The worldwide lockdowns occurring due to COVID-19 are creating unique and unprecedented challenges for people who now find themselves stuck at home and dealing with keeping their mental health in check. To cope with this new challenge of keeping sane while working from home, people are turning to methods of self-care. Watch the video below to see how college students are using these methods to make quarantine a little easier on their mental health. 

Many health and psychology experts are backing up the claims that distracting yourself can be an effective method of self-care during this pandemic. The World Health Organization suggests only seeking out updates on COVID-19 from credible sources once or twice a day to avoid becoming overly anxious. In addition to tuning out an abundance of news updates, experts are also recommending things like exercise, mindfulness, connecting virtually with friends and family and carving out time to rest to take care of ourselves.

During this extremely unprecedented time, nobody is quite sure how long things will continue like this or how sustainable these methods of self-care are. There’s also the issue of many states– including Georgia— beginning to reopen businesses on a timeline that many public health experts and other local politicians consider premature. According to the experts, these decisions could cause increased cases, which would mean increased amounts of time and more stressors for Georgians and others affected by similar orders to remain at home using methods of self-care to cope.

Until we have more concrete answers for the long-run, finding small joys and relaxation through self-care during our time at home can make this new normal a little more bearable.

Kala Horvat is a senior majoring in journalism in the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia.