My six steps to keep smiling in the face of a second wave
Iam usually pretty upbeat and positive — a glass-half-full person. But even I was knocked back by the Government’s new restrictions and the prospect of another full lockdown.
Just as we started meeting friends and venturing back into the office, boom! We seem to be careering back to square one. It’s so disheartening, I felt quite bereft.
Every patient I have seen since the new rules were announced feels the same. There has already been a rise in the number of patients visiting my clinic, and the prospect of a further lockdown is only going to make it worse, especially in winter. So what can we do to stay positive?
as a doctor, I often prescribe medication when people are low — but I am also a great believer in the power of the mind and how the small things we do in our lives can boost our mood and sense of wellbeing. So here are six things we can all do to beat the blues...
Shop local
I LIVE in Central London and have been shocked to walk around once-bustling streets that are now dead. It’s easy to feel overwhelmed with anxiety about the prospect of a recession.
But one of the key lessons of CBT — cognitive behavioural therapy — is to focus on what we can change, not what we can’t. So, rather than worrying about the death of the British High Street, I’ve promised myself I’ll ‘shop local’.
I have started buying my lunch from a small deli round the corner and my morning coffee from a small independent shop on the way to work. I also told the owners I was doing this, which gave them (and me) a little boost.
Now, every time I hear about the economy, I remind myself that I’m not the Chancellor but I’m doing what I can.
Limit social media
IT HAS been dubbed ‘doom scrolling’ — when people look through social media for bad news. and that’s understandable from a psychological perspective — when we are worried, we tend to seek out negative stories as a way to validate our feelings. In fact, we just make ourselves even more anxious.
So limit how much you are online and mute or unfollow people who post negative material. Try to find light-hearted things that make you smile. you are more in control of your mood than you think.
Binge on a writer
THE amazing thing about the mind is that, while it can trap us with negative thoughts, we can also use it to escape. The fashion for bingeing on box sets is passive and doesn’t use the brain to its full extent. Instead, I’ve often recommended to patients that they immerse themselves in a writer’s world by reading everything they have written. I’m currently doing all of Dickens — reading everything someone has written is quite different from just picking up their books occasionally. you really start to know the writer and inhabit their world. By the end, they feel like a friend.
Get a pot plant
THERE is something incredibly relaxing and therapeutic about looking after another living thing.
While several of my patients got pets during the pandemic in order to have a bit of company and, in the case of dogs, a reason to leave the house each day, that is not practical for everyone.
One of the occupational therapists at work suggested to a patient who lived in a flat that they should fill their lounge with plants, and it struck me what a good idea this was.
Seeing a plant grow and looking after it is immensely rewarding. If they flourish, take cuttings and send them to friends, which will boost your mood even further.
Compile a list
I’M A great fan of writing lists, as it helps stop thoughts or worries whirring round your mind. If ever you feel overwhelmed, make a list, then an action plan for how you’re going to tackle things — but turn this into something special by investing in a lovely notebook. The additional benefit of writing things down is that you can look back a few months later and see how most of the things you were worried about never happened. If you are unsure how to go about tackling your list, there are some good notebooks and work books that take you through this step by step. myndmap is good (myndmap.co), while mindJournal ( mindjournals.com) is especially designed for men. Several of my patients have given them to husbands who find it hard to talk about how they are feeling.
Small things matter
JOY is all around us, sitting in the everyday and mundane, if we only learn to look for it. a few things have brought me particular pleasure over the past week, and the first was treating myself to some lovely luxury liquid soap — it makes continually washing my hands a delight.
I’ve found an amazing one from Noble Isle that smells of rhubarb and is so good, I can’t wait to use it each time.