Cúram Sláinte Mheabhrach
Minding Our Mental Health
These are uncertain times for us all some people might find it more worrying than others. Most people’s lives will change in some way over a period of days, weeks or months. But in time, it will pass. It is important that we stay as physically and mentally well so we can support ourselves, family and friends.
Useful Tips:
Stay informed but set limits for news and social media
The constant stream of social media updates and news reports about coronavirus could cause you to feel worried. Sometimes it can be difficult to separate facts from rumours. Use trustworthy and reliable sources to get your news.
https://www2.hse.ie/conditions/coronavirus/coronavirus.html
On social media, people may talk about their own worries or beliefs. You don’t need to make them your own. Too much time on social media may increase your worry and levels of anxiety. Consider limiting how much time you spend on social media.
If you find the coverage on coronavirus is too intense for you, talk it through with someone close or get support.
Keep up your healthy routines
Your routine may be affected by the coronavirus outbreak in different ways. But during difficult times like this, it’s best if you can keep some structure in your day.
It’s important to pay attention to your needs and feelings, especially during times of stress. You may still be able to do some of the things you enjoy and find relaxing.
For example, you could try to:
- Exercise Regularly – get fresh air
- Keep regular sleep routines
- Maintain a healthy, balanced diet
Practice relaxation techniques such as breathing exercises
- Read a book
Stay connected to others
During times of stress, friends and families can be a good source of support. It is important to keep in touch with them and other people in your life.
Remember that talking things through with someone can help lessen worry or anxiety.
Support Available
You don't have to appear to be strong or to try to cope with things by yourself. There is support available to
Useful Apps For Mental Wellbeing
Below are some apps which may be useful to help with breathing techniques, guided meditations, tips on coping with anxiety and stress.
Calm
Android: Free
iPhone: Free
Calm was branded as Apple’s “App of the Year” in 2017. The app is designed to reduce anxiety, improve sleep, and help you to feel happier.
Calm focuses on the four key areas of meditation, breathing, sleep, and relaxation, with the aim of bringing joy, clarity, and peace to your daily life.
The app delivers meditations that can help you to destress, as well as breathing programs, music, and sounds from nature to relax your mind and body and promote better sleep.
Calm is the perfect app if you are new to meditation, but it also offers programs for more advanced users. Meditation sessions are available in lengths of 3–25 minutes, to fit in with your schedule.
Headspace
Android: Free
iPhone: Free
Headspace uses mindfulness and meditation to help you perform at your best each day. The app’s mission is to provide you with the essential tools to achieve a happier, healthier life.
Whether you need to build healthier relationships, find a place of calm, keep your mind fit, or reduce stress, Headspace has hundreds of themed mindfulness and meditation sessions to support you.
The app reports that meditation reduces daily stress and improves focus and attention. What is more, using Headspace is suggested to enhance compassionate behaviour toward others in just 3 weeks.
Moodnotes
iPhone: $3.99
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Moodnotes is a thought journal and mood diary. The app can be used to capture your feelings and improve your thinking habits through the implementation of CBT and positive psychology.
Track your mood and increase self-awareness of what influences it. Learn to recognize “traps” in your thinking and ways to rethink the situation.
If you happen to enter a “thinking trap,” Moodnotes will provide suggestions and useful perspectives to reduce stress and enhance well-being. Progress is viewable in the helpful “Insights” dashboard.
Moodpath
Android: Free
iPhone: Free
Moodpath is your pocket-sized mental health companion. Whether you are facing a rough patch or have concerns about your mental health, the app’s goal is to support you through the difficult times and guide you out the other side.
Moodpath asks daily questions in order to assess your well-being and screen for symptoms of depression. The screening progress aims to increase your awareness of your thoughts, emotions, and feelings.
After a period of 2 weeks, the app generates an electronic document that you can discuss with a healthcare professional. More than 150 videos and psychological exercises are available to help you understand your mood and strengthen your mental health.
Pacifica
Android: Free
iPhone: Free
Pacifica is an app with anxiety and stress in mind. It provides a toolbox to deal with daily anxiety and stress, along with a highly supportive community of like-minded individuals.
Pacifica helps you to break cycles of unhelpful thoughts, feelings, and behaviors through methods such as CBT, mindfulness meditation, mood tracking, and relaxation.
The app houses audio lessons and activities that help you to cope with stress and depression, and it sets daily challenges to help you tackle anxiety one day at a time and reach your long-term goals.
SuperBetter
Android: Free
iPhone: Free
SuperBetter is a game focusing on increasing resilience and the ability to remain strong, optimistic, and motivated when presented with challenging obstacles in life.
A study by the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia found that when people played SuperBetter for 30 days, their mood improved, symptoms of anxiety and depression decreased, and self-belief to achieve goals increased.
The app will help you to adopt new habits, improve your skills, strengthen relationships, complete meaningful projects, and achieve lifelong dreams.
Anxiety Relief Hypnosis
Android: Free
iPhone: Free
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Anxiety Relief Hypnosis is an app suggested to help improve relaxation and reduce anxiety within just 1–3 weeks of use.
The app’s developers say that hypnosis can decrease anxious thoughts and enhance your response to relaxation, which, in turn, resets your behavior and enables an improved response to stress.
The app provides an audio session read by a certified hypnotherapist together with calming music and sounds from nature to aid relaxation. The “awaken at end” feature can be disabled to allow you to fall into restful sleep at bedtime.
Happify
Android: Free
iPhone: Free
Happify is a space to overcome negative thoughts and stress and build resilience. Whether you are feeling stressed, anxious, or sad, Happify helps you to regain control of your thoughts and feelings.
In fact, 86 percent of the app’s users report feeling better about their lives after 2 months of using it.
Happify employs techniques and evidence-based interventions in the areas of CBT, positive psychology, and mindfulness to help you break old and unhealthful patterns and form new, healthful habits.
The app offers activities and games to improve your life satisfaction and ability to fight negativity. Your emotional well-being is calculated as a happiness score that you can improve upon each week.
