Living alone, how do you cope up with anxiety, depression and stress from work or from the current events?

A few days ago my roommate just moved back to their province and I'm the only one left now. I'm used to living alone but not in this kind of situation where I'm limited on things that I can do like going outside to unwind or go to the mall, eat in a restaurant, see some of my friend, play outdoor sports.

Lately I find my self having hard time going to sleep at night, I'm having panic attacks which I didn't experienced before, worrying about things, getting sick and hard to focus at work. I'm worried that this can affect my performance in my current job.

Any advice on how to cope up in this kind of situation? Thank you keep safe and God Bless!

Comments

[Andrew Baisden]

Messaging apps, video chat and online gaming is a godsend. You will never feel alone again

[John Foderaro]

I personally find exercise to be a great way to reduce anxiety and stress. Reading fiction is also another great way in which to keep your mind busy and occupied in a very engaging way.

[PenAndPapers]

Thank you so much. 😄

[Jean Tiston]

I feel you. I was in a similar situation. I used to live with my sister but she moved back to the province right before this whole situation happened. And even though I'm used to working remotely, I was always able to work in a cafe, meet with friends, or do whatever before all of this happened. So the recent events just made me feel stuck and anxious. So this is my advice (or well, this is what works for me)

1. Know that it will pass. It might feel so awful sometimes especially when you're anxious and you spiral down into thinking the worst possible scenarios but it gets better eventually.
2. Observe what triggers your anxieties or panic attacks. Being aware of what sets you off gives you the chance to either avoid it or if it's unavoidable to at least try to reframe your mindset about it.
3. Talk to friends. You don't need to talk to them about what you feel cause I know that might be awkward sometimes but just connect with people and chat about trivial things or play online games together over zoom. (Jackbox games and Among Us are awesome for this)
4. Don't force it. If you feel like you're less productive now than you used to, just accept it and roll with it. Don't feel bad for feeling bad.

All my advice sounds so... theoretical. So here's a practical tip. Try focusmate.com/ you can get a virtual co-working buddy and it's kinda nice to work with someone sometimes. :)

[Matt Curcio]

Really nice,
Thank you

[PenAndPapers]

Thanks you so much. God Bless :D

[Andrew ⚛️ & ☕]

Running every day + cold showers + reading.
Star slow, and add volume by tiny "pieces"
+100m to run, +10sec to cold showers.
And read good books.

I don't know if it'll work for you, but give it a shot)))

[PenAndPapers]

Thank you so much. I'll try to do your advice. God Bless :D

[Anirudh Janga]

I have had similar experience and here is what I think. It is a perfect time to explore the following.

1. Mindfulness techniques and meditation.
2. Going for a run. Creating monthly challenges is a great way to keep the motivation going.
3. Reading non fiction books. I suggest bookauthority.org/ to explore different options. Monthly challenges can help in this category as well.
4. Working from a coffee shop for couple of hours if any are open in your area.
5. DIY projects, building a website & open source contributions.
6. Cooking!
7. Learning a music instrument.
8. Listening to sleep stories in calm app or youtube. This has greatly helped me fall asleep like a baby.
9. I personally enjoy coffee but switching to green tea might help with anxiety.
10. Getting rid of things that you don’t need or remind you of painful experiences. Creating more space is definitely calming.

This is probably the best time to truly explore and experience this beautiful world & the universe.

[PenAndPapers]

Thank you so much, youre definitely right this is now the best time to learn new things. Keep safe and God Bless.

[Pandita]

Well, these are some things that I do:

• make sure your space feels like your own! and I mean in the sense that you should feel comfy and happy being in this space. Ex: change the layout of your furniture, add pictures, posters, make sure it's a bit tidy (I know it's a pain but it helps!!), make it smell nice, add plants, etc.

