Maintaining our Mental Health during a Global Pandemic there are worrying signs of growing anxiety as people around the world adjust to a new way of living so how can we deal with this and what are the long term effects this is inside story. Hello and welcome to the program im a homage enjoy him our world is experiencing an Extraordinary Health emergency hundreds of millions of people have been told to stay home and limit their contact with others the coronavirus pandemic has killed nearly 11000 people and cases continue to rise and the situation is creating panic and anxiety for some Health Experts are now warning are Mental Health is at stake nearly 264000000 people suffer from some sort of anxiety disorder and the Global Health crisis is leading to a loss of sleep concentration and stress for many doctors say theyre treating patients whove been affected by the constant bombardment of information about the virus and the uncertainty it brings so how do you protect your Mental Health while in self isolation and what measures can be taken to lessen its impact well bring you our guests in a moment but 1st this report from Priyanka Gupta the. Board do you like to be cool inspiring. And Creative Life and deploying for some its not often you. Recent history that hundreds of millions around the world have shared a common experience so unique and unprecedented. Some have been living under lockdown for days others for weeks and some for months trapped inside their homes doctors say that could lead to stress and anxiety. The big surprise i can give here is just to kind of plan something in your life that you might focus on and so i was there when i was out in trying to do some shopping i saw a lot of people rushing to libya i was store struck Hardware Stores sort of gardening and i think thats a very good idea to kind of said ok i get a sense of control great sense of achievement back into your life in china where tens of millions have been under lockdown for weeks on gym classes and physical exercises are some of the ways people have tried to cope and keep themselves fit and. Maintain your battle our are active have things to do at home maintain your social contacts. Short route have it all. And important to stay in touch with your friends and averaging that time things especially hard for patients at hospitals and their family members who are barred from visiting them in italy where many are dying without their families by their side this frontline doctor is helping his patients connect virtually. Initially i thought this would have worried them to see me in a state that would emotionally drain them it turned out to be the exact opposite we participated all together in something miraculous. In this hospital in south korea doctors are using art and bedside concerts to video call to help patients deal with extreme loneliness in our hospital. We. Come from 19 patients and they. Are all stress. Big. The psychological problems so we tried to provide a lot of the psychological cause with a pandemic thats cut off nations separated friends families and me posts from each other has also brought the feeling that we are all in this together Priyanka Gupta for inside story. All right lets bring in our guests all of them are joining us from the u. K. Today in london we have andreas compass a social psychologist and neuroscientist at the university of london in oxford we have yarn emanuel the nerve director of the wellbeing Research Center at the university of oxford and in leeds amir khan a doctor with the u. K. S National Health Service welcome to you andreas let me start with you there is such a collective sense of anxiety and panic right now what are the main steps people can take to reduce that. Well i think thanks for having me 1st of all i think that in genoa weve should expect people to have you know anxious a little bit uncertain to subvert the whole situation to situation a severe and this is a serious and cherish and so its very perfectly fine to feel a bit of anxiety and a feeling of the uncertainty and most of us will kind of the same design it will go away just as you get used to the new situations to said we see that we will be ok and anxiety goes down but for some of us i think we have to kind of believe that we can try to control this anxiety but excessively burning about it consuming more and more information and that might actually feed into the uns id so i think if you kind of feel that oh ive really need to catch up on the internet and catch up on and used to get this one more piece of information or to get our anxiety down thats a really good sign that you should step away and maybe have 2 or 3 hours of news free time yeah you might as well i want to i want to expand on the point that andreas was making because there is a lot of guidance out there saying that we should all stay aware of what is going on but then there is also guidance that says we should step back we should disconnect we should try to distract ourselves how do you try to strike that balance. Well thank you and let me start right away by saying that this notion of social distancing seems like it is a wrong label for so many reasons for any Behavioral Scientist or somebodys working or well being it couldnt be a poor choice of words because what we should be doing is physically this things and this than seeing ourselves well staying socially connected and so if i counted on your program make a proposal to color of change social distancing into this socializing i think that would go a long way in making sense for people about what this is all about weiqi to keep or physical distance but we need to say socially connected and one way of doing that of course is by maintaining keeping keeping people in their jobs and even if meetings now mostly