Everyone has some form of anxiety after the COVD lockdown. For some it’s major and for others it’s a minor inconvenience to your life. Especially after the COVID-19 pandemic, anxiety levels are high, with just about everyone becoming increasingly anxious about the post-vaccinated future. What will life look like now those most vulnerable have been vaccinated? Whatever questions you may have, spoken or unspoken, lockdown has been a rough ride for all of us and, by no means, is it over. 

However you managed to pull through, well done. In fact, well done to whoever is reading this right this second because you’ve been through hell and back, but you are sitting here, reading up on how to look after yourself. That’s a double win. Keep going. But, anxiety as we re-enter workplaces is bound to be high. Indeed, anxiety as we re-enter the world in general is bound to be high. Grown into an age of socially anxious, anxiously disordered minds, there must be ways to get through this and learn to survive again. 

Lockdown Anxiety

Over lockdown, even once, you must have thought ‘when will this end?’, ‘is it safe to even go to the supermarket?’, ‘did I wash my hands properly?’. Either way, for people who had never had anxiety before the pandemic, definitely experienced it during. However, those who were already suffering beforehand, trust me, this year has been a tough one. Lockdown was not a safe place. It was safe in terms of a lack of people, therefore a lack of social anxiety bubbling up to the surface, but it left you alone with your thoughts. After the novelty of not having to speak to anyone wore off, loneliness struck. But, not being able to do anything about it only encouraged us to sit in our loneliness further. As time drew on, the fear of going outside and bumping into someone (that you may have known or not known) was a real one. 

Generalized anxiety disorder sufferers- lockdown was not the one for us. No longer having a plethora of external stimuli to work with, your mind went to anyone and everything around you to look for worries. Claustrophobia is the one word that comes to mind when I relive it. 

Keeping structure out of lockdown

As we start to come out of lockdown, and re enter our offices (for help on marketing for your business talk to Joey Armstrong), consider what made you feel safe during. For example, when in lockdown were you at your most peaceful, or happy? Who were you with? Who weren’t you with? Consider all of these environmental stimuli, and recreate it. If you were with a friend, or a partner, or a family member, when you felt your most calm, call them at a fixed time every day, or week. Meet them for a coffee. Did you enjoy those daily walks where you could get out of the house for half an hour and just walk? Keep walking! Keep doing those daily walks. 

There are so many ways in which to safely ease yourself out of lockdown, especially for an anxious mind.

When you talk about your health, you take control over it. There are aspects of health that we are more than willing to accept as we age because, to some extent, a decline in health is a natural part of life. However, the big problem we all have now is that if we consider certain afflictions to be part of growing old, but we suffer from them at a young age, we may feel humiliated when it comes to talking about them.

But, given that there are so many ailments that we all feel embarrassed about, perhaps it is time to break this stigma? Here are some common health symptoms to look out for.

#1 An increased sense of stress

Most of us experience stress at one point or another in our lives but if you see people who appear to be unable to function, a part of you may believe that they are simply complaining, especially if they do so on social media. However, prolonged stress is more than just a little bit of anxiety; it affects so many aspects of your life, causing headaches, anxiety, sleep difficulties, and even digestive problems.

It is critical to consult with your doctor to ensure that you are on the right track to get rid of this. Counseling, medicine, or a course of therapy such as CBT may be required. Finally, a lot of stress is a killer, and you should not be ashamed to talk about it, especially if other people think you complain a lot on the internet!

#2 Loss of sex drive

When we are young, it is assumed we are all having plenty of fun in the bedroom. But is it like that for everyone, all of the time? Well, no, it isn’t. There are lots of reasons why people of all ages may experience a loss of sex drive. Often this is tiredness or because of mental health issues such as depression or anxiety. Other times it can be something in the relationship – a lack of intimacy or communication. Getting to the bottom of it and dealing with whatever is causing the problem will go a long way towards dealing with it. 

#3 A decline in hearing

Hearing problems, which you might think are limited to people over the typical retirement age are more prevalent than you might think. Hearing problems are more common in people who grew up listening to loud music through headphones all day, every day or attending loud music concerts or night clubs. Furthermore, issues such as tinnitus and glue ear can appear earlier in life.
However, it is far from something to be embarrassed about.   You should protect your ears if you haven’t already, but hearing aids aren’t the big, bulky devices of yesteryear. In fact, you have much more control over choosing a hearing aid. They are extremely subtle, and if it is a way for you to feel like you are a part of a conversation, rather than feeling that sense of isolation and loneliness, they are extremely effective.

