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Coping with stress, low mood and isolation – a support thread
Cher_Scope
Community Team Posts: 2,494 Disability Gamechanger
What is this thread about?
We realise these are particularly difficult times for all who visit Scope’s online community. The impact of covid-19 has been far reaching, not least emotionally, as we all cope and ‘muddle through’ each day the best we can.
As a means of support, the Community Team have compiled a list of resources on this thread to help with any feelings of isolation, stress, and low mood you might be experiencing. These are not intended to substitute professional help and we recommend contacting your GP if troubling feelings persist. Equally, should you ever believe your welfare is in danger, make sure to call 999 and ask for the relevant emergency services.
This list is not exhaustive and will be added to regularly so please do keep checking back. Also, if our lovely members have any other helpful links or ideas, feel free to drop them in the comments section below.
As ever, if you want to talk about your individual situation - we are here to listen. Don't be afraid to make a post and ask for help.
General coronavirus support
- Scope’s Coronavirus website section provides practical guidance around money, food, housing and more.
- The ‘Having carers during coronavirus’ thread explains how to keep yourself, carers and personal assistants safe, and what to do in event of emergency.
Mental health
- Scope’s ‘Mental health and coronavirus webpage’ offers advice for both adults and children on how to cope with anxiety and isolation.
- Mind’s Coronavirus and wellbeing webpage gives tips for looking after your emotional health.
- This NHS Mental wellbeing whilst staying at home webpage provides a list of things you can do right now to feel calmer.
- YoungMinds Coronavirus and mental health webpage has advice for younger adults.
- Rethink’s Coronavirus and mental health webpage helps those severely impacted by mental health conditions and their carers.
- You can call the Samaritans on 116123 anytime for confidential support and they have a webpage about what do to 'if you are worried about your mental health during the coronavirus pandemic'.
- This Blurt webpage explains how breathing and grounding exercises can ease anxiety and panic attacks.
- This online community thread looks at ‘What do you do to relax’.
- Plus, our ‘Would you like to go to a spa?’ thread has suggestions on ways to relax too.
- This “Are you feeling stressed?” post discusses the signs and symptoms of stress.
- The Positive affirmations thread contains mantras to practice and boost self-esteem.
Apps
- Headspace is an app for meditation, anxiety, sleep etc.
- This NHS webpage has a list of mental health apps.
Exercise
- The ‘Stay in Workout: Accessible ways to exercise’ thread includes links to routines you can do at home.
- The Active at home timetable is a good way of keeping fit and exercising along to pre-recorded videos.
- A diaphragmatic/abdominal breathing exercise suggested by @chiarieds. This helps with stress and pain.
- Gentle Tai Chi and yoga videos also suggested by @chiarieds.
- This 'How to meditate' guide from @leeCal can help you feel more at peace and relaxed.
Socialising/loneliness
- The ‘Will you be lonely this Christmas’ thread contains fun activities to keep you occupied beyond the festive period.
- @chiarieds ‘Activities for the little grey cells & 'Free rice' which helps the World Food Programme’ thread has a list of online quizzes to get you busy thinking.
- Independent Age have a 'How to stay connected in old age' webpage with advice on how to connect with others.
Education/learning, work, and volunteering
- This thread has tips for how to keep your work life balance in check.
- While, this thread lists ‘books and educational journals available for free’.
- For Have a go month we discussed available online learning courses.
- The ‘Are you looking for a new job or fancying a career change’ thread gives career advice to help with job hunting.
Money
- Make sure you are getting all the benefits you are entitled to with Scope’s Benefits calculator.
- Scope’s Support with council tax during coronavirus webpage gives information about hardship funds, council tax reductions and deferred payments.
- This #EndChildFoodPoverty map helps you find the nearest emergency food support close to where you live.
- Visit this Money saving tips thread to see handy hints for cutting back spending.
Parenting
- Scope's Family services webpage links to our Navigate, Sleep-Right and Parents Connect information pages - services designed to support the parenting of disabled children.
- The top tips for a blissful bedtime thread has pointers on improving children’s night-time routines.
- This ways to keep kids entertained during lockdown thread has lots of fun activity ideas.
- @KimLawtherAT's home-schooling website supports parents and care-givers educating children with additional needs.
Specific impairments
- Read this guest blog post that discusses ‘Being autistic in post lockdown world’.
- Read The Independent newspaper article on: ‘Autism and the loneliness of social distancing’.
- This ‘Managing pain during isolation’ thread has ideas on how to alleviate chronic aches and pains.
- Scope’s ‘Cerebral palsy and coronavirus’ webpage gives advice specific to people with CP.
- If you are struggling with insomnia, read our ‘Searching for sleep’ thread as we share and compare what helps us sleep.
- Beyond Word's picture stories can help explain what is happening with coronavirus to people with learning difficulties.
Emergency help
- The detailed ‘What is domestic abuse and how does it affect disabled people’ thread outlines what abuse is, how to report it and where to access emergency support.
Stay safe everyone and remember we are here to support you though this
Online Community Co-ordinator
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Replies
I am really struggling with not being able to go out for a drive and also struggling to understand why I’m not allowed to do so.
I have obsessive thoughts which get really bad when I’m stuck in the house - I need to get out the house every day. Luckily we have a dog so I have an “excuse” to go for a walk each day but this often isn’t enough and going for a drive really helps my mental health.
All I want to do is get in the car, go for a drive without getting out, and come home again.
- No one will be in the car except people from my household
- My car is on my drive so I don’t mix with anyone on the way to the car
- I won’t get out of the car at any point so won’t mix with anyone
I don’t see how doing this will spread Covid to lots of people but I am following the rules anyway!
