Coronavirus and Your Wellbeing
Updated: Dec 20, 2022
Coronavirus and your wellbeing
You may be concerned about coronavirus (also known as COVID-19) and how it might affect your life. This could include being asked to stay at home or avoid other people.
This may cause concern, prove difficult or stressful however there are many things you can try that could help your wellbeing.
This information is to help you cope if:
You’re feeling anxious or worried about coronavirus
You’re asked to stay at home or avoid public places, for example if your employer asks you to work from home
You have to self-isolate. This means you avoid contact with other people and follow strict hygiene rules.
The NHS has advice about self-isolation in English and advice about self-isolation in Welsh.
For information on how long to self-isolate, see the current government advice in English or the current government advice in Welsh.
What it covers:
Plan for staying at home or indoors
If you’ve been advised to stay at home or indoors this could be a tricky situation for some people, for example because of poor housing conditions or other people who live with you.
There are a few things you could try:
Think about other options, like if there’s a friend or family member who would be happy for you to stay with them.
If you’ve been asked to self-isolate, it might not