• control what you consume. Opinions, twitter threads, the news, videos on youtube. Try to go for learning and not entertainment. Also, sensationalism is on the rise and news outlets have agendas. Make sure you're not falling for their traps :3

• have hobbies outside of programming. While yeah programming is fun, you need your brain to do other things! It needs to cool down and what better way than having a hobby completely different from development. For example music, arts, gardening, cooking, writing, reading, etc.

• exercise! this will tire you out and help you sleep better (I suffer from some sort of insomnia as well, it's terrible :c). If you have a Nintendo Switch I highly recommend getting the ringfit, it's pretty cool and fun :D

• call family or friends. Just because we're stuck at home doesn't mean we can't socialize a bit, if you can, try to call your loved ones just to check up on them, it's refreshing c:

• plan your week/journaling. I know you may not be moving about in your place, but I highly suggest sitting down, think about the stuff you want to do during the week (side projects, goals, payments, that stuff), and set days for when you want to do them. Also, try to write down interesting things that happened to you during the day. You can look back upon them later to remind yourself of how you were doing or what you were focusing on :3

• sit in the morning and just write down everything you feel. This one I stole from The Artist's Way by Julia Cameron. She says to do it every day of your life but I did it for a few months and my golly did it help. As soon as you wake up, write down everything, EVERYTHING, doesn't matter how dumb, stupid, or whatever it is, for max 3 pages. I honestly did what I could, sometimes it would be half a page, other times it would be 4 or 5 pages. Let it go. Make sure that journal is private :3

• it's okay to chill for a day or a week! Totally depends on your mood. Sometimes we need to rest, so just, after work, don't stress out about anything.

I hope this little essay can give you some ideas! Good luck :3

[PenAndPapers]

Thank you so much for your really awesome advice. Gob Bless :D

[Sultan H.]

I had really tough times with sleeping, waking up to my daily job, and kick-off my day as I usually did before all of the COVID-19 restrictions came along.

I'm their mate and there isn't an ultimatum magical solution to that.. but, since it's coming from inside "Mentally" and regardless of its because of the surrounding circumstances, it can be resolved from within.

Things I did, and that really makes me feel better on a daily bases:

1. I revise my plans -call it dreams-, I keep drawing the imagination for myself acing the job I wanna be doing; it boosts my mental health, my confidence, and my productivity.. it all depends on really going deep within your mind, bumping the feeling you want to feel out of this imaginary picture you're drawing of your future self. I usually do it last thing before going to bed.

2. I created a side-hustle to keep me busy, a side project that filled my time. Now I understand how hard it is to commit to a side-project, but, haven't you got a really crazy idea you have been waiting to do since you became a developer? it could be learning something new tho!

3. I started communicating moreover on social-media, I lived around 5 years on my own, I was totally lost back then and it was really hard for me to talk to anyone, even the best of my friends and especially through social media, but it seems to be a good workaround nowadays.

And.. man, most importantly is for you to know that this is a temporary circumstance, and start dealing with it as if it's a lifestyle that was granted to you in order for you to make something great out of it! <3

[PenAndPapers]

Thank you so much. Keep safe and God Bless :D

[Samuele Zanca]

When you say work is stressing you out, do you actually mean that its challenging? If maybe it's stress related to talking to people e.g. some kind of presentation or not feeling adequate then I'm sorry but it's all self inflicted and you need to work on yourself instead of blaming the workplace. If. The prior, you need to work on speaking publicly if the latter then you need to remember that they hired you, if you were inadequate you'd be fired. If none of these and its actual stress then it's probably a sign that is the wrong job or bad workplace. Work shouldn't be stressful.

In regards to the outside world's happenings, simply learn to give less of a fuck. Not giving a fuck is really quite invigorating.

[PenAndPapers]

Hahahaha that was really nice advice thank you. :D

[Julio Fagundes]

+0.01 cent
Go get new friends, experiences, by keeping open to know new people. Small Talks are always good to show a little from you.
Invite ppl to go a common places in town.
Go outside, travel, even alone.