One topic that is less talked about during normal times but getting greater notice in these Covid times is mental health.
On and off lockdowns and being confined to our homes over the last 18 months can be a tough transition for many. Imagine being cooped up in your little apartment for weeks on end. The mental anguish of not being fully in control of your own personal destiny and feeling helpless as the world changes and trying to adapt daily is terrifying.
As one sees cases rising and more deaths reported everywhere, one cannot help but be resigned to one’s own fate and become like a hermit crab, locking oneself from the rest of the world. Moving inwards into your own cocoon world takes a while and it might be hard to get out of it later.
We try to establish contacts via technology like online conference calls and face the new normal bravely while complaining of our restricted movements. Trying to maintain a regular daily schedule to remain sane seems to be the best option. I try to run every morning and managed to lose 3 kg. Signing up for a full time 6 months online course also helps. It keeps my mind and body active while I resign myself to the fact that weekdays and weekends merged into one and every day seems the same.
We have more family dining in meals and watching TV together while enjoying multiple bottles of vino in the comfort of our homes as the option of dining out frequently becomes banned. We are thankful that we have a relatively big house where we could all retreat into our individual rooms for personal privacy and only reappear for family meals.
People without these luxuries and being trapped in their small 200 to 500 square feet apartments might really feel claustrophobic. I remember being quarantined in a hotel room for 14 nights last Oct upon my return from the UK. It required a lot of mental strength to pull through. Imagine doing this for months on end.
Each and every human being on planet earth has had to go through this similar experience in various ways since early 2020. There was no getting out of it unless you are super rich and have the resources to get out of the situation via your personal private jet. Each of us has to suck up to it with no end in sight and pray that we can weather this crisis in one piece.
I had finally watched the movie “Roadrunner” this week. It was about the life of Anthony Bourdain and the events leading to him suddenly taking his own life in 2018. He was a well-known producer of food porn shows like No Reservations and Parts Unknown, travelling around the world to bring delicious food to us couch potatoes in our living rooms.
He was the ever cynical ex-drug addict with no care to the world and speaking out his mind to what he sees and calling out the BS. It was a refreshing take to regular food review shows and combines what most of us love – to travel and eat. It was not just an ordinary food show. I look forward to his shows, especially if it was of a familiar destination, like our little red dot. To see what an outsider thinks of us and our hawker food culture is enlightening too.
He had years of substance abuse as a chef till he was in his forties before he became world famous for his first book “Kitchen Confidential” and subsequent TV series. He found that he had talent for critical narration and turned the boring food shows to a new type of food porn entertainment which we cannot get enough of.
This film was about the less than 20 years of success before he suddenly ended it via suicide in 2018. It tries to explain the possible mental condition he was in, on the night itself when he convinced himself that he was incapable of loving someone and probably sank into deep depression. It was something that was always lurking within his psychic that eventually triggered a maniac and fatal decision to end it all.
During the last 18 months of Covid, I suspected that many have also encountered these thoughts and the sense of loneliness and depression, that perhaps it is not worth it to carry on in this upside down world. It is a very slippery slope from here if one does not know how to pause here and seek help.
Having a strong support group of friends and family is very important during these abnormal times. To have people to talk to and share experiences is vital to mental health. This is one aspect which we have overlooked previously and it becomes glaringly obvious in these trying times.
We have to stay strong not only for ourselves but also for our loved ones. Keeping busy with a fixed schedule and routine does help to pass the time more quickly. We humans take some time to adapt eventually to the new regime. In between, we have to create distractions to make life bearable, to get a new hobby or to immerse oneself in new interests.
As we enter into the 2nd half of the second year of COVID, we have to remain optimistic and look on the bright side all the time. Things are better now in 2021 than last year. We have a vaccine strategy and we know more about the virus and its variants than in 2020. We just need to keep our head high and chin up and to continue fighting on.
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