	1,802	0	1.6%	95,406	82.2%	18,856
Algeria	106,359	0	2,877	0	2.7%	72,538	68.2%	30,944
Bahrain	101,116	0	371	0	0.4%	97,337	96.3%	3,408
Kenya	100,323	0	1,751	0	1.7%	83,691	83.4%	14,881
Macedonia	91,555	0	2,821	0	3.1%	80,008	87.4%	8,726
China	89,326	54	4,636	0	5.2%	82,870	92.8%	1,820
Kyrgyzstan	84,175	0	1,405	0	1.7%	80,330	95.4%	2,440
Uzbekistan	78,510	0	621	0	0.8%	76,997	98.1%	892
S. Korea	76,926	497	1,386	8	1.8%	66,016	85.8%	9,524
Albania	74,567	0	1,339	0	1.8%	45,383	60.9%	27,845
Latvia	63,027	0	1,138	0	1.8%	51,123	81.1%	10,766
Ghana	62,751	0	377	0	0.6%	58,561	93.3%	3,813
Norway	61,961	0	556	0	0.9%	53,299	86%	8,106
Sri Lanka	60,694	0	290	0	0.5%	52,566	86.6%	7,838
Montenegro	59,825	0	783	0	1.3%	51,387	85.9%	7,655
Singapore	59,391	0	29	0	0%	59,104	99.5%	258
Afghanistan	54,891	0	2,397	0	4.4%	47,549	86.6%	4,945
El Salvador	53,989	0	1,589	0	2.9%	47,643	88.2%	4,757
Luxembourg	50,089	0	571	0	1.1%	47,302	94.4%	2,216
Zambia	48,911	0	688	0	1.4%	41,282	84.4%	6,941
Finland	43,616	0	660	0	1.5%	31,000	71.1%	11,956
Estonia	41,966	0	398	0	0.9%	31,695	75.5%	9,873
Uruguay	39,328	0	407	0	1%	31,598	80.3%	7,323
Uganda	39,314	0	318	0	0.8%	14,114	35.9%	24,882
Mozambique	34,926	0	336	0	1%	22,494	64.4%	12,096
Namibia	33,265	0	332	0	1%	31,210	93.8%	1,723
Zimbabwe	32,304	0	1,122	0	3.5%	23,687	73.3%	7,495
Cyprus	30,380	0	193	0	0.6%	2,057	6.8%	28,130
Cameroon	29,617	0	462	0	1.6%	28,045	94.7%	1,110
Australia	28,793	8	909	0	3.2%	26,029	90.4%	1,855
Côte d'Ivoire	27,455	0	151	0	0.5%	25,388	92.5%	1,916
Sudan	26,671	0	1,760	0	6.6%	20,936	78.5%	3,975
Senegal	25,407	0	601	0	2.4%	21,125	83.1%	3,681
Cuba	23,439	0	204	0	0.9%	18,325	78.2%	4,910
DRC	22,178	0	661	0	3%	14,968	67.5%	6,549
Malawi	21,660	0	555	0	2.6%	7,249	33.5%	13,856
Botswana	20,658	0	124	0	0.6%	16,794	81.3%	3,740
Angola	19,580	0	462	0	2.4%	17,602	89.9%	1,516
Madagascar	18,743	0	279	0	1.5%	17,930	95.7%	534
French Polynesia	17,996	0	131	0	0.7%	4,842	26.9%	13,023
Malta	17,192	0	258	0	1.5%	14,252	82.9%	2,682
Mauritania	16,506	0	419	0	2.5%	15,491	93.9%	596
French Guiana	15,857	0	76	0	0.5%	9,995	63%	5,786
Thailand	15,465	0	76	0	0.5%	11,054	71.5%	4,335
Maldives	15,390	0	51	0	0.3%	13,966	90.7%	1,373
Jamaica	15,241	0	342	0	2.2%	11,942	78.4%	2,957
Swaziland	15,051	0	522	0	3.5%	9,700	64.4%	4,829
Guinea	14,435	0	82	0	0.6%	13,946	96.6%	407
Rwanda	14,166	0	183	0	1.3%	9,042	63.8%	4,941
Syrian Arab Republic	13,823	0	900	0	6.5%	7,260	52.5%	5,663
Cabo Verde	13,722	0	129	0	0.9%	12,908	94.1%	685
Tajikistan	13,308	0	90	0	0.7%	13,218	99.3%	0
Belize	11,816	0	294	0	2.5%	11,236	95.1%	286
Haiti	11,331	0	243	0	2.1%	9,010	79.5%	2,078
Gabon	10,536	0	68	0	0.6%	10,122	96.1%	346
Hong Kong	10,283	0	175	0	1.7%	9,162	89.1%	946
Burkina Faso	10,217	0	120	0	1.2%	8,759	85.7%	1,338
Réunion	9,904	0	45	0	0.5%	9,261	93.5%	598
Andorra	9,716	0	98	0	1%	8,851	91.1%	767
Guadeloupe	9,097	0	154	0	1.7%	2,242	24.6%	6,701
Suriname	8,243	0	152	0	1.8%	7,433	90.2%	658
Bahamas	8,161	0	175	0	2.1%	6,754	82.8%	1,232
Lesotho	8,047	0	146	0	1.8%	2,398	29.8%	5,503
Mali	8,037	0	327	0	4.1%	5,870	73%	1,840
Congo	7,887	0	117	0	1.5%	5,846	74.1%	1,924
Mayotte	7,884	0	60	0	0.8%	2,964	37.6%	4,860
Trinidad and Tobago	7,509	0	134	0	1.8%	7,077	94.2%	298
Guyana	7,380	0	174	0	2.4%	6,488	87.9%	718
