Looking after yourself and your family
From Healthy Ireland
Published on
Last updated on
From Healthy Ireland
Published on
Last updated on
Adapting to being at home more can be challenging for everyone.
Some of us are trying to balance working from home, with child care, to also becoming a chef, PE teacher, and filling the gaps of friends.
And some of us are finding the time at home lonely and the days long and hard to fill.
Your routine may be affected by the COVID-19 outbreak in different ways. But during difficult times like this, it’s best if you can keep some structure in your day.
Shaping a new routine will help us stay busy and feel in control of our time:
You can listen to our radio ad on keeping a routine here.
You can listen to our radio ad on sleep here.
Being around each other 24/7, especially if that is not your normal pattern, can be stressful and cause tensions to rise.
The Department of Children and Youth Affairs has developed a central information point, the Parents Centre, for parents to get quality information and support.
We also have some simple tips to help guide you through this time.
You can listen to our radio ad on parenting here.
For extra advice and information you can contact Parentline at 1890 927 277, Barnardos at 1800 910 123 or go to www.mychild.ie.
Children
The Department of Education and Skills has some great advice on how to talk to children and young people about COVID-19.
Young people
The spread of COVID-19 is a new and challenging event. Some people might find it more worrying than others and may need some extra support.
There are many things you can do to mind your mental health during times like this. Read more about minding your mental health during the COVID-19 outbreak.
This can be an anxious time for older children who may be worried about exams or college. The Department of Education and Skills has created some resources for parents, children, and young people
These include:
They have also created a podcast on relaxation techniques that you can find here.
The Department of Culture, Heritage and the Gaeltacht has also created a list of online resources available here.
There are a number of service providers that offer online and phone mental health supports and services. These include online counselling, phone and text services as well as online supports which can be found on www.yourmentalhealth.ie.
Stress Control is an accredited free programme that teaches you life skills to deal with stress. The programme helps us recognise the signs of stress and covers topics including how stress affects our bodies and thoughts. It teaches skills to overcome panicky feelings and tips to getting a good night’s sleep.
Go to Stresscontrol.org for more information.
These mobile apps can help you manage anxiety. They have been reviewed and approved for listing here, by a group in the HSE (Mental Health Apps Review Sub Group).
A user-friendly self-help tool based on proven scientific strategies, MindShift CBT teaches about anxiety, helping users to engage in healthy thinking and to take action. Users check in each day to track their anxiety and work with tools in the app.
Get it in the App Store or on Google Play.
Clear Fear is an app developed for teenage mental health charity Stem4 which uses the evidence-based treatment CBT to focus on learning to reduce the physical responses to threat by learning to breathe, relax and be mindful as well as changing thoughts and behaviours and releasing emotions. You can personalise the app if you so wish and you will be able to track your progress and notice change.
Get it in the App Store or on Google Play.
Headspace is a well-known mobile app that teaches meditation and easy to use mindfulness skills. Map your journey, track your progress, and reap rewards in your overall health and wellbeing. You can even ‘buddy up’ with friends and motivate each other along the way.
Get it in the App Store or on Google Play.
It is really important to stay connected during this time. Keeping connected to your friends and family will help us all get through this tough time.
Our technology means that there is a huge variety of ways in which we can connect to each other:
You can listen to our radio ad on staying connected here.
Now that more of our time will be spent at home, it is a great opportunity to get creative or pick up an old hobby. Doing something creative can help improve your mood and learn new skills, which is a great way of looking after your mental wellbeing.
During this time Creative Ireland is offering a selection of free creative resources online across Ireland to help you #CreateAtHome.
From museums and galleries to Irish artists and organisations, there are so many ways for you to get creative and keep your mind active while isolating.
You can find more ideas from Creative Ireland on their:
The Design and Crafts Council Ireland (DCCI) has launched Get Ireland Making. There will be step-by-step interactive workshops and short video tutorials broadcast on DCCI’s YouTube channel.
On this channel you can learn to:
Being creative with your children is also a lovely way to spend time together and boost your children’s confidence.
We are bombarded with information about the virus constantly through TV, radio and social media. It can become overwhelming for both you and your family.
While it is important to keep up to date with the latest messages, it is also important to step away and take a breather.
Schedule a time every day to check your social media, and the latest news. Relentless checking can lead to increased anxiety and stress. Misinformation and rumour can cause undue distress to both you and your children so make sure that you rely on trusted sources such as the HSE and Department of Health.
There are various things that can help you to switch off and help you relax:
Being around each other all the time, combined with worry over illness, children, money, or sick relatives, can increase stress levels and put a strain on relationships.
It is really important that you take care of yourself and your relationships at this time.
This will stop you from becoming overwhelmed and taking it out on each other:
While it is not always possible, it is helpful to keep a separation of work life from home life, try finding a separate space to work in if you can.
Working from home and taking care of children means having to create a new routine to ensure that you can be productive and manage the demands of home. This will need careful planning and sometimes creative solutions.
Plan your days in advance to make sure everyone knows what they will be doing and when:
Those who have long term health conditions may be more at risk from serious illness related to COVID-19 and will need to take extra care to protect themselves.
You will find some practical tips to help you here.
If you are caring for someone in your family Family Carers Ireland have a range of resources and supports to help and advise you.
Their Careline is available to call for free with any queries you may have on 1800 240724.
They also have a Emergency Care Plan, that you can download and complete, to have a plan in place in the event of the primary family carer no longer being able to provide care.
Family Carers Ireland - Emergency Care Plan
This is for family carers to plan who can offer support and would need to be notified in the event that the primary family carer can no longer provide care due to an emergency.
If you are caring for someone who is cocooning, you can find more help and advice here.
The College of Psychiatrists of Ireland have developed a series called Supporting Families of Young People with Mental Illness during Covid-19. It features short videos that give some key practical measures to help families and young people cope while isolating at home and without the structured timetables and activities of school and other support services.