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Tips on How to Isolate Well
Townhall.com ^ | March 28, 2020 | Daniel Buck

Posted on 03/28/2020 6:37:28 AM PDT by Kaslin

The summer break after my first year teaching was a catastrophe. Going in, I had grand plans for sketching out my units, reading books, writing articles, exercising, completing house projects, and the like. Four weeks later, I had regular panic attacks and debilitating levels of anxiety. Speaking with friends and reading the Tweets of strangers during quarantine, it seems that many can relate to my difficulties.

With the word ‘pandemic’ atop our newsfeeds, it’s understandable that many people have high levels of anxiety right now. Whereas human contact normally brings comfort, amidst this crisis every individual is a potential invisible host. Study after study links economic recession with declining mental health. Add to that financial strain, childcare, and job loss, and we’re left with a volatile mixture ready for a mental health disaster. 

There’s an element to this crisis that remains overlooked, however. Philosopher and early psychological theorist Soren Kierkegaard writes about how any individual “may try to keep himself in the dark about his state through diversions,… work, and busyness.” In other words, we all have a background level of anxiety that we cope with through our daily lives without even thinking about it. Left with nothing to do or think about, that anxiety floods our brains and leaves us overwhelmed.

Whatever the source of our anxiety during this time, there are a few steps I’ve learned to help me through every summer of self-imposed isolation. Obviously, these won’t help with financial strain or the fear of a pandemic but they’re a few things we each can do to help make a quarantine a personal opportunity.

1) Have a Daily Schedule

Our mental health depends upon routine. Winston Churchill’s routine involved working in bed until 11 am, working through the late morning with a whiskey and a soda, and a nap in the afternoon; Barack Obama’s routine consisted almost entirely of work but he ensured that he ate dinner with his family. Routine naturally establishes in our lives; during this time of quarantine that can include hours of binge-watching Netflix or set times for work, hobbies, exercise, and the like. Establishing a routine not only provides your thoughts somewhere to go other than anxious ruts but encourages productive behavior at a time that calls for apathy.

2) Set Small Goals

Before my first summer break, I planned to read the entirety of Augustine small-print, 1,300-paged tome The City of God and finish writing a small novella. Needless to say, these were unrealistic goals for 12-weeks and gave me little direction on a day-to-day basis. Instead, I’ve learned, within a routine, to set small goals for a day: write one poem or article, read 50 pages of a book, complete a portion of a house project, or something like it.

3) Get Out of the House

Our psyche craves human interaction. We need both strong relationships with those we love but studies also point to our need for weak-tie relationships, those passing interactions with store clerks and baristas. Unfortunately, quarantine makes it difficult to get our social needs filled. However, media like Facetime or Google Hangouts have made it easier than ever to connect with friends, and a walk down the street to wave at your neighbor—from a safe distance of course—can do wonders to perk up a sullen mood.

4) Wake Up and Dress Up

Doing something as simple as forcing a smile can improve one’s mood; our exterior presentation affects our interior state. For me, waking up at my normal time for work during the school and getting dressed helps to break off any lethargic habits. Surely, I leave time for a semi-conscious coffee to wake up but changing into regular clothes by 7 am keeps me from falling down a rabbit hole of social media to instead focus my energies into writing or running my online classroom.

5) Take Time to Relax

Perhaps this point was one of my greatest stressors during my first summer off. Spending all of my time at home, I didn’t feel entitled to relax. How could I watch a show when my wife was busy at the hospital? However, working from home can be just as stressful as a typical office job. To make matters worse, a home office removes the work-life balance that a commute to work can help foster—your living room is your workspace. Demarcating a time to do no more work can do wonders for mental health. 

6) Keep a Journal

As Kierkegaard warns, removing ourselves from our busyness can flood our minds with emotions. Whereas we might normally cope with guilt by talking to a coworker or a stressful day by decompressing at lunch on YouTube, at home we’re left to our thoughts. Especially during this stressful time, feelings of fear, guilt, confusion, sadness, anger, and the like can quickly overwhelm us. Taking time to sit and journal allows one to process through each emotion individually in place of suffering through a collective onslaught.

7) Find a Hobby

On a normal day, my hobbies are reading and writing, but I quickly found that one’s brain can only pursue those hobbies for so long before it turns to mush. Instead, I borrowed a circular saw from a friend, bought some wood from a local hardware store, and built a bookshelf; I had a new hobby. As I’ve written about elsewhere, hobbyism is a healthy pursuit in an era when most leisure time is spent either online or watching TV.

8) Seek Professional Assistance

As a final point, routines and tips from an online writer can only do so much to help. Counseling can be one of the more helpful methods for dealing with anxiety and depression. During my first summer off, I always knew that counseling was helpful but it took a fair amount of strong-arming from loved ones before I finally went. It doesn’t make you weak but rather wise in choosing to process your difficulties in a healthy way. While many nonessential services have shut down, many counselors are maintaining a schedule through online service and video apps.

No one is sure how long this quarantine will last. Some medical experts warned of up to 18-months of social distancing while President Trump said he wants the country “opened up and raring to go by Easter.” Regardless of which prediction is correct, the reality is that this isolation will eventually end and following these steps will help us all to make it a time of productivity instead of a wasted few weeks.



