Mental health has recently grown to become a topic which is discussed often, but seldom understood. Most of us have been going through similar waves of stress and anxiety caused by the pandemic.
While it hasn’t been easy for any of us to endure this by ourselves, the one thing that probably kept us going was the realisation of being in the same boat as all of our loved ones.
The pandemic has led to a growth in open discussions around mental health struggles, its causes and possible coping ways. These are some questions I want to ask you:
- Has the Covid-19 pandemic affected your mental health in a negative way?
- Has it induced a fear of the future in you?
- Are you grieving the person you could have been or the life you could have lived?
‘There Is Some Merit To Self-Diagnosis’
If you answer any of these questions with a “yes”, you might have also experienced some physical and/or psychological symptoms that the overthinking of these realisations might have led to.
If it’s been a while since you have been struggling with this, you might have noticed that eventually, you have developed a sort of awareness with regards to what you are experiencing, physically or mentally, and what the term for it is.
I, too, have been struggling with my mental health lately. Like most beginners, I started building on my awareness through Google, and Instagram therapy pages.
I listed down my symptoms, Googled the most common mental health problems individually, and ended up self-diagnosing what I was going through as anxiety.
Therapy Is Not Equally Accessible To All
I soon reached a point where I could not go through it alone any longer. I admitted I needed help by starting therapy. I did, however, wait a long time before exploring this option because therapy is expensive.
While I described my symptoms as anxiety, my therapist helped me realise that what I was going through was depression and altered her treatment plan to help me accordingly.
I acknowledge that I was privileged enough to be able to afford therapy, but not everyone can take up this option. This is why I decided to note down a few of my physical and emotional symptoms and the coping mechanisms I discovered along the way.
To be clear, I am not a professional and am sharing these from my own personal experience. These are temporary solutions that might or might not help you ground yourself for the time being.
If you do, however, find yourself struggling in the long run, I would strongly suggest visiting a therapist or a psychiatrist.
In case you cannot afford it, I will be attaching links to a few organisations that provide extremely affordable rates. You can get in touch with them and explain what you are facing.
What Are Some Grounding Techniques?
I am listing down a few approaches that you can use to distract yourself from what you are experiencing, and get your mind to focus on reality instead.
A few physical and emotional symptoms, and possible coping mechanisms:
- Shivers or restlessness:
Clenching something is helpful. Grab any object you find near, for instance, a pillow or the armrest of the chair you are sitting in. Hold on to it tightly while you try focusing on your immediate surroundings and calming yourself.
- Breathlessness:
Remind yourself that even when you are feeling breathless, your breathing does not stop. It takes time but you need to concentrate on your breathing pattern. This will help you calm yourself.
- Crying and/or overwhelming guilt:
One thing I have learnt is that whenever you feel like crying, don’t hold back. Cry! Let yourself get all the emotions out. Crying does make you feel better. Also, go check yourself out in the mirror later (yes, that’s mandatory! You will know why once you look at your glowing skin, haha).
- Agitation:
Listen to music, or recite something. I know this is one of the most overused pieces of advice given, but it does help.
I also do a few yoga poses to make myself feel better when I’m experiencing mood swings. These are mostly beginner poses and might work for you as well.
A few other grounding techniques you can use:
- Sucking on candy or mint when feeling nauseous.
- Holding a piece of ice, when at unease with one’s surrounding or experiencing rapid heart palpitations.
- You can also use your senses to list five things around you (things you can smell, see, touch, hear etc.) to help ground you.
- Visualise yourself leaving the negative thoughts behind. I close my eyes and visualize my negative thoughts in a computer folder. I leave these thoughts behind by deleting them from the computer. You can use your own scenario.
Here Are Some Mental Health Resources
- Counsellors, The Mind Clan.
- Counselling helpline, Parivarthan.
- Mental health helpline, Vandrevala Foundation.
- Counsellors under 600, The Zehak Project.
- Consult with psychiatrists, Tata Health.
- Yellow Club app.