Due to the coronavirus all schools have shut, and most teenagers now needs to stay at home. Some people will love being able to stay in their room all day and watch Netflix but for many people this many also be quite scary. As well as keeping up with schoolwork it is also important to maintain your mental health.

I know that this may seem hard to cope with as you can’t see your friends or boyfriend/ girlfriend but there are still ways that you can stay in contact. If you have an iPhone, then you can FaceTime or if not then you can still call your friends. There are also apps such as house party where you can keep in contact with people or Netflix party where you can watch movies with friends.

On YouTube there are many videos on meditation and deep breathing that may help you. These both help to relieve stress so will leave you feeling calmer. This also takes up a bit of time so you will not feel as though you are wasting your days.

It is also important to check up on your friends. Even if you feel fine you never know what your friends are going through, they may feel lonely, so it is always good to message them. If everyone sticks together then it will feel so much better when we come out of isolation and get to meet up with friends again if we are even closer to them then we were before.

As well as checking up on friends it’s nice to call your grandparents or any elderly relatives that you have as this is a very scary time for them. We have phones and other electronics, but many elderly people will not have these so may feel very lonely. Nevertheless, hearing their grandchild’s voice will brighten up their day and you will also feel a lot better about yourself to speak people other than those you live with.

One of my favourite things to do so far has been to plan what I will do when meeting up with my friends once this is all over. There is no date in our meet up so it can be done anytime as soon as isolation is finished. This plan includes us all going to McDonald’s then shopping in the city centre afterwards. We have also planned which shops we are going to and in which order. This has really brought us together so far and it is something that we are all looking forward to.

Colouring is also an activity which can relieve stress and is time consuming. This can include any design which you print off the google or even draw yourself. If you wanted, you could stick them up on your front window for all the key workers to see on their way to work.

There are many things that you can do to keep calm and maintain your mental health during the isolation. To conclude, this includes speaking to friends and family; watching videos on YouTube; planning open-ended events to look forward to and colouring.

Remember to stay safe, stay indoors and look after yourself

Katie, 16

 

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