How to thrive while sheltering in place

As most of the nation hits the one-month mark following social distancing guidelines as a response to slowing the spread of COVID-19, people are still learning to navigate a new normal and some more than others with a varying degree of success.  What are the best ways to cope, shall we say concur, this new reality?

Delishia Pittman, Ph. D., professor of counseling in the George Washington University’s Graduate School of Education and Human Development, has been providing coping techniques to her clients for years.  

In this new COVID-19 World, Dr. Pittman provides these top 3 tips she encourages everyone to follow to help create a routine and a sense of normalness.  

1. Shower everyday… Let’s be honest, most of us don’t know what day it is or whether or not we showered yesterday (no judgement, I am in the number)! Hygiene is SELFCARE! Taking a shower everyday can help you feel refreshed and, in a time, when days just roll into each other, can be a helpful reset. 

2. Give where you can.  If you have a roll of toilet paper to spare, give it to someone in need. Blood supply is increasingly tapped, if you’re healthy and able, consider donating. 

3. Unplug. From news, from social media, from phone and text, from email… whatever it is. For some, all the COVID-19 information feels helpful. For others, it feels utterly overwhelming. Today you might be in one camp and tomorrow the other. Give yourself permission to unplug from one or all of these things. 

Dr. Pittman is a practicing licensed psychologist in the District of Columbia. Her areas of particular emphasis in her research include substance use, coping behavior, and stress (chronic and traumatic) with the intent to further understanding of how these factors, independently and collectively, affect behavioral health outcomes.

Note: Pittman is available to talk by email or phone only.

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