Emotional Ups And Downs During Quarantine

Emotional ups and downs during quarantine are common and keep coming back. Some people experience mood swings throughout the day. From feeling motivated to feeling despondent. They go from calm to a fear that makes their stomach hurt and that triggers all kinds of negative thoughts.

This is completely normal. However, you should not fuel this negativity by wondering if you have some kind of disorder, such as bipolar disorder. This psychological state goes far beyond these emotional changes.

Broadly speaking, what happens to all of us is that we are exposed to a completely unknown situation. It is an unforeseen scenario where the brain, body and emotions all react to each other at the same time. So it is quite normal that we can expect some of these emotional reactions.

While this may surprise you, however, this context is not new to some people. Ask an astronaut and he will tell you what isolation is. This also applies to prisoners who have spent months and years in prison.

Also, some children with an immune disease spend a large part of their lives locked up at home. And finally, let’s not forget the researchers who can spend months at a time in locked stations in places like Antarctica.

Lawrence Palinkas of the University of Southern California is an expert investigating cases like this. His studies on psychosocial adaptation in extreme environments provide us with relevant data to understand what we are experiencing now.

Isolation has a great psychological impact on people and starts to be noticeable especially after 15 to 20 days. This is when we suffer most from emotional ups and downs. Let’s analyze this below.

Emotional ups and downs during quarantine

It’s easy to get up in the morning and get discouraged. As soon as you open your eyes to a new day, you may experience temporary disorientation.

For a few seconds you don’t know what day it is, and then boom! Your mind remembers everything… the pandemic, the quarantine, the physical and social isolation and the uncertainty about when your life will return to normal.

When you’re having breakfast, you usually exchange the first words with family and friends. You think about what you are going to do today and that gives you much needed energy and motivation.

However, after a few hours, and for no apparent reason, a fog seems to appear, making everything opaque and blurry. Your motivation starts to disappear and sadness fades everything.

Why is this happening to you? Are you perhaps developing some sort of psychological problem? Let’s dig deeper to find out why these emotional ups and downs occur during quarantine.

Even if you want to you won’t be okay all the time

It doesn’t matter if you have stimulating activities in your daily routine. It doesn’t matter if you are one of those optimistic people who always has words of encouragement for yourself and others.

We will all, without exception, experience some emotional ups and downs during this time. 24 hours a day, 7 days a week trying to be okay and positive is an illusion.

So while this may sound a little daunting, you’re going to have to deal with your negative feelings for a while. They will be like uncomfortable and unwanted roommates who will visit you from time to time and you will have to accept and understand them.

Try not to force other emotions on yourself

If you feel discouraged or frustrated, don’t avoid these emotions. Don’t try to get  rid of it and be merry. The emotional world doesn’t work this way. The emotional ups and downs during the quarantine are also an outlet for the brain, as this organ needs the daily life we ​​had.

When you perceive a change as drastic as the one we are all experiencing right now, a warning pops up in your brain. This then turns into stress and anxiety – emotions that are regulated by your amygdala. Therefore, when these emotions appear, it is impossible to exchange them for others.

But what should you do then? First of all, accept them and most of all tell yourself, “Feeling like this is normal, it’s a new unexpected situation. All I have to try to do is make sure this negative emotion doesn’t take over. I accept it, I understand it and I let it go.”

Look for ‘channels’ to achieve mental peace

Everyone experiences emotional ups and downs during quarantine. However, certain types of people are much more vulnerable to these emotional processes.

Anyone who has experienced depression or who suffers from another type of mental disorder, or who has mental health issues will have greater difficulty regulating those moods. It is therefore important that psychological, medical and social support is available to these people.

If we ignore these more exceptional situations, then in most cases emotional ups and downs are completely normal and you can handle them.

Steps You Can Take to Cope With Your Emotional Ups and Downs

You need to understand that instead of classifying them as negative or positive emotions, or as right or wrong, you need to know what to do with those emotions. Obviously you can’t be good and productive 100% of the time, but you can stay calm during all of this.

One way to achieve this is to find channels to connect with yourself. Metaphorically, it’s all about keeping your feet on the ground, with your mind focused and your heart in balance.

So activities like talking to relatives or friends that can help you express your emotions always help. Just like spending time on creative tasks that help you relax, such as cooking, painting, crafts or writing.

You shouldn’t worry too much about being productive right now. Remember it’s time to take care of yourself and be in survival mode to some degree. To achieve this, you need to understand the wide range of emotions you can experience throughout the day. If you do this, you can successfully overcome this difficult situation!