Remember when you could leave the house in the morning and go to work? Remember when you could drop your kids off at your trusted day care center, kiss them, hug them and wave bye? Remember when you could focus on, I mean REALLY focus, on work assignments?
The stress of physical isolation. The unintended consequences—think “cabin fever”—from nonstop interaction with immediate family members comes at a cost. There comes a time to break, before YOU break!
An Kaiser Family Foundation Tracking Poll conducted March 25-30, 2020, found that 47% of those sheltering in place reported negative mental health effects resulting from worry or stress related to coronavirus.
During National Mental Health Awareness Month listen to the wise words of modern-day philosopher Marshawn Lynch and “Take Care of Y’all Mentals.”
Policy of Honesty
I totally got caught up in the stress induced frenzy surrounding the shelter in place orders of my state. To be fair, like you, the stress was more tied to the uncertainty of what a shelter in place order meant to obtaining everyday provisions. In the beginning, establishments were slowly closing and it was unclear which ones would remain open. For a family of four, that’s stressful!
As men, we have a tendency to disregard the mental aspect of health and wellness. As dads, we are wired to put everyone else’s needs above ours, grin and bear it.
The stress may even drive us to unhealthy behaviors like drinking alcohol excessively, seeking to relax and relieve some stress. I count myself among those coping with stress in a unhealthy manner. There’s a better way.
Take A Mental Health Day
How do you take a Mental Health Day, when you’re stuck at home? Well, it may be less of a whole day, and more of a break in your day.
Break Out! But do it in a considerate way. Consider your wife’s schedule. Consider your child(ren)’s schedule. Work out your “Break Out” session ahead of time. Then—this is absolutely essential—be sure to extend the same time to you wife. Check out “How To Gain Support From Your Significant Other.”
If you can’t go very far, bring the break to you. I use resistance bands. Resistance bands are portable, versatile, lightweight and effective. If you have something firm to attach the band to, you can really maximize the variety of movements to get your muscles pumping. If you feel like stress eating or stress drinking, occupy your mind by moving your body!
Get Active
Prioritizing Physical Activity has never been more important for your mental health, than it is right now. You no longer have work to rely on for your adult interactions. No more water cooler talks with your co-workers. Besides, there’s no basketball, baseball or hockey to talk about.
There is no separation of work stress at work and home stress at home—being able to escape the home stress (at least momentarily) by going to work. Unhealthy behaviors are around every corner. Stress eating. Stress drinking. You have to take care of yourself, Dad.
For the sake of a clear head, to make clear professional work decisions and to give your family your best while you are around them, take a break, get your heart rate up, PRIORITIZE PHYSICAL ACTIVITY.