take place over zoomer start or other virtual ways these are the ways that we need to stay connected to people even if we cant be physically close to one another ameri if were talking about trying to stay connected with our loved ones even though we are self distancing or we are being isolated how do you look for signs of distress when it comes to your loved ones people that you want to help what should you be on the lookout for. Well i think the your expensive been right you know were going to be very careful with that choice of words but also when consuming information its really important to take breaks from that so have set times where youre looking at the news and then times where you doing something thats completely relate to the crowd of ours the kind of things im doing with my family and i would encourage others to do the checking in on a daily basis so by phone and i think your messaging if if they are becoming very anxious if theyre losing sleep their appetite is going down and theyre not doing some of the things that they used to enjoy perhaps with a kind of the physical distance think so they could go into things like the garden outdoor space is not enjoying doing those kind of things anymore because the anxieties taking over everything those are the kind of signs that they should be looking out for d and im getting lots of calls from my patients with those kind of symptoms andreas you know parents are so worried about about what to tell their children right now how to make sure theyre ok what can parents do to to help their children find positive ways to express their fears or express their emotions in this time. Maybe the most important thing is to acknowledge the few to not say when your kid comes to you and says theyre oh my god im anxious were going to have will be ok today oh yeah well be fine dont worry about it but be there with their anxiety kind of acknowledge it talk about what frightens them what situations what pitchers to have in their mind and by acknowledging your anxiety off of used in exile you already in other ways i think then if that doesnt how i think is to find kind of little projects in their life in their lives id hope maybe right now of my 2 concern how can you give them the art project can you give them some project where did i have over regain a feeling of control because i think a lot of anxiety is triggered but if we are in a uncertain situation and we dont really know how much control or how we can get control over it so acknowledge the anxiety and then give them something to give them some feeling of control and my recruiter. I saw you nodding so i want to get your take on that as well but before i do i also want to ask you specifically about the elderly were talking about vulnerable population those who are aged in society they have faced loneliness and solitude and destitution far longer than just before now what can be do to help what can be done to help the elderly in a time like this. Well its a good point youre making and interestingly in the United Kingdom where we all 3 of us are a year or 2 ago it minister for loneliness or was to address loneliness was actually set up so that the partner was set up to deal with this issue and it couldnt be more christian if you will because now we will have many more people with that problem potentially of social isolation and as a result loneliness and need to say it was already most important or most pressing amongst elderly and so my sense here is what we can do is we need to be able to activate the Community Ties that are here and with us now so i think the ministry to address looniness was mostly focused through n. H. S. And Mental Health and social workers i think what we need now is everywhere in every country is the social capital to reveal itself if you will activate social networks i live in a small village just outside of oxford and just been and an outpouring of support for the elderly in our community and just beautiful to see in fact is more volunteers that people needing help at this point and its just wonderful to see and in fact from a well being Research Perspective thats probably what were going to be finding as we go through this crisis i think well see those communities as strong ties trust the social capital to begin with are the ones that will come out stronger sore at least will mitigate the health and Economic Impact bests i mean what about those who are struggling with depression and what tips can you give them to get through this time. Ace a really difficult time now. Be fielding calls and see gracious with depression and anxiety all sense of compulsive disorder is another will not often gets left out alongside depression and anxiety so what im saying to that means we may well need to adjust their medication because it is unprecedented times and i am doing that however the kind of things that they can do for themselves weve painted already at the loss of control of the young node and exotic is rooted in so if they can try and get some kind of structure to they did and they may be off work maybe having to do with the usual for them trying to wake up at the same time every day have you break this try and do some form of work in the daytime sit neat going outside help as a lot of research crew being outdoors with nature in green spaces is really beneficial to your Mental Health so if youve got the motivation to do the garden open spaces are still saving a lot of countries provided you stay to meet is a part from from of the people and if there are things that you still enjoy doing indoors then simply a fun time for them in your day job spend all day scrolling through social media what you need that will only feed into your anxiety and depression but if your previous struggling sleep is affected your