Coping with low mood
COPING WITH
LOW MOOD
Dr. Vicky Aldridge, Senior Clinical Psychologist
With the outbreak of COVID-19, we're facing extraordinary government measures intended to keep us, our families and our communities safe. We must follow these to support our NHS.
However, while these measures protect us from spreading the disease, social distancing and isolation can impact our mental health and wellbeing. To help the military community during this time, the Combat Stress clinical team have created a series of resources to help.
Here, we'll discuss feelings of low mood and how to improve them.
What is low mood?
Everyone can experience changes in their mood and we can all feel low at times. So it is, without question, completely normal to experience feelings of low mood right now.
You may feel sad more often or feel lethargic (less motivated or energetic than usual) or you may feel indifferent or shut off from your emotions – this is a normal human response to such unusual and stressful events. However, this can become a problem when:
- Low mood is persistent
- It impacts on how you behave
- You are increasingly irritable
- You have low motivation, feel lethargic and have no energy
- You lack enjoyment in things that you used to enjoy
- You feel hopeless
- You have a poor appetite or are over-eating
- You're experiencing poor sleep
- You're taking less care of yourself
Suggested Resources
Why is it worse at the moment?
You may be struggling with low mood because:
- The COVID-19 crisis may trigger difficult memories
- Being out of your usual routine can make you feel out of control, which is difficult to deal with
- The disruption to exercise routine may impact on mood
- Telling someone how you feel may be harder, so you ‘bottle up’ your feelings
- Getting time to yourself may be difficult due to close confinement with family
- You might not be able to use the skills you previously used to cope
- You might be more isolated than normal
- Eating properly may be difficult due to limited food availability
It's important to highlight that as a veteran you are likely to be incredibly well-equipped to manage these sorts of crises, after all you might have battled through some of the most hostile and chaotic circumstances during your time in the Armed Forces.
Routine, tasks, camaraderie, humour, focusing on what can be done rather than what cannot, and the ability to improvise are all qualities that can help at this time.
What can I do to help me cope better?
Tips for overcoming low mood
1. Give yourself a break!
- It's responsible and sensible, not selfish, to look after yourself. If you don’t look after yourself then you won't have the energy to look after anyone else.
- Remember, it's completely normal and understandable that you may experience some, or all, of these symptoms during times of crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic. It's important to remember that most of the planet’s population are experiencing similar feelings and you are not alone in this.
- Previous experiences of highly complex, volatile and distressing circumstances may mean that there are strengths you can draw upon. However, over time these events add up and affect our wellbeing. It does not mean you're weak, failing, broken or losing your mind - it does mean that you are human.
2. Change perspective
- When people are low in mood, their thinking changes and they tend to think very negatively about themselves, the future and the world around them. Thoughts are powerful and they influence how we feel and what we do.
- We can challenge our thoughts so that we feel and behave differently.
Here are some of the most common, unhelpful thinking patterns we can all get into from time-to-time:
It can be helpful to begin by writing some of your thoughts down on paper. It's far easier to challenge our unhelpful thoughts when theyre static and in black and white.
3. Eat healthy
- Make sure you eat regular and healthy meals and drink plenty of fluids as dehydration leads to headaches and lowers mood.
4. Limit alcohol
Alcohol and drug consumption can heighten negative feelings and affect your sleeping pattern, leaving you feeling tired and more likely to experience heightened, negative emotions. If you think you have a reliance on substances, or that you overuse them, our resource on Substance Abuse can help you at this time.
5. Routine
Set your routine and keep each day structured (with reasonable expectations), focus on what will bring the most enjoyment first. Remember your 7Ps (Proper Prior Planning Prevents Particularly Poor Performance – you’ll know an alternative to particularly is often used!) and get prepping. Just increasing our activity and exercise levels can have an enormous impact on our mood.
Everything we do, hour-by-hour can be seen to give us a sense of: Achievement, Connection with others, and Enjoyment or pleasure. In other words, it can help you to feel ACE.
