How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

I have only left the house to go for local walks and 2 medical appts. since March 13th. My kids have been on total lockdown. I know it's taking a toll on them not seeing friends. I finally agreed to let my middle school aged son go for a bike ride with 2 friends today. I was nervous the whole time. My daughter is miserable and craving social interaction. How are you all handling this? People seem to be at such different comfort levels.

How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Still haven’t come off lockdown. My house is total lockdown since 3/13 for groceries I get them delivered. I’m the only one that leaves because I work in the hospital. I don’t feel comfortable yet but many do. I think a good place to start is outside interaction at a distance, like your son going on a bike ride that is a great place to start. I think encouraging some outdoor interactions will help. If you feel comfortable too, have your kids wear a mask to help ease anxiety. I think educating children on how to keep themselves healthy is important and it’s important to educate why we have done and do the things we are doing right now

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Honestly I never had anxiety about it so I'm not at all anxious now. Looking at the numbers and us being low risk, I'm not too concerned at this point.
We are careful, we wash hands often, wear masks when needed, but in general i just live.
Kids especially are at very low risk.
Mental health is important too so getting out is important to us within reason

Message edited 6/6/2020 6:59:24 PM.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

We started with outside gtg’s with immediate family who we knew were as careful as they could possibly be. Stayed far apart from each other (I have a large deck And was able to separate the 3 families easily)

We then graduated to allowing one other couple over to our house for dinner and we went to theirs. Again, we know they are super careful and clean before and after visitors.

My husband and I opened our business 2 weeks ago and are in contact with our employees. At least 5 other people each day. We wear masks when not 6 feet apart and I clean constantly throughout the day. We are doing curbside so any interaction we have with others are outside with masks on.

Doing all of these things. A little at a time has made me feel less afraid. I was starting to get panicked about ever leaving the house again and needed to try some sort of other human interaction.

Little bit at a time. Baby steps.
Just remember to wash your hands and don’t touch your face unless you are home and you’ve washed your hands well.

How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

I feel the same way. A week ago I finally went to the grocery store for the first time since March-my kids haven’t seen friends in so long though.

I’ve started by seeing family members-grandparents/siblings/cousins.

I was telling my dh yesterday-when will i feel okay not wiping down my groceries. Or getting take out without reheating and transferring it. Or letting my kids see a friend.

I’m guessing I’ll need to start slowly getting more comfortable before school starts in September (depending on what it will look like).

How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

I am at a very comfortable level. I am essential and have had to leave the house all along. We have had neighborhood kids over for the past 3 weeks now. Everybody is okay take care of yourself, wear a mask and carry hand sanitizer. This thing is nearly eradicated in NY because Of what was done. We just have to use precaution (that we should have been doing all along frankly)

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Message edited 6/6/2020 7:12:10 PM.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

I have anxiety over this as well

I have followed all the rules since March. I’ve only been to the store for necessary trips. Last Thursday, I had to go to school to clean out my room. I was anxious any time I saw someone. Many people looked comfortable talking closely with others. I was not one of those people. I am very concerned about long term effects of the virus.

I want to see our families but we are not local to them. I want to plan to meet half way at a park or something so we can see each other. I want my son to play with other kids but most of his friendships are new and I don’t know the parents very well so I feel uncomfortable contacting them to set up a play date. When school “ends” I think I will bite the bullet and do an outside play date.

How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

We followed all the rules up until this weekend. Its been 3 months since my parents Hve seen my child so we went to visit.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

We dipped our toes in the water on MDW and since then, it's pretty much been a free for all. I saw how happy and carefree my kids were playing with their friends rather than on the freaking videogames. Since then, I have allowed them to go to a friend's house and they have had playdates here. I only allow one child at a time for play dates. I make sure everyone is washing their hands and they are outside playing.

The numbers are drastically down. I spoke to one of my ER doctor clients and he told me he hasn't seen in a case in well over a week. That conversation took place last week so I don't know if things have changed but that gave me some security.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

I'm still going to be super cautious until a month from now - to see if there's a spike from everything opening and giant crowds from the protests. For me, I think my anxiety would be lower once the doctors are able to figure out how to effectively treat people that have it. Right now, they're still trying everything they can, and some things look more promising than others, but it's all still guessing. I can't stay home until a vaccine b/c that won't be until next year, but being able to handle people that get it (and have issues enough to go to the hospital) is my barometer.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

They say a good way to start is to invite over a family who has the same amount of interaction as you do for an outdoor BYO gathering.

We started letting my older son outside to play with neighborhood kids in mid-May. I immediately noticed a difference in him once I let him socialize more that made it worth the risk for me. I think he was depressed.

My younger son has seen a friend - I need to socialize him more but, he doesn't have friends as close as older DS. And he's a homebody so he'd rather stay home. Whenever school starts it's going to be really hard for me to get him to go again.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

i stopped wiping down the groceries which was a biggie for me.

i also stopped wearing gloves, another biggie. i just use sanitizer and a paper towel when touching elevator buttons or door handles.

i think i just "calmed down" so to speak. i'm moderately germphobic in the best of times so it wasn't easy but we have to live our lives and just be careful.

I was in the bank the other day, had to wait for a notary and i was just trying to stay calm. there were 10 people in line, I was off to the side because i wasn't waiting for a teller.

I don't have kids so I have no idea what that must be like, but I do have seniors I take care of so i'm hyper vigilant about them. One I don't let go to any stores so I shop. The other i just because, well, she's nuts (i've complained about her incessantly on the relationship board).

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Thanks everyone! I'm taking baby steps and although I'm nervous, it feels great!

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Initially, I was nervous about going anywhere or doing anything. I wouldn't even get take-out. But as the weeks progressed little by little we started going back to doing things. First it was grabbing a pizza to bring home, then a quick run into Home Depot and once the weather got nice we started going out for walks and hiking. At this point, we're just going out and going about life as normally as possible. When we go out we just wear the stupid mask, use hand sanitizer and wash our hands any chance we can.

I think you just have to force yourself to get back out there, life has to move on at some point. The more you get back out, the less nerve wracking it is. I think being trapped in your house makes you hyper nervous about all of this, I was too in the beginning, but after all of this time I realized I had to relax a little and just start going back to life. I am hoping my kids can finally start having some play dates again soon and see kids in the neighborhood. Social isolation has been really hard for us all.

I think what helps me too is the fact that I live in a more rural area now that didn't have a high incidence of cases to begin with. I don't feel as nervous going out where I live.

How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

I think it is hard because fear is like a bell. Once rung it is hard to un-ring. Start small and ease your way back in. Anything outdoors in fresh air is much much safer so start there. If it helps, keep looking at the stats all around the world that show how infinitesimally low death rates are for kids and healthy people under 60. That helped me to not be scared from early on.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.

Re: How to lower anxiety about coming out of quarantine.