Last reviewed on 6 December 2021
18 months into the pandemic, there are still a lot of unknowns. Although the vaccine programme has had a positive impact, worries about new variants, travel restrictions and possible future lockdowns remain. However your new normal looks and however you feel about it, it’s useful to have some techniques to help you adapt to what might happen next.
You can find out more about how to accept uncertainty in this worksheet by the Centre for Clinical Interventions and you might also find it useful to watch our video mini-series in which members of the Speakers Collective talk about how they dealt with lockdown.
So, what else can you do to look after your mental wellbeing at the moment? The team at Good Thinking, London’s digital mental wellbeing service, have put together these tips to help you. You can also get recommendations for NHS-approved apps if you’re feeling anxious, stressed, depressed or having trouble sleeping. Simply go to the Good Thinking home page for more information.
As the COVID-19 pandemic continues, you might be anxious about your family’s health, your job and your finances. You might also be concerned about the possibility of having to change your plans for the festive season.
Take the Good Thinking anxiety quiz or anxiety self-assessment to get recommendations for NHS-approved wellbeing apps.
Listen to our podcasts about mindfulness and OCD.
Use the Centre for Clinical Interventions' Anxiety workbook.
Although stress is a perfectly normal reaction to some type of threat (it prepares you for ‘fight or flight’), when you’re facing an ongoing threat, it becomes something quite different. You might find that your mind is full of worries because you feel restricted or trapped.
Read our article about stress and take the Good Thinking stress quiz.
If your work life, social life and hobbies are still not back to normal, you might be struggling with boredom. As a result, you might feel restless, frustrated, lethargic or even angry.
Read our articles about managing boredom and connecting with nature. If you’re worried that your boredom is becoming something more serious, like depression, you could take the Good Thinking low mood quiz to get recommendations for NHS-approved wellbeing apps.
Loneliness is the unpleasant feeling you get when the contact you have with other people is not the contact you desire. For many Londoners, loneliness and isolation have been a major issue during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Read our article about coping with loneliness and listen to the Good Thinking podcast about mindfulness.
Finding it hard to fall asleep? Waking up in the night? A 2020 survey by King's College London/Ipsos MORI found that almost two-thirds (63%) of people in the UK say their sleep has been worse than usual during the COVID-19 pandemic.
You might also find the Good Thinking podcast about sleep and our sleep workbook useful.
If you’re a parent or carer, you can find lots of wellbeing advice for children and young people on the Good Thinking website.
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