Staying at home is vital for the health of yourself and those around you — leaving the house for reasons besides grocery shopping, work, and the pharmacy is a big NO. In the United States alone, there are more than 700,000 cases of COVID-19 and it grows exponentially every day, so staying home is the best bet we have to fight against this threat. Although being home is protecting our physical health, what is it doing for our mental health?
The most I've been out of my house is to go grocery shopping and believe it or not, it's something I look forward to.
Being home all day, while boring, negatively impacts my mental health. The structure that I had in my life before all of this kept me sane and gave me a reason to get out of bed in the morning. Now when I wake up, there's nothing for me to look forward to. Every day is the same, so much so that my days are starting to blend together. There's really no reason for me to keep track of what day it is.
Yeah, being "bored" is the least of our problems while there is a deadly virus out there killing hundreds of people every day, but it's important to note how it's affecting everyone mentally.
I'm sad that I can't see my friends — the only reason I'm able to deal with school is by spending time with my friends. It's going to be hard trying to juggle my school work and my mental health without my support system. College is difficult, but it's more difficult to do it without those closest to you.
Since I have more time to scroll through social media, Twitter specifically, I've noticed the constant fear expressed by others. Fear that this will never get better, fear that we will be forced to stay home longer than we can handle. For the past two weeks, Twitter has been the hotspot for anxiety-fueled tweets, and honestly, it's kind of comforting to me knowing many others are feeling the same way as me. But, it's scary to see how sad people are and the way that it is draining them. I get worried about my friends and how they're dealing with this.
I want to help, but it's hard when I'm going through the same exact thing.
I want to look ahead to the positive days, to the day where we can finally go outside and see the people we love. Unfortunately, at the moment, I can't find it in myself to do that when all I hear about people dying every hour, it really takes something from you.
