During a crisis, a lot of people are primarily concerned with taking care of their families. When you can’t be physically present with your extended family and friends, it can be especially anxiety-provoking. Aside from physical wellness, you may be especially concerned about your loved ones’ mental health. You want to be with them and be able to offer comfort, and it can hard to feel like you can do anything that matters when you can’t be there. It can be especially stressful when you know that people are concerned about money but you aren’t able to offer financial assistance. Nevertheless, there’s a lot that you can do to let the people who you care about know that you care, and you want to ensure that everybody is doing alright.
Here are some ways that you can help your loved ones during the quarantine and pandemic.
Reach Out
Even when you don’t have anything in particular to say besides hey, just saying hey can make a huge difference to somebody who is feeling isolated or anxious. Coronavirus anxiety is affecting millions of people across the world. Disruption to daily life, not coming into contact with people, and concerns about money and employment are serious stressors. Staying connected with people and continuing to have positive interactions can offer a lot of reassurance. You don’t have to try to pretend like everything’s normal. It’s okay to share what you’re concerned about; it may help people feel to feel more open to sharing with you about what has them feeling anxious.
Talk About Recovery
You may be especially concerned about loved ones who have previously had serious issues with substance dependency. Some experts have observed that stress and isolation present risks to individuals in recovery. When people are disengaged from their recovery support network and they’re stressed out, the risk of relapse can increase dramatically. Proactively talking about the importance of recovery with friends and family can aid relapse prevention. Discuss how to reconfigure different elements of ongoing recovery such as participating in virtual meetings or getting support from secondary sources. Simply having somebody close to talk with can help an individual self-affirm how much he or she values the gift of recovery.
Stay In Touch In Writing
When you aren’t seeing people in person, email is a great way to share a quick smile. Share something that you were looking at online that you thought was funny or interesting. When you communicate via email, people are able to get back to you in their own time. It’s an effective but non-intrusive way to let somebody know that he or she is in your thoughts. Alternatively, social media can be a good outlet to connect with the people who you’re close to. If you haven’t been enthusiastic about social media before, now may be a good opportunity to explore how making connections on social media can help you to stay in more regular contact with the people who you care about.
Get A Group Together
Talking as a group can help restore a sense of normalcy to your network of friends and family. Scheduling a group call on Facetime or Zoom or starting a group chat on WhatsApp are some of the best ways to get a group dialogue going.
When you’re physically apart, social and family ties can be more important than ever. Your family and friends will appreciate your efforts and outreach to stay connected and check in on how they’re doing. Even when you can’t offer financial help, your love and attention can be invaluable resources to people who are struggling.
*collaborative post
