Ten Tips for Emotional Wellness from Kenneth Etefia, MD:
1. Develop a structured daily routine. Long stretches of idle time may produce feelings of depression and anxiety. Create a daily schedule of activities (e.g. gardening, cooking, occupational tasks) to keep your mind occupied and to provide one’s self with a sense of achievement and mastery each day.
2. Maintain a regular bedtime. Insufficient sleep can lead to mood and cognitive problems such as irritability and inattention. Avoid using electronics within an hour of bedtime to avoid prolonging sleep onset. A dark, quiet environment in the hour before bedtime can help with sleep initiation.
3. Create a daily exercise routine — aim for 20 minutes of mild to moderate cardiovascular exercise such as walking briskly or jogging. If you have pre-existing health issues consult with your PCP first. Exercise is an excellent way to fill time in the day, help with sleep onset, boost energy, and relieve stress.
4. Stay connected to family and friends — social isolation, a necessary evil in this moment, can lead to prolonged spells of depression. Make connecting with loved ones through various videoconferencing apps a part of your daily routine — consider making standing virtual dates for meals, movies and game nights to stay in touch with your support network.
5. Minimize social media use — with the current tenor of sociopolitical discourse and current inundation with round-the-clock CoVID-19 coverage, no news is often the best news and also an excellent way to avoid further elevating stress. Which is not good for your emotional wellness.
6. Be mindful of intoxicant use as the brief reduction in anxiety brought about by substances such as alcohol and cannabis may come at the cost of sleep impairment, reduced motivation and cognitive problems that may interfere with the establishment of a healthy daily routine. Additionally, use of intoxicants in periods of high stress can lead to self-medication and eventual dependence. Paradoxically, overuse of many recreational drugs can depress mood and elevate anxiety.
7. If you have children develop a daily routine for them following the design of your own with scheduled time for exercise, virtual visits with friends and completion of schoolwork tasks. The Khan Academy and Scholastic Publishing offer free resources to aid families in developing a schedule of daily intellectual and leisure activities.
8. It is important to acknowledge that this is an unusually difficult period for people worldwide and that some sadness and worry are natural and normal. However, if one begins to experience weeks of low mood or anxiety that make it difficult to accomplish or initiate tasks, eat, sleep or experience pleasure then reaching out to a mental health provider is recommended.
9. In children and teens, anxiety and depression may emerge as irritability, inability to sleep, disinterest in play and reduced appetite. Consider PCP or mental health consultation if such changes persist for weeks.
10. Consider integrating in other daily stress reduction activities such as meditation. Remember, depression and anxiety are pathophysiologic states that impair immune response so stress modulation is critically important in this moment.
healthy daily routine
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Dr. Kenneth K Etefia M.D.
Diplomat in General Psychiatry and Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology
Fellow, American Psychiatric Association
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