The Impact of Quarantine on Depression and Anxiety
The lockdown enforced due to COVID-19 has had a psychological impact on many people around the world. Thus, quarantine at home may play a significant role in combating the transmission of infectious diseases but it doesn’t mean it’s easy to cope with the disturbance of your regular routine.
Depression during lockdown
Caring for your mental wellbeing is important, even though your quarantine period is fairly limited in the grand scheme of things. Quarantine is possibly a cause of tension due to worries of illness and lengthy confinement, anger, fatigue, shortage of knowledge and resources, financial loss, and stigma. However, evidence has shown that much of the harmful consequences of quarantine can be mitigated.
How Quarantine Effects Depression and Anxiety
Quarantine is usually a traumatic process for those who are experiencing it. In addition, isolation from loved ones, lack of independence, confusion regarding the state of the disorder, and fatigue may also have negative consequences. Thus, suicide and extreme frustration are frequent side effects of quarantine depression. As a result, depression during lockdown is bound to increase.
The possible advantages of mandatory widespread quarantine must be closely balanced against probable negative consequences. So, successful usage of quarantine as a tool of public safety allows one to reduce, as much as possible, the adverse consequences correlated with it. There is clear proof that a loss of interaction with family and friends is correlated with a rise in anxiety.
Financial Concerns
Another important cause of distress centers around money, for many expected work cuts or, for self-employed individuals, a total income collapse. Therefore, economic deprivation causes long-lasting socio-economic instability which has been reported as a contributing factor for signs of psychiatric illness. Also, frustration which agitation many months after the quarantine duration in recent epidemic outbreak studies.
How to Cope with Depression and Anxiety in Quarantine
The very first thing is to restrict the amount of media coverage, as updates to coronavirus can lead to restlessness. It is important to stay informed but don’t let the information overwhelm you.
Stay remotely in touch with family and friends via technological devices. Social connections and experiences are closely related to emotional wellbeing and behavior. Video calling a friend or family member can refresh one’s mood as well.
Exercise and sun
Let your skin get some sunlight while walking or just soaking up in the sun outdoors. It can boost the amount of serotonin, which helps to uplift your mood and calm you down.
Keep your body moving with exercises at home. The workout is a normal tension relief and mood enhancer. Trying these methods will decrease depression and anxiety during a lockdown.
Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation (TMS) treatment
You can also pursue Transcranial Magnetic Stimulation, or TMS, which is an FDA-approved, non-invasive therapy for severe depression utilizing magnetic stimuli aimed at a particular position in the brain.
Patients of TMS experience satisfaction from stimulatory stimuli as regions of the brain that are underactive in stress and anxiety are taken back to regular levels of reactivity as demonstrated on functional imaging.
The insightful message for those trying to cope with crippling anxiety and anxiety depression is that there are different ways you can get through this difficult time. Furthermore, state-of-the-art TMS technology is also available to support your mental health.
