Majority of us suffered various psychosocial problems such as the stigma and anxiety associated with the COVID 19 lockdown. This resulted to drastic changes in our day-to-day lives and an unintended negative outcomes. However, we can turn this crisis into an opportunity. How?
First, the COVID-19 lockdown is an opportunity to strengthen family bonds. Since everybody stays at home, every family member can engage in more creative activities such as baking, cooking, gardening and drawing. Parents find time to play with the children and engage in daily activities which strengthens the family relationship.
Second, the lockdown provided people with more free time which in turn can be used creatively for self-care, and acquiring new hobbies or skills. Not knowing how to utilize the time effectively can lead to overthinking, ruminating and losing hope. So, individuals can balance their time for sleep, exercise, leisure, online socializing and relaxation.
Third, the confinement is a good time to revitalize your passion and learn new skills. We can educate ourselves on how to manage anxiety and stigma because the fear of contracting the pandemic could be more destructive than the virus itself. Therefore, we should be aware about different stress reactions.
Fourth, the lockdown is a chance to live a healthy life. We can shift from our lifestyle to a healthy one. For example, we can plant vegetables in our vacant space at home. By doing this we can eat fresh fruits and vegetables instead of processed foods because we cannot get out of our house. So, it is time to divert our energy into something helpful not only to our health but also to our overall psycho-social well-being.
Fifth, the lockdown is a great time to read and write since knowledge is power. Read at least 30 minutes a day. Even in such a small time, you can already acquire many things that can help you with your boredom. Like my kids, they really allocate time for reading and writing journals out of their experience during the confinement.
Lastly, this difficult time is a chance to become resilient. We've been through a lot. It started from the strong earthquakes that devastated our residents and livelihoods to African swine fever (ASF). It is then followed by this pandemic virus, landslides, heavy rainfalls, and once again, earthquake. Just early this morning, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit Kiblawan, Davao del Sur. We are not yet through with the Pandemic COVID 19, the earthquake is back to scare the hell out of us!
These natural hazards become our new normal. Thus, we need to learn how to quickly recover from our difficult situations; if not, our vulnerability will kill us.