Life After COVID-19: Coming Out of Quarantine
For the past few months, the majority of us have not left our homes, or have only done so to get absolute necessities. When quarantine restrictions are lifted, we will again need to adjust to a new “normal” as we begin to transition back to the life that we were leading before COVID-19 changed our lives.
Here are 4 helpful tips to adjusting back to the way life was before the pandemic:
- Take it slow. It’s best not to try and jump into doing everything we put aside during these months, like medical appointments, a hair appointment, or buying new clothes for the season. If you try to do too much at once to make up for lost time, you will feel overwhelmed and stressed.
- Prepare a to-do-list. This can be for yourself or for the entire family of things you need to do to get back to normal living. Whether it’s food shopping, scheduling playdates for the kids, or visiting family, scheduling the time for everything will help keep things organized.
- Talk to your kids about life getting back to normal. Children may be fearful about going out of the home since they have been isolated for a few months. Help relay their fears by explaining to them that it is safe to leave the house, and they will be ok. It might help to take them for short outings at first, to get them acclimated again.
- Keep calm and carry on. We will all be feeling anxious about stepping out again in fear of getting sick. But we must not let fear dictate our lives. We must continue to practice handwashing and taking other measures to stay healthy, but we must begin interacting with one another again, as that is part of life.
“We have all been affected by COVID-19 in some way, but it is important that we look to the future and not dwell on the past, although we will never forget this time in our lives,” said Jillian Young, MA, LPC, ACS, Program Director, School Based Clinical Services, Intensive In-Community Services. “Feelings of anxiousness, stress and worry are all normal, but as we get back to our normal daily lives, we will adjust and will be happy to socialize, work, and participate in activities that we had to leave behind during COVID-19.”
If you or your loved one need additional support with adjusting, our clinicians are available to help during this uncertain time via our telehealth services. Call our main number at 844-4-ACENDA (844-422-3632) for more information.