You may be feeling sad or disheartened after last night’s announcement from the Prime Minister, and perhaps you’re feeling stressed if the changes to the rules mean extra childcare responsibilities for you or disruption to your work or routine. Even if that’s not the case for you, everything may just feel a little overwhelming.
First, acknowledge that this is hard. If you’re struggling, it’s because it’s a very difficult situation for everyone – it is not any kind of personal failure or weakness and there is no right or wrong way to feel. There’s some info from national Mind about managing feelings around changes to lockdown on its website here: https://www.mind.org.uk/…/managing-feelings-about…/…
If it helps you to think of the positives, remember that it’s reported that more than 1 million people have now had their first dose of the vaccine, and it is estimated that the most vulnerable groups should have been vaccinated by mid-February. There is a solution in sight, and this won’t last forever.
All the usual advice about keeping well still applies – be kind to yourself, connect with others (texts, videocalls, phone calls, letter writing) stay active if you can, treat yourself to nutritious food where possible and be mindful of the amount and types of news and information you’re consuming.
Don’t worry if you can’t manage all of the ways to stay well in one day, or any of them at all – that may just be a sign that you need a little extra support. We are here – find out more about our services on our website https://www.leedsmind.org.uk/covid-19-services/, our phone number is 0113 305 5800, and our email address is info@leedsmind.org.uk.
If you’re not sure what sort of support you’d benefit from, give us a ring or drop us an email anyway – our reception team is excellent at signposting what might help.
