How to deal with Quarantine Fatigue

It's been six months since we've been placed under community quarantine, and if you're feeling tired, depleted, unmotivated and generally just meh with life, you're not alone.

What you're feeling is Quarantine Fatigue, and in a webinar on Wednesday hosted by Thomson Reuters, relationships and parenting consultant Maribel Dionisio and her husband clinical toxicologist Dr. Allan Dionisio said Quarantine Fatigue is but a natural consequence of the quarantine.

According to psychotherapist Jennifer Musselman, L.M.F.T. on Shape.com, it's "being absolutely done with the isolation, the lack of connection, lack of routine, and loss of the sense of freedom to go about life in some pre-quarantine way that feels unrestricted; it's being emotionally exhausted and depleted from experiencing the same day, every day."

The Dionisios said "We easily overlook quarantine fatigue because it cannot be distinguished from the usual ups and downs that we go through." 

Some of its symptoms include:

• physical fatigue, loss of energy
• irritability
• disturbed sleep
• eating too much or too little
• Anxiety
• Apathy, lethargy, lack of motivation
• Emotional lability
• Loneliness and disconnection
• Feelings of hopelessness
• Sadness and depression
• A persistent desire or actual attempts to be off quarantine

Quarantine Fatigue is not a medical diagnosis, Dionisio clarifies. Instead it is a real phenomenon that comes from chronic stress — be it from too much worrying (which is very valid, given the economic downturn and the risks of getting sick), from cabin fever, from the deluge of information we get everyday, and from the loneliness we're all feeling.

As such, Dionisio recommends treating it the way chronic stress is treated:

• with physical activity
• by practicing mindfulness and
• by building strong relationships

Exercising and working out is not only proven to increase our happy hormones, which helps improve our mood and mental clarity, it also activates the blood, which in turn helps boost our immune system.

Just 30 minutes a day of moderate exercise for five days a week should help bolster our mental wellbeing.

There are plenty of apps available that can help you make a habit of working out — Nico Bolzico and Erwan Heussaff in fact recently launched a new one called Rebel —  while YouTube has tons of tutorials that you can follow.

Mindfulness, meanwhile, is being more deliberate in handling situations. The easiest way to become more mindful? By breathing. Remember that it's always better to respond — be it to a situation, a problem, or that person you're not particularly fond of — rather than to react to it.

And finally, building strong relationships will certainly help in dealing with feelings of loneliness, hopelessness, and depression.

Why not organize a zoom e-numan with your barkada? Or propose to go on a call with your teammates at work for a team lunch so you don't have to talk business for once?

Social media can lead to many icky feelings of discontent, but remember it was once used to connect with friends and family. Why not use it to reach out?

There's good ol' text or if you're missing their voice, why not go on a telebabad like you used to? Remember it will help other people as much as it will help you. 

Is being stuck with family for such a long period of time is already causing friction? Try to carve out some time for yourself.

On Healthline, Mary Fristad, PhD, ABPP, a psychologist at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center, said "It’s really important to maintain some alone time. It differs from person to person in how much we need, but we all need the ability to decompress,” she said.

Wake up earlier than usual, and in the peace and quiet, let your thoughts run free. Why not try meditation? It often just takes 10 minutes of your day, but it's 10 minutes that's yours and yours alone.

After, you'll feel refreshed and ready — or at the very least, no longer depleted — to take on another day, another problem, another task.

COVID-19 and the ensuing lockdown have certainly been tough, but remember, the whole world is sharing in that load and that misery you're feeling. You are not alone. — LA/GMA News