Today’s COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic is projected to last through summer, leaving all of us to return home from school, take online classes, and quarantine to stop the spread of health problems and death.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) defines quarantine as separating and restricting the movement of people who have been exposed to a contagious disease to see if they then become ill. Quarantining becomes necessary because diseases can be contagious even if people do not yet have symptoms or never show symptoms. Quarantining, or social distancing helps to minimize the spread of the illness.
Committing to ongoing social isolation is strange, restless, and something we have never done before. Adapting to a new fulltime routine is stressful and can make you feel down or unlike yourself. Many are worried they have symptoms or will soon, and are tirelessly researching online convincing themselves they are next. But we all keep listening for COVID-19 updates and have hope that normalcy will soon return and uncertainty will disappear.
As we wait, we are prone to feel disconnected from our friends, classmates, and the outside world. We sit at home each day and can feel unproductive and want to escape our current reality. We feel as though we have no autonomy over the world’s current situation and feel alone.
However, it is important to remember a few key tricks. Having established routines focused on your priorities, such as Zoom class times, exercise, and calling friends, is important to consider each day productive. Staying on top of school work makes you feel less overwhelmed as we all approach finals. Exercise releases endorphins and makes us feel euphoric, making you feel motivated to develop an active routine. Calling friends and catching up on television shows can keep you entertained and happy as we all hope to return to see each other on a daily basis.
Other productive methods are to stay informed on the virus and seek therapy/self-help options. Staying informed on the virus, however, does not mean performing obsessive research until the early hours of the morning trying to configure the virus’s projection, but understanding where state and federal governments currently stand on the matter and having accurate expectations for its future projection and impacts. The policy will translate to reality, and people will change the operating hours of business, parks, and recreation centers. We will know when change is occurring, so we need not worry. Advancements in technology allow us in the modern-day to receive help by reaching out to psychiatrists and medically trained professionals online to have people to talk to during this unique time. Self-help options include doing virtual yoga, breathing exercises, consuming healthy foods, taking baths, picking up a new productive hobby, and getting adequate sleep to make us feel great and rested the next day.
We really have to try our best to flatten the curve, because although the younger generation is less likely to suffer dramatically from the virus, we have to not spread the virus to others less likely to have the immune system to recover. It is our responsibility as college students to flatten the curve and ensure survival for our loved ones and the common man. We each have a role in the global community. So although staying indoors seems exhausting and unhelpful, we can all feel better know we are sparing others from a deadly virus.