Some examples of what you might do are:
- Make a list of jobs that you’ve wanted to do but have put off and do one or two a day and tick off for a sense of satisfaction
- Try a new hobby
- Volunteer/help others where possible
- Find positive/funny memes to send to friends and family
- Keep a family/individual chart to mark off achievements/tasks
- Think of new ways to improvise if you don’t have a gym!
Try using the following chart to help you think of activities that will benefit you the most.
And this planner you help you to structure your week.
6. Get online with your community
Connecting with other people can help us to feel less isolated. And, positively, we are currently living in an age where there are many different ways to see and connect with others, such as:
- Skype
- Facebook messenger
- Online groups/Youtube – exercise, hobbies, theatre, workout
- Regiment groups
- Online courses to learn a new skill
We also recommend that, to help you feel more connected, you hold a video call instead of a phone call, and try to refrain from just messaging/texting friends and family.
7. Remember this is temporary
While this situation does feel overwhelming, it won't be forever. Remind yourself of this when you're feeling low or scared and plan for things to do when this is all over.
SENSORY TECHNIQUES
This table contains sensory techniques that aim to help with feelings of low mood. Try these within your capabilities. When introducing these strategies – be mindful not to try too many at once. We suggest you try some and make note of which were helpful before moving on to the next.
If you experience low mood without an anxiety component, then we suggest that relaxation exercises may not be preferred.
For those who experience low mood with anxiety, then a combination of relaxation strategies (to assist with the reduction of anxiety) along with alerting (uplifting) strategies (to assist with relieving the symptoms of low mood) is often beneficial.
| Strategy | Sense | Works By |
|---|---|---|
| Moving the body (Alerting) | Vestibular, Proprioception | Sit ups, skipping, shuttle runs, dynamic yoga, cycling, dancing. Combine dancing with upbeat music to activate auditory alerting strategies too! |
| Push / Pull exercises. Carry or sit with a heavy weight. Rocking chair or swing chair movement. (Calming) | Proprioception, Vestibular | Large arm movements, painting a wall, pushing or pulling against furniture or using a theraband gives the proprioceptive input to help calm the body. You could also try having a weight in your lap, carrying books or a bucket of water or have a weighted cushion or bag of rice. If you have a dog or cat – try to get them to sit on you for a short period. Rhythmically rocking in a rocking chair or using a foam roller back and forth beneath your legs promotes a calming sensation through your vestibular sense. |
| Muscle tension and relaxing (calming) | Touch, Proprioception | Squeeze and release a stress ball. Breathe in deeply and slowly while tensing your muscles – then exhale slowly while releasing tension. |
| Listen to upbeat music (alerting) | Auditory | Using loud or upbeat music is stimulating for the auditory sense. |
| Listen to relaxation music, classical music (calming) | Auditory | Splash cold water on your face to reverse the hot, flushed feeling experienced when angry. There are Youtube videos available with varying relaxation sounds like rain or fire crackling. If you prefer, you can try classical music, which many find calming. |
| Visualise, look at or colour cool/calm pictures (Calming) | Visual/Deep pressure touch | You could try colouring or painting, with adult books available widely. This promotes calmness through the visual and touch senses. |
| Look at bright, coloured images. Look out of the window frequently. Colour or paint abstractly. (Alerting) | Visual | Stimulates the visual sense in an alerting manner. |
SENSORY SNACKS
It is also important you maintain a good physical health routine to help with low mood. For further information please access our additional resources below.
Suggested Resources
- Sensory Snacks - May 2020
Is there someone I can call and talk to?
Our 24/7 free Helpline remains open, so please do not hesitate to call if you need someone to talk to or any guidance during this difficult time.
Combat Stress 24/7 Free Helpline 0800 138 1619.
If you require more urgent help, either yourself or a member of your family, please contact your GP or call 111.
You can also contact the Samaritans on 116 123.