appetite is affected and you having thoughts about perhaps harming yourself which is the reality depression you screechy util amir because you brought up a point that i was going to get to in just a bit i want to follow specifically with you that is about obsessive compulsive disorder and the reason i want to talk about this is because we are living in a time right now when people are being told repeatedly that they should wash their hands throughout the day you have people who have obsessive compulsive disorder there are repetitive behaviors symptoms and right now im reading that they can be triggered by all of this that because they are getting this mess is constantly that they need to be washing their hands. That this could basically make them spiral so could you address that how do people with obsessive compulsive disorder cope in such a time when they are getting theyre getting bombarded with this message has a very difficult time for those with obsessive compulsive disorder no matter how miles since its usually are often people with this condition its rooted in cleanliness and hygiene and keeping things usually clean and obsessively clean and and going back to things over and over again so when nato now when theyve you know over time they may well have been able to manage their symptoms in their own ways now theyre being told to wash their hands every 2 hours and clean surfaces every so often it is really hot and i can simply trigger them off a spiral and i would suggest what i am suggesting to you to my patients with this condition really is stick to the timings with washing your hands and cleaning so if you need to set an alarm then do that because otherwise you worry that you may well miss joe great in between the time because all thats going to do you may feel that youre protected but actually your Mental Health will release of us so youve got to get a structure and set im placing the base in between do you still under this ice i saw you nodding along a lot toward amir was saying so i wanted to ask you if you want to jump in. Well i think as everything and i try to great friend and south thing one thing that im what i think would be important to massage is that those people who have no clinical levels of depression arms id so maybe decision action of being physically distant and having to stop working when it should be a big problem for them i think we kind of underestimate how much motivation and meaning and what a source of identity work for falls off this you might think ok im a teacher im content anymore so isnt that great im off from work but you will soon realize oh my that you will lack motivation and the source of your and energy and your well being that it is time to related to your work its kind of gone so i think there is not just a people obviously we have to worry about and 1st people who have already clinical levels of depression but i think losing your work and being at home being physically distant from others really removes a lot of the sources of all wellbeing and happiness and i think we have to be mindful of that too and i think its people should expect to feel a little bit low when theyre off work and at home and lack of a bit of energy and i think youre very very good to find ways to kind of have a little project cost or little ways to achieve something through out today in order to regain this kind of positive effect that we get no money from our work yet emmanuelle what about the idea of social stigma im talking about those in the population who are at greater risk of getting the disease or those who have recovered from it are they going to be facing are they going to be more stigmatized now because of covert 19. Im afraid im not much of an expert on how the virus is either dead or high if once people are cleared by the hospital but my sense is once you are in fact that and come through it youre probably resisted and so in fact you become part of her immunity notion and may actually be somewhat helpful in the long run to a Larger Population i mean certainly let me just interject there certainly that hasnt been like in fact forced points that were made just before let me just want to interject i was just going to say that certainly that hasnt been proven yet the please go ahead and make your point yes thank you its as weve as we know from our own research it and my colleagues mean peoples jobs are much more than just a paycheck hof potential drop in life this action from being made redundant would come through losing identity losing a structure throughout the day and especially and most importantly losing a part of your social connections that you have through your jobs and so hence the need to reduce things i did today with major Major Economic stimulus programs and here i think the Behavioral Scientists or the scientists studying what we can be helpful on that front to the chancellor for example or to central bankers because when we see the difference in out the u. S. Is dealing with this economically were the u. K. And the danes its a world apart so yesterday yesterday evening the chancellor of this checker here in the United Kingdom has announced a major unprecedented with each percent of salaries being covered throughout this period for people who would otherwise probably been made redundant that is the kind of stimuli that we need unlike the us one where its essentially helicopter money which may be necessary but well only deal with replacing whats think of not maintaining wellbeing through identity and social networks by keeping people in their jobs i mean what about at the Mental Health hospital workers and medics i mean those who are on the front. Line of this fight what convey do and what can be done to help them get through this fencing i will say that a lot of