I can still vividly remember leaving school on March 13th; I remember the nervous buzz travelling among students, the uncertainty in the air, and finally, I remember thinking the sole consequence we would face due to COVID-19 was an additional two weeks added to our spring break (something which greatly excited me). Cut to the 299th day stuck in quarantine, and I can’t help but reflect on the time spent indoors, the time lost, and the changes made not only to our everyday lives, but to our health, both mental and physical. One of the most notable changes we’ve experienced as a society is the lack of social interaction, and the limits/boundaries surrounding seeing your friends/family, or people in general. Humans are inherently social beings, and require an extent of social interaction and stimulation to reach their full potential i.e. happiness. This is not an observation, but a fact: when interacting with another individual in person, our brain releases large amounts of dopamine and serotonin, two key components in producing happiness. When lacking social interaction, our brain is unable to produce serotonin and dopamine as quickly as it normally would, resulting in diminished moods, and in extreme cases, depression. This, combined with a fear of the virus itself, and stress (both externally and internally) make it quite difficult for anyone, regardless of gender/race/age to cope healthily and successfully during this pandemic. As a 17 year old, I’m lucky enough to be with family and not completely isolated, but the struggle of having a drastically different life than last year is something that I still have trouble processing. I would consider myself to be a fairly social person, or an extrovert, and am used to often being with my friends, or going out - it feels wrong to be indoors all the time, and I feel as though I’m doing something wrong, or wasting my teenage years by spending all my time inside. Because I’m a high school senior, I also feel a great deal of frustration at the timing of this whole ordeal; I’ve spent my childhood and the last four years of my life looking forward to this year and graduation, and the fact I’m spending most of my classes isolated from my friends and unable to spend time with my classmates is a thought that honestly makes me really sad. Anger is a very prevalent emotion for me recently, and I notice myself dwelling on what could have been, or what I’ve missed out on, as well as self pity and deprecation. It helps to remind myself that others are in the same position, and I’m fortunate enough to have it better than many other people right now. All seriousness aside, one of the biggest challenges I’ve faced over these past nine months is boredom, and ways to deal with all the free time recently amassed. What follows are fun and healthy ways you can safely spend your remaining time in quarantine:
I hope these 10 suggestions are able to help pass time, and I hope 2021 brings us all a lot better than 2020 did! Stay safe, stay home, and wear a mask! :) Callie F https://dailyillini.com/special-sections/2020/04/09/bored-in-quarantine-twenty-ways-to-kill-time/
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There are so many things that i'm looking forward to in post-quarantine life: going out with my friends, playing sports again, being able to actually hug my friends and extended family, and going for a nice long run without having to zigzag around as many people as possible. But those activities are all just fun and games; when I think about how fast paced my life will be again after quarantine, it almost gives me a mini heart attack! Going from school to playing three different sports in a row and then coming home at 11pm to finish all my homework for the next day is usually a challenging task for me. Especially when I have to stay mentally present for the entire day without a rest (except for when I take that one nap in an anonymous class). Having said that, I actually enjoy a busy schedule because it keeps structure in my life and being able to do all these activities along with school is definitely not something to complain about. But my time in quarantine has honestly given me a new appreciation for being able to slow things down and just take a deep breath. Since everything had suddenly come to a temporary stop, I've been able to acquire a few new skills. I have learned how to cook (and I really hope i'm not the only human my age who just learned how an oven works), I have become an adequate gamer, I've done some artwork, and I've actually started playing all my instruments again. I know it’s unrealistic to want this much time on my hands post-quarantine. And I can’t wait to have freedom to be out in the world again because if it’s like this for much longer then i'll probably start to go insane. But at the end of the day, what I really want is more balance throughout my days. I want more room to breathe and to slow down so that I can savour the moments, and be focused on the present time.
So instead of just surviving this quarantine, I want to learn from it and embrace it. It’s a new experience to all of us and I think that it’s important to try and find the good that's come from this and to really be able to appreciate everything we have especially during these hard times. Brianna J When I was thinking about what to write for this blog my mind went right to how quarantine affects your mental health. You wouldn't really think much about this but it is important. Being in one place not allowed to leave on week’s end is really bad for you and can actually make you mentally ill. Quarantine has 3 major effects on your mind autonomy, competency and connectedness. This isolation we face today is making people feel like they are not in touch with the world because everything has shut down. It pretty much feels like you're trapped, you don't see as many people as you once did. The American Psychological Association says that feeling isolated can lead to poor sleep, depressive symptoms, manage your emotions etc. in the last quarantine 31.% of people had depressive symptoms. If you are feeling these symptoms you can find ways to manage your mental health, for example, you can google ways to help and try a whole bunch of different ones. Here let me google that for you.
Madison |
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