Stress Awareness Month : Pandemic life, mental health and stress levels
This pandemic has caused a lot of unusual changes in our lives, everything from wearing a mask, gloves, sanitizing to working from home.
Mental health and stress levels are so high these days since everything is from home and yet it's inconvenient for us to do some things from home.
"I feel like I have no longer much control over anything and I miss my friends," said Anika Chhabra, a high school student.
Japkeerat Kaur, a university student says, "It is giving me stress, not being able to go outside or anything."
Since a lot of people are affected by this whole new social norm, I decided to do a poll in my close circle meaning people that are following me on my social media accounts.
The poll was about how has the pandemic affected your mental health and stress levels.
For Canadian university and college students, it's the final push with end-of-semester final exams.
People have commented that "Erratic lockdowns make future planning difficult," said Jagtar Singh, a student at George Brown College.
Ishveen Kaur, a student at Humber College says, "Assignments are piling up and school is getting hectic."
As we know April is Stress Awareness Month, I decided to do this poll, and here is a quick read about the results and some comments people had dropped on my Instagram story.
The poll was conducted on three different social media platforms that include Instagram, Linkedin, and Twitter.
Instagram poll results:
(Kuwarx123/Instagram)
60 people participated in this Instagram poll and the two options that were provided to the question were a lot and not at all.
Where 49 people said it had affected them a lot and only 11 said not at all.
This means out of 60 people who participated in the poll, 81 percent said it had affected their mental health a lot and only 19 percent said that the pandemic has not at all affected their mental health/stress levels.
LinkedIn poll results:
(Kuwarjeet Singh / Linkedin)
13 people participated in this LinkedIn poll and the four options that were provided to the question were not at all, I am alright, Too much work and I want this to be over.
Where 62 percent said I want this to be over, 23 percent said Too much work, and 15 percent said I am right.
No one chooses the not-at-all all option.
Twitter poll results:
(Kuwarx123x/Twitter)
Only 7 people participated in this Twitter poll and the four options that were provided to the question were not at all, I am alright, Too much work and I want this to be over.
Where 57 percent said I want this to be over, 14 percent said Too much work and 29 percent said I am alright. Again, no votes for not at all.
Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter data combined:
Since there were no votes for not at all I combined I am alright votes with the positive as the positive aspects of the pandemic.
All of the polls combined, around 85 percent of people who participated in this poll said it has affected them a lot and they have too much work and only 15 percent say it has not at all affected them and they are alright.
Experience people had:
It's really affecting everyone's mental health to stay at home and sit in front of a screen for hours.
"This pandemic has affected me so much... sitting in front of a laptop screen for hours," says Asjad Khuwja, a post-secondary student.
"I tend to be generally a happy guy no matter the situation, and I'm also living with my friends," said Fatehraj Singh Matharu, a biology student at Wilfred Laurier University.
He explains, "I used to play a lot of PC games so that has not changed... I am still on my laptop a lot, but I'm still able to go outside for runs and exercise as there is a gym in my apartment."
Some things you can do to take care of your mental health:
Jasmandeep Singh Dhillion, one of the poll participants said, "Stress and anxiety change the way we breathe and if we reverse the cycle the very way we breathe can alter the way we experience life."
Here are five tips for you to take care of your mental health and stress levels:
1. Take 5-10 mins breaks throughout the day don't just sit in front of a screen for hours.
2. Take a walk, get some fresh air by walking outside maybe just around your house or on the street, if you don't have that much time just stretch and walk around inside your house.
3. Start reading a book, you will learn something and it will help you relax and give away to distract your eyes from screen hours.
4. Play games: it's okay to go to the gym, play on your console, or just go for a run.
5. Stay hydrated: You need to stay hydrated throughout the day to stay concentrated on your work while drinking water, It's alright to take a small snack break.
Conclusion:
All the people counted as votes are different people/social media accounts and people who have voted on two or three different social media are only counted as one vote in the overall results.
There is a margin of human error in this poll since I have no idea if people have lied or if the data is 100 percent correct and it was done on my personal social media accounts.
Therefore, I can't guarantee you that these results are a 100 percent accurate representation of people's mental health and stress levels during this pandemic.
Since the majority of the people said the pandemic had affected their mental health a lot, I can conclude that the pandemic has affected a lot of people.
But, there is still some positivity out there as there are people who weren't really affected a lot by the pandemic.
Comment below:
What are some things you are doing to stay positive throughout this global pandemic?
How are you coping with this whole mess of online school, work basically sitting in front of the screen all day long?
How has the pandemic affected your mental health or stress level?