Health Workers are very resilient and all the from. Insinuations every single day this week along with my colleagues and one of the things that gets us through is our colleagues you know where we even through the darkest of times we got a sense of humor and we can talk to each other about it and i think thats really really important that theyre often with Health Workers on the front line nobody else really understands what its like to go through it like they do and see the things that they do and have the conversations with with patients who may well be dying like they do so youve got to talk to your colleagues if you see signs of if you call the extra lane and to try and give them a break and put someone else in their place for a short period of time i think we all need breaks. From from the Front Line Work and we shouldnt feel guilty about taking a break from the front line because it is mentally and physically exhausting and where were not only are we seeing all these patients and dealing with the emotions were also digesting all the information that comes every single minute of every day im getting emails about and changing our practice but you know the theyre the surgery i ran yesterday is completely different to the cigarette around the week before because of all these changes that have come so every single day where changing and where adapting and learning but the best thing i would say to your colleagues and im really dont isolate yourself if you are a Front Line Work where were all in it together and and we have had huge support from the Wider Community as well and we have very grateful for andreas for Mental Health care professionals such as yourself i mean how can you provide the kind of care patients need but also observe social distancing. Im not a Mental Health professional im a researcher next to university i thought i was response or joke or i just want to jump on one thing which im here said and i think we kind of think if people there are people who are still working and there are people who are kind of maintaining some more of their identity in social networks but there are others like myself for instance who are going over working at home and many many of us will kind of experience that if you have to chance to work at home and i think one saying that we should not underestimate is that social connections for differently in times of crisis or in times of isolation and they work at all alive because youre now at home and when do you know only speak to your mother when to you know really speak to your friends you speak to with them what you have to Say Something important to say to them lets say you are in a week at your whole nothing really interesting happening and you hate some fame you watch a little t. V. You work for them and you played with the children so you might feel well should i call somebody show thats how do i have nothing and weve pretty honest made how does monday night social interactions positively impact of being see should give yourself the permission to have a boring time a phone call to tell somebody something rather relatively monday and something that might not be newsworthy in times of numpad dominics but right now is because that will be a source and its a center thank you mario said that if youre working and trying to be connected to your colleagues if youre working at home its also important to have to kind of monday next changes its not just work and its not just crisis and not just well being but just kind of like what did you have for dinner oh hours spent how your kids were playing in cetera just simple things i think thats really really important to maintain a sense of wellbeing and yana manual we only have about a couple minutes left so let me just ask you how are you seeing communities come together to try to help right now. Well all virtually and online or at local pubs who have to be closer restaurants closed last night and so now youre seeing them reaching out to their local communities for takeout and delivery and so i think theres a number of creative ways that communities whether its restaurants or pubs were local communities and villages and also work places are coming together to try and reach out to one another one thing about these Virtual Meetings is that they can have pretty much the same benefits as physical face to face meetings provided that you always know these people from before so meeting new people online or virtually may not have the same in fact as meeting somebody they still face but once you have good established good relationships with people face to face through work or your local community or your pub or your local restaurant then these can be taken only line and preacher pretty much the same sort of benefits a mere we just have a minute left so let me just ask you theres a lot of good information out there but theres also a lot of misinformation what are some of the tips that you heard being propagated out there that are totally false. That Drinking Water will stop the crude a virus if you take a deep breath you chest and youve lost half of your lung function also its a big this too but might protect you get sick rotavirus stop honey and lee wrote it protects you all right weve weve run out of time so were going to have to leave it there thanks to all our guests Andreas Capas yon emmanuelle didnt have and amir khan. And thank you too for watching you can see the program again any time by visiting our website aljazeera dot com and for further discussion go to our Facebook Page thats facebook dot com forward slash a. J. Inside story you can also join the conversation on twitter our handle is at a. J. Inside story for me and how much im joined in the whole team here by for now. 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