TOPICS: Culture/Society; Editorial; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: coronavirus; mentalhealth; nutburger; quarantine
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1 posted on 03/28/2020 6:37:28 AM PDT by Kaslin
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To: Kaslin
10. Avoid all eye contact.

11. Don't fall asleep with the TV on

2 posted on 03/28/2020 6:40:21 AM PDT by billorites (freepo ergo sum)
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To: Kaslin

Solitary confinement is starting to look good.


3 posted on 03/28/2020 6:40:43 AM PDT by period end of story (Give me a firm spot, and I will move the world.)
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To: Kaslin

Restricting the movement of sick people is called quarantine.
Restricting the movement of healthy people is called tyranny.


4 posted on 03/28/2020 6:42:53 AM PDT by Edward Teach
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To: Kaslin

This is getting to be very cult like.


5 posted on 03/28/2020 6:44:52 AM PDT by dljordan
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To: Kaslin

Aw, hell, why not just treat it like a long holiday weekend with nothing to do except catch up on sleep and binge watch TV?


6 posted on 03/28/2020 6:52:25 AM PDT by Rockingham
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To: dljordan

I cut my fingernails and shaved this morning!!

Amazing how a lousy handful of hair can cause that much irritation.

I look like a (overweight) mad scientist because I needed a haircut Badly Before the quarantine.

but at least I’m a clean shaven one now :)

Oh, and that pound and a half of salami that was supposed to last for a week...er...um...back to shoprite!


7 posted on 03/28/2020 6:54:13 AM PDT by dp0622 (Radicals, racists dont point fingers at me I'm a small town white boy Just tryin to make ends meet)
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To: Kaslin

There was a time when people didn’t need to be told such common-sense things as this.


8 posted on 03/28/2020 6:54:33 AM PDT by Cedar
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To: Kaslin

Practice yelling “Get off my lawn!”


9 posted on 03/28/2020 6:57:24 AM PDT by 2banana (My common ground with islamic terrorists - they want to die for allah and we want to kill them.)
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To: Kaslin

What we need are tips on how to convince our lawmakers to end this hysteria, not tips on how to get the best out of our house arrest.


10 posted on 03/28/2020 6:59:12 AM PDT by Socon-Econ (adical Islam,)
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To: Kaslin
And FR is to take advice from a man who admits to panic attacks, recommends counseling, and speaks admiringly of Barack Obama? :)

I think most conservatives know how to handle being by ourselves - for we so often are.

11 posted on 03/28/2020 7:01:57 AM PDT by Mr. Jeeves ([CTRL]-[GALT]-[DELETE])
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To: Socon-Econ

Some of us haven’t altered our routines one bit, even if it means open defiance of any stupid government restrictions that are imposed on us.


12 posted on 03/28/2020 7:02:35 AM PDT by Alberta's Child (And somewhere in the darkness ... the gambler, he broke even.)
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To: Mr. Jeeves

“I think most conservatives know how to handle being by ourselves - for we so often are.”

Really. As we’re retired, social distancing is pretty much how we’ve lived our lives for the last 10 years. I do miss going to restaurants once in a while, though. May have to hit a drive-through one of these days.


13 posted on 03/28/2020 7:04:20 AM PDT by MayflowerMadam ( For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of love, and of a sound mind.)
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To: Kaslin
I was a self isolating semi-germaphobe before it was cool to be one. The difference was it was my own choice and not mandated by the government. Creepy, Calculating and Controlling: All the Ways Big Brother Is ... Excuse me! Where do you think you are going?
14 posted on 03/28/2020 7:05:25 AM PDT by Leep (Everyday is Trump Day!)
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To: Mr. Jeeves

Yes...When he got to Obama’s routine of all work...stopped reading


15 posted on 03/28/2020 7:05:34 AM PDT by goodnesswins (Trump is as good a dictator as he is a racist.....)
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To: Kaslin

Soon as they start with the anecdotal reverie, I say to myself - another lib. Sure enough, it took until the “Barack Obama was always working” fantasy, I hung up the phone.


16 posted on 03/28/2020 7:08:39 AM PDT by P.O.E. (Pray for America)
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To: Edward Teach
-- Restricting the movement of sick people is called quarantine. --

Technically, that is isolation.

Quarantine is restricting the movement of unknown. Happens all the time with produce, pets. Used to happen with people too. Immigrants, mostly.

What we're doing is mixing the leper colony with the healthy. The leprosy will spread, guaranteed.

17 posted on 03/28/2020 7:12:50 AM PDT by Cboldt
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To: Socon-Econ

There’s something to be said for accepting one’s circumstances. Do we have to fight against everything?


18 posted on 03/28/2020 7:16:35 AM PDT by microgeek42
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To: Kaslin

See my home page for many coronavirus related suggestions.

They include a low-carbohydrate diet and keeping one’s mouth clean when sick.

I’ve got sniffles again today - no sugar in my tea and my brownies are in my refrigerator.


19 posted on 03/28/2020 7:17:10 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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To: period end of story

I’ve told my 70-year old neighbors to stay home.

I estimate most new infections are coming from grocery shopping.


20 posted on 03/28/2020 7:20:05 AM PDT by Brian Griffin
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