Aruba	6,809	0	58	0	0.9%	6,378	93.7%	373
Martinique	6,402	0	45	0	0.7%	98	1.5%	6,259
Nicaragua	6,253	0	169	0	2.7%	4,225	67.6%	1,859
Iceland	6,000	0	29	0	0.5%	5,915	98.6%	56
Djibouti	5,926	0	62	0	1%	5,844	98.6%	20
Equatorial Guinea	5,492	0	86	0	1.6%	5,268	95.9%	138
Central African Republic	4,980	0	63	0	1.3%	4,885	98.1%	32
Togo	4,870	0	76	0	1.6%	4,092	84%	702
Somalia	4,754	0	130	0	2.7%	3,666	77.1%	958
Curaçao	4,567	0	20	0	0.4%	4,466	97.8%	81
Niger	4,433	0	153	0	3.5%	3,583	80.8%	697
Gibraltar	4,057	0	70	0	1.7%	3,462	85.3%	525
Gambia	4,019	0	128	0	3.2%	3,780	94.1%	111
South Sudan	3,788	0	64	0	1.7%	3,542	93.5%	182
Benin	3,786	0	48	0	1.3%	3,317	87.6%	421
Channel Islands	3,525	0	79	0	2.2%	3,227	91.5%	219
Chad	3,269	0	117	0	3.6%	2,335	71.4%	817
Sierra Leone	3,236	0	77	0	2.4%	2,237	69.1%	922
San Marino	2,941	0	65	0	2.2%	2,675	91%	201
Guinea-Bissau	2,532	0	45	0	1.8%	2,421	95.6%	66
Comoros	2,492	0	81	0	3.3%	1,496	60%	915
Liechtenstein	2,458	0	52	0	2.1%	2,328	94.7%	78
New Zealand	2,299	4	25	0	1.1%	2,205	95.9%	69
Yemen	2,120	0	615	0	29%	1,425	67.2%	80
Eritrea	2,085	0	7	0	0.3%	1,549	74.3%	529
Liberia	1,936	0	84	0	4.3%	1,757	90.8%	95
Sint Maarten	1,807	0	27	0	1.5%	1,625	89.9%	155
Mongolia	1,667	0	2	0	0.1%	1,236	74.1%	429
Vietnam	1,551	0	35	0	2.3%	1,430	92.2%	86
Burundi	1,542	0	2	0	0.1%	773	50.1%	767
Barbados	1,443	0	11	0	0.8%	1,079	74.8%	353
Monaco	1,413	0	10	0	0.7%	1,180	83.5%	223
Turks and Caicos Islands	1,312	0	8	0	0.6%	1,020	77.7%	284
Sao Tome and Principe	1,221	0	17	0	1.4%	1,007	82.5%	197
Saint Martin	1,146	0	12	0	1%	1,006	87.8%	128
Seychelles	1,129	0	3	0	0.3%	801	70.9%	325
Saint Lucia	969	0	13	0	1.3%	493	50.9%	463
Taiwan	893	0	7	0	0.8%	803	89.9%	83
Bhutan	856	0	1	0	0.1%	764	89.3%	91
Papua New Guinea	851	0	9	0	1.1%	812	95.4%	30
Saint Vincent and the Grenadines	798	0	2	0	0.3%	165	20.7%	631
Diamond Princess	712	0	13	0	1.8%	699	98.2%	0
Bermuda	689	0	12	0	1.7%	648	94%	29
Faroe Islands	654	0	1	0	0.2%	645	98.6%	8
Mauritius	569	0	10	0	1.8%	528	92.8%	31
Tanzania	509	0	21	0	4.1%	183	36%	305
Cambodia	460	0	0	0	0%	423	92%	37
Isle of Man	432	0	25	0	5.8%	377	87.3%	30
Cayman Islands	384	0	2	0	0.5%	356	92.7%	26
Caribbean Netherlands	360	0	3	0	0.8%	244	67.8%	113
St. Barth	300	0	1	0	0.3%	204	68%	95
Antigua and Barbuda	215	0	6	0	2.8%	174	80.9%	35
Brunei	176	0	3	0	1.7%	169	96%	4
Grenada	148	0	1	0	0.7%	135	91.2%	12
British Virgin Islands	114	0	1	0	0.9%	95	83.3%	18
Dominica	113	0	0	0	0%	105	92.9%	8
Timor-Leste	68	0	0	0	0%	54	79.4%	14
Fiji	55	0	2	0	3.6%	53	96.4%	0
Macao	47	0	0	0	0%	46	97.9%	1
Lao People's Democratic Republic	44	0	0	0	0%	41	93.2%	3
New Caledonia	44	0	0	0	0%	43	97.7%	1
Falkland Islands (Malvinas)	41	0	0	0	0%	34	82.9%	7
Saint Kitts and Nevis	37	0	0	0	0%	35	94.6%	2
Greenland	30	0	0	0	0%	30	100%	0
Holy See (Vatican City State)	27	0	0	0	0%	15	55.6%	12
Saint Pierre Miquelon	23	0	0	0	0%	16	69.6%	7
Solomon Islands	17	0	0	0	0%	10	58.8%	7
Anguilla	16	0	0	0	0%	15	93.8%	1
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%	7	77.8%	0
Wallis and Futuna	5	0	0	0	0%	4	80%	1
Marshall Islands	4	0	0	0	0%	4	100%	0
Samoa	2	0	0	0	0%	2	100%	0
Micronesia	1	0	0	0	0%	-	0%	1
Vanuatu	1	0	0	0	0%	1	100%	0

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