Coronavirus stress: How to spot mental health warning signs and cope with them

Dr Laila Mahmoud, specialist psychiatry, Medcare Hospitals & Medical Centres, has revealed that anxiety and depression cases have “highly increased” during the coronavirus crisis.

And while this is to be expected, given all the uncertainties and stresses that have come with the pandemic, more people have admitted to struggling in the current climate.

Dr Mahmoud said: “A lot of people are experiencing anxiety symptoms, panic attacks, isolation, lack of motivation and depression.”

However, she told Arabian Business there were a list of trigger points to look out for in individuals, family or friends.

• Daily life activities – check if anxiety and sadness are stopping you or putting a pressure on you from performing your daily activities.
• Sleep disturbances
• If your mind is trapped in a loop of anxiety and sadness that you cannot cope or deal with.
• Obsession about illness and doctor shopping – when you find yourself, every day, visiting more than one doctor of different specialities for several complaints and leaving with a result of no existing illnesses.
• Death wishes or suicidal thoughts, and loss of interest in any pleasurable activities.
• Fear of death and overwhelmed about illnesses, like thinking you might have lung cancer because you just coughed

“If you have any of these symptoms, you must consult a psychiatrist as soon as possible for evaluation,” she said.

One of the great myths of self-compassion is that it’s about lying to yourself. Or, it’s about being weak or being lazy. Another myth is that it’s about pushing aside your difficult thoughts and saying, “Now I’m going to tell myself five positive things.”https://t.co/u9Agr41lZT— The LightHouse (@LightHouseDXB) September 5, 2020

Dr Mahmoud has also added some steps to help alleviate the situation.

• Mental health and reassurance are the main factors. Stop predicting and stop expecting. Expectations can bring a lot of stress and anxiety, especially if they are bad expectations. Trapping your mind in it will end up in you being stuck in a vicious circle of anxiety disorders. Expectation brings anxiety and anxiety bring more bad expectations.
• Acceptance is the rule. It is the first step to change. Acceptance hinders all the anxiety and worry, so your actions and thoughts are guided by intellect and not by emotions. This will provide stability to your life and actions.
• Stay positive. Tell yourself that worry is unnecessary, unwanted feelings. Remind yourself that it will add more stress, more pressure and make my thoughts unclear. Understand that worrying won’t solve any problems, and that mindfulness and calmness will help.
• Don’t think of the problem before it comes. Enjoy life, and think through the problems if and when they come.
• Give Covid-19 its true meaning. A virus means self-limited, it dies after two weeks. With good immunity and following PPE rules, you will be safe. And if you got infected, it means you become immune. Positive thinking elevates immunity.
• Always divide your obligations and duties into small steps. Don’t think of them as a whole. In your notes on the mobile or organizer, distribute these small steps over a few days. Every night, remind yourself of the main goal and the small steps assigned for the next day. With small achievements, you will feel consistent and confident and it makes achieving the main goal easier.
• Always remember life is journey. The main aim is to be happy. Every struggle is a problem, and every problem has a solution. The first step to solve it is acceptance.

“Those are all huge triggers for all of us, whether you have a mental health concern, mental illness, or not.”https://t.co/a5WYhawwEV#TheLightHouse #lighthousearabia #TLH #psychologydubai #mentalhealth #dubai— The LightHouse (@LightHouseDXB) September 7, 2020