Page 16 - MENTAL HEALTH: The Yorkshire Post Covid-19 2020 Help E-Mag

The White Rose Psychology Practice, Trauma and Rehabilitation Services
Dr Sue Baskind is the Director of The White Rose Psychology Practice and a Psychologist of over 30 years’ experience. Sue was born and educated in Yorkshire and the business still has its roots here, although its since grown to represent a nationwide network of over 100 practising psychologists, offering a range of clinical services to both businesses and individuals alike.
Sue talked about the advice that she and the other psychologists will be using themselves as they navigate the tough times ahead.
We’ve accepted that all of us are going to face challenges over the next few months. To avoid being overwhelmed by chronic stress, it will be important that we can keep a sense of control over some areas of our lives, especially when the safety and security of members of our family, friends and neighbours, or our income and future work may be uncertain.
Every day, the situation keeps changing and it’s hard not to feel caught in the storm. To get ourselves through, we should to see this as a marathon, not a sprint and take consistent small steps to stay on top of our mental health needs.
So, here are Sue’s 6 Top Tips:
1.Create Structure.
When you feel the ground shifting beneath
your feet it’s really important to find a
place of balance and stability, and create a sense of normality that will keep you focused and allow you to adapt to whatever the next day brings. Try structuring the day with regular meal, sleep and work times (which are often the first things to go out of the window). Maintaining a regular routine will help you and your family sustain a positive rhythm of life, especially over a prolonged period.
2.Do Do Do.
Focus on your needs and carve out part
of your routine to fit in time for a bout of
daily exercise and cooking some healthy meals. Both of these are great mindful activities and there will never be a better time to dust off that pasta maker. Factor in some self-care too. Listen, you can leave
War and Peace on the shelf and relax your
great expectations with a Netflix session,
drawing, crosswords or a hot bath. These are all perfectly acceptable ways to pass the time. Of course, it’s fantastic if you do want to master a skill or try a new hobby, power to you too! I recommend trying to create a list of ten low or no cost activities that will distract you from worry thoughts and you can do on your own. If you’re not sure about an activity, use the following mantra to help you decide:
Is there any reason I shouldn’t do this? Will it harm myself or others?
If the answer to both is no, go ahead! 3.Think Big, Work Small.
If you set yourself a big job like tidying the house, it might help to chunk this down into bitesize tasks of 30-60 minutes each so you don’t become overwhelmed. After this, do something else and come back to it later or the next day. Time is on your side at the moment and this will help you feel in control. You will be amazed at what you can achieve over the space of a week or two and you’ll hardly notice the effort.
4.Empower Yourself.
If you do ever start to feel completely overwhelmed or vulnerable and it’s hard to think what to do next (and we are all likely to feel this way at some point over
the next few months), list all the jobs you think need doing in alphabetical order. Start to tackle the first item on the list, again, chunk it if needs be. The important thing here is to do something that will start to make you feel in control again.
5.Stop the Press!
There’s an awful lot of distressing news at the moment and it’s hard to get away from it, but constant fixation will only serve to up your stress levels. Try to unplug and assign a set time in your schedule to catch up with the headlines.
6.Pause For Thought.
At the end of each day, take ten minutes
or so to reflect on how you’ve felt and
what you’ve accomplished. Don’t dwell on mistakes or ill feeling and think about what you want to accomplish tomorrow and how you can make your day work for you.
If you would like more advice and support then please contact using the following options:
Website: www.whiterosepsychologypractice.com
Email:enquiries@ yorkshirepsychologypractice.co.uk