Mental Health in Quarantine: How to Look After Yourself and Your Loved Ones
/by Denis Curnow
Many members of the OTG community may be concerned about the mental health of themselves or their love ones in the midst of the COVID-19 quarantine period. As part of the OTGA's ongoing commitment to men's health, and mental health in general, the following information and advice has been compiled, and may be helpful to some.
According to a review conducted by the Department of Psychological Medicine at King's College London, extended periods of quarantine are directly linked to poorer mental health. "The effect of being quarantine was a predictor of post-traumatic stress symptoms… even 3 years later," the review reads.
“Having a working mobile phone is now a necessity, not a luxury.”
"It really is the psycho-social stuff that's likely to impact people, and I think that's true for anyone who is more susceptible or has existing mental health conditions" says Rev'd Matt Campbell, Senior Chaplain and Director of Wellbeing at Trinity Grammar School. "The normal social connections they would use and reach out to as part of their wellbeing and care for themselves will just look different, so being proactive, particularly around connectedness, is just so, so important."
The review agrees. "Having a working mobile phone is now a necessity, not a luxury," it advises. "Activating your social network, albeit remotely, is not just a key priority, but an inability to do so is associated not just with immediate anxiety, but longer-term distress."
Many people may be concerned about their loved ones and how they are coping with this period, and the best remedy for those concerns is connectedness. "It's about checking in, first and foremost," says Rev’d Campbell. "Not assuming that they're going to be getting calls or emails or invitations to a Zoom chat from other people."
"But in some cases, it's about letting them know about supports that are out there beyond the supportive conversations you're having with them," reminds Rev’d Campbell. "Beyond Blue and Lifeline and others have done some fantastic work in setting up some COVID-19 specific services."
Furthermore, the sudden loss of routine that comes with a major disruption of work, school and social life can cause "boredom, frustration and a sense of isolation from the rest of the world, which was distressing to participants," according to the review. Rev’d Campbell agrees, and advises that creating new routines may be helpful too. "Routine, and having some things in the day to look forward to or take part in are just really important," he says. "We've made a deal - we've got a regular Sunday dinner with my folks and good friends we connect with on a Wednesday for a board game. It’s a bit contrived when you start to do it, but then you just kind of start eating, and you fall into that pattern of banter and laughter."
Maintaining some sort of routine is not just important for mental health during this period, but also after it. Many participants in the reviewed studies "described long-term behavioural changes after the quarantine period," meaning that "for some, the return to normality was delayed by many months." According to Rev’d Campbell, this only emphasises the need for maintaining routine. "Having some routine in your day is important now - it will make that transition easier," he says. "While we don't know when this will end, it's important to remember that it will."
Maintaining a routine will aid both during and after the quarantine period
Another crucial aspect of maintaining mental health is ensuring that clear, concise information is spread and limiting the spread of misinformation, according to the review, and Trinity has set up a publicly available COVID-19 Parent Hub to aid this. "One of the main sites on there in the Department of Health website which is updated when it needs to be," explains Rev’d Campbell. "It has good quality information, as well as some other resources and articles we've collected which we think might be helpful to parents.
"A healthy media diet is a really important one," Rev’d Campbell advises. "Don't be consuming news and getting lost in a web of conspiracy theories. I think that sort of stuff is unhelpful."
Additionally, the language of the quarantine period is also an important factor, according to both Rev’d Campbell and the review. "When we say 'isolation', that can be harmful and create more feelings of aloneness for people. We've been talking about spatial distancing not social distancing," Rev’d Campbell explains. " On one level, you might just say, well that's just semantic, but semantics are important in situations like this."
Furthermore, reminding each other that quarantine is an altruistic act may be very helpful in shaping the way we feel about it, according to the review. "Reinforcing that quarantine is helping to keep others safe… and that health authorities are genuinely grateful to them, can only help to reduce the mental health effect… in those quarantined," the review reads.
As with any crisis, maintaining a sense of community may be the best thing we can all try to do. "We talk about being together, apart," says Rev’d Campbell. "A school's not a school when the people aren't together."
Keeping things in perspective is important
If anything discussed in the article has been distressing, support is available at https://www.beyondblue.org.au/get-support/national-help-lines-and-websites