Have you been taking good care of yourself lately? If you answer no to this question, it’s likely you could be at risk for sickness. If you have a very fast-paced routine, then you will know how much this can interfere with your general self-care. Your body is a machine, and you have to make sure that you give yourself some downtime now and again. If you don’t, then you may find that you end up struggling in the future.

Feeling Tired All the Time

Feeling sleepy is normal, but if you find that you have constant tiredness and fatigue then this is a sign that something needs to change. Doctors often say that exercise is a brilliant way for you to help regulate your self-care routine, but at the same time, you also have to make sure that you are sleeping enough. If you aren’t sleeping enough then this can cause you to feel tired all the time. You may also find that you cannot stay awake during the day as well, and this can interfere with your work and your personal life.

Hearing Loss

If you have been experiencing hearing loss lately then you will know how frustrating this can be.  If you have never struggled with hearing loss before then this can be a sign that you have not been taking care of yourself as well as you could have been. It may be that you have been having your headphones on louder than you should have, or that you have not been wearing the appropriate hearing protection while at work. Either way, it’s important that you try and talk with your doctor about this. If required, you can also seek out the best hearing aids.

Excessively Dry Skin

If you find that the texture of your skin changes with the weather, then this is normal. That being said if you are battling constantly dry skin then this is a sign that something isn’t right. Sometimes it doesn’t matter what kind of moisturizer you use, because if you do not deal with the root cause, then it will come back time and time again. If you feel as though your battle with dry skin is not coming to an end, then you have to make sure that you speak with your doctor.

Acne Breakouts

Sudden acne breakouts can be a sign that you are under some kind of stress, or that you are experiencing some kind of hormonal imbalance. If you find that you are having breakouts far too often then you have to understand what is happening inside your body. It may be that you have a hormonal condition or that you are simply consuming too much sugar. Either way, you have to make sure that you are not compromising your health by ignoring your breakouts.

Muscle Cramps

When you spend most of the time sitting in front of the computer screen, you may find that you notice cramps or twitches. Doctors say that the amount of cramps that you experience and the frequency of them can say a lot, so make sure that you don’t ignore these signs if you can.

The status of your health is obviously of extreme importance. Understanding what is going on in your body can be the difference between feeling good and not. Your health can be mysterious sometimes. It can be hard to decide whether you’re healthy or not, especially if you hold a different opinion about yourself compared to what you see almost everywhere online. 

It’s key to get to know your own health a bit more. It’s not as hard as you might think. Knowing more about yourself is only ever a good thing. You know what you can do, what you struggle with, and you know how to take care of yourself. And it may require some courage to see someone about a problem. 

Check the Status of Your Health

Below is a small list of questions to ask, to really reveal what’s going on with your health right now. If you’re truly worried about something, talk to your doctor about your concerns.

What are Your Energy Levels Like?

The first thing to think about are your energy levels. Are you able to get on with your day the way you want to? Do you fall asleep fast when you hit the hay at the end of the day? Are you always snoozing when you’re traveling in a passenger seat? Do you need to take regular naps to keep yourself topped up? 

Questions like these can be very revealing. Things like your natural metabolic rate, or your natural need for sleep can be very different to someone else’s, but an excess of any of the above behaviors can be a worry. They mostly point towards a ‘sleep debt’, but they can also be a topic for a doctor to go over as well. 

What’s Your Hearing Like?

Your hearing is an often ignored element of your five senses. Indeed, a loss of hearing can be subtle, and hearing itself can be slow to change over time based on your day to day interactions. Of course, if you work in a very noisy environment, or you listen to loud music on a regular basis, your hearing level could dip a lot faster than is average. 

And if you’re someone who already uses a hearing aid, it’s a good idea to keep an eye on how much the aid is helping you. Some people like to believe that the hearing restoration granted by such aids is 100%, but the truth is often far from this. But all in all, make sure you get your ears tested at least every 10 years, and try not to take any hearing loss lightly. 

What’s Your Diet Like?

Now it’s time to ask yourself, ‘Am I eating enough?’ Don’t think about your diet in too much detail here – think about how you feel inside. Ask yourself: 

Are you always hungry, sleeping badly, or often ‘hangry’? Because these are all signs your nutrition level is low, and even with a well intentioned diet, you could be doing your brain and body a disservice. 

The status of your health can be confusing to keep up with. Check in with yourself using questions like those above.