Quarantine Anxiety
- July 2020
- Hi Steph Simple Living
Hi Steph:
I hope this finds you happy and well during this time of uncertainty. My employer switched to 100% remote work four months ago in response to COVID-19 and things are remaining in this pattern until further notice. I am forever grateful to have full time employment during this chaotic time when so many others are struggling to provide for themselves, but I am struggling to navigate through the difficulty of staying in quarantine for so long (I also feel guilty because I feel like I’m whining.)My fiancé is considered essential personnel for his job, as well as “high risk” (he actually has one lung), so I really try not to go out and unnecessarily expose myself. As much as Facetime with family and close friends has helped, I just thought I’d be stronger than how I have been responding to this change. I’ve been staying active with at-home workouts, I belong to a virtual book club that meets once a week on Zoom, and I have a wonderful puppy – but I am still beginning to feel hopeless. I feel weak for not being able to get through this shift – I mean, the world is going through it with me!
My sleep has begun to suffer. I read once that you use CBD oil that does not contain THC to help maintain healthy sleep. Could write a little bit about your experiences with it and whether or not you still use it? I fully understand that nothing can replace going to bed at the right time though. Additionally, do you have any favorite books? I am always looking for great new reads!
Hope to hear from you and thanks for listening to all that I had to say,
Katelyn
Hi Katelyn,
Don’t feel bad for struggling to navigate this crazy time–I think everyone is working through their own special blend of anxiety, grief and frustration especially as this situation continues to go on and on with no end in sight. I think it’s perfectly rational to go through different emotional phases as these months drag by, and feeling hopeless at times is also entirely reasonable. I always try to remind myself how different things always look, when I look back even just a year. And how incredibly different things become in 5 years (remember 2015? When we had a president who could use complete sentences, and America wasn’t in shambles? A LOT can change in 5 years…lest this be a depressing thought, look at it this way: 2025 may be really fantastic!).
No matter what, at some point things are going to be different. That’s how life works. No one expects you to be overjoyed right now, so don’t put that kind of pressure on yourself either. Just keep going forward, that’s all we can do, and right now that’s all we need to do. Everything will come in its time.
And yes, anxiety, grief and reduced cardiovascular activity are all a recipe for bad sleep, which leads to more anxiety and more bad sleep and becomes a vicious circle. First of all, if there’s any way for you to go on a steep hike, a run or bike ride in the afternoon or evening, that is my absolute first suggestion for better sleep. Second, earplugs are key–even when I’m camping in the middle of nowhere I wear earplugs because wind, frogs. coyotes and crickets can be really noisy. If you’re in any sort of town or city, there’s an incredible amount of outside noise that can be really distracting at night. If you wake up in the middle of the night and have complete silence, it’s much easier to get back to sleep quickly and not get stuck in the habit of 2 am wake ups. I’m sure it goes without saying, but making sure you’re well hydrated and avoiding alcohol are really helpful too. For supplements, I’ve found magnesium powder and CBDs are both helpful, right before bed. I usually only use melatonin for jet lag, but it works really well for many people, and might be worth a try also. I’ve found that sleep is in some ways a habit, so if I find myself in a phase of waking up a lot and not being able to fall back to sleep, I try to resolve this habit as quickly as possible. Once I’m back in the habit of sleeping “normally”, I don’t need to take any sleep aids. But I always wear earplugs 🙂
And, here are a few books I just read and would recommend too:
The Biggest Bluff: How I Learned to Pay Attention, Master Myself, and Win
Adrift: Seventy Six Days Lost at Sea
The Book: On the Taboo Against Knowing Who You Are
Hang in there…!
Steph