It's great that you have your dog to take for walks and I'd recommend keeping that up. As for the obsessive thoughts, does listening to a podcast or watching tv/films interrupt and distract you from these? Does anything tend to block them out? I know I personally enjoy running as a way of switching off, but am lucky in that i) I don't have any mobility impairments and ii) I actually enjoy it
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Cher_scope - Thanks for the tips. I’ve found those things to help a little bit to drown out the thoughts. As for the exercise, I actually want to do some form of exercise that is more vigorous than walking and like you I’m lucky not to have any mobility impairments, but this is not something I am able to do right now due to my psychological issues. I am working towards it though with mental health professionals. I know we are getting back to driving again haha but I have aspirations in future to get a Land Rover and a mountain bike and take the bike to places for a bike ride
Wini1960 - that’s great you have turned your hobby into a business. I hope you are doing well and wish you the best of luck with it going forward!
Woodbine - many thanks for the kind words. Hopefully things will return to normal soon or even partly normal. I realise I could be in a worse position so I am grateful for that, was just having a bit of a moan haha!
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Coming in here helps keep me occupied lockdown isn’t too bad for me as I only go out for shopping anyway though we did used to go to cinema or out to eat .
It’s also a bonus as my son is home though home schooling can be a challenge
@66Mustang sorry you are finding it hard not driving I know it’s no substitute but do you play any driving games on a console . Or could you volunteer in the community to maybe shop and deliver to others
I agree with you about the forum being a good time occupier and good to combat loneliness as well
Thank you for the suggestion, I hadn’t thought of driving games actually! I don’t have a console but will have a look for some driving games on the iPad to see if they are any good
We currently do help a few neighbours with their shopping but we tend to do it at the same time as our own shopping to keep the risks down if that makes sense
Edit: those three links should now be working. Please give us a shout if you encounter a broken link again, all. I've also now announced the post in recent discussions too, so that more people will see it.
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Hopefully more people will see it
Want to tell us about your experience on the community? Talk to our chatbot here and let us know what you think
Want to tell us about your experience on the community? Talk to our chatbot and let us know.
Want to tell us about your experience on the community? Talk to our chatbot here and let us know what you think
Sorry, I just want to clarify so that I can check this for you
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There's a lot of information on those pages, and a wide range of resources, so if you come across anything specific that you're unsure about then please do flag it up to us so we can check it for you
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This Government Coronavirus: Accessing food and essential supplies webpage has links to who to contact and what support is available. Importantly, it says:
You can also contact your local authority to find out what support services are available in your area.
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I live rural so its quite difficult our local good bank has closed down due to corona virus sickness and now struggling to get volunteers and the other two are over whelmed because there are to many people needing help
I have a bit of food so I will spread it out I get paid on the 2nd of February so hopefuly be better by then
Thank you for the links though
How are you getting on? I hope you are keeping safe
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The nurse who comes here brings my things she has brought me some fish to have now so I will try
Thanks for the advice
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@66Mustang you clearly have some ongoing and debilitating complaints (I won't say issues, oops!) to deal with on a daily basis and yet you are still compassionate towards others and so I see more than a little light there. I too love driving but realise that if I just went for drives with no intention of getting out, what if I had a breakdown or accident and if most people started to do this, it would raise the risk far higher.
I would imagine your support worker is trying to guide you towards stepping outside of yourself, as much as actually going anywhere. Going outside can be liberating, of course, but ultimately a person needs to be able to live with themselves where ever they are; as the old saying goes, you always have to come home to yourself. Perhaps try to invest more in what you can do and see yourself more holistically, which includes a sensitive, caring person with a sense of achieving fun in what he can do. Alternatives are useful substitutes to still gain distraction and hopefully pleasure but don't have to be absolutes when change is quite possibly on the horizon if you let it be.
I hope that doesn't sound too preachy or cheesy..umm, cheese!
These are isolating and difficult times to adapt to, what with governments that have mislead and reacted rather than acted in our best interests.
I have stuck to the highest level of rules, as I only see this as the best way to get out of this pandemic. If everyone remained considerate of not only themselves but others it would help massively. This should ultimately be a relatively short-term event. It is also a time where home comforts, access to the net and so wider access in the sense of contact, libraries, music, films, games and TV whether factual or fiction are all available. Many can still go out for exercise and get the foods and daily needs sorted out, or have others they know, charity workers or those in paid help there. There are of course, though, people struggling desperately just to subsist, which must be simply awful on top of all this.
There is, however, real hope in vaccines coming and so the above is what I try to focus on. As I said, If people live in the now and focus on what they can't do, it will of course make times more difficult for them. I'm certainly not saying I always see things in rose coloured glasses, as I spend the vast majority of my time in a bedbound world due to disability and ongoing medical issues.
All a person can do is their best, to try and not disable themselves in mind and body and where possible enjoy what they can. And when they can't, have a vent and grumble on here or with other friends and rellies! Venting is definitely something I believe in, as it may not change things but it also allows you to release some of that bubbling mess inside
And, Hello, to you Lisa, I should've started with that!
Good to see you're making the most of this forum and making an effort to get on as best you can. Stay safe.
I certainly think letting people go out for a drive , I,m sure that would help many people ....especially when there is one law for some and a different law for others . we cannot step out the door but highly paid footballers can get buses up and down the country ( and in some cases , fly to other countries ) totally out of order I believe , if a law is good enough for us , it's good enough for others .
I have a playstation 4 (which my son gave me when he got his new playstation ) i can,t really get into gaming , even though the graphics are amazing . He gave me a few games with it as well....but i just cannot get into gaming at all .
I am learning five string bluegrass banjo , so I try to spend some time on it a few times a day . ....that helps me cope.
Please take care out there guys ....and may your God go with you 🙏
meditation is a great way to relax,
https://www.lionsroar.com/category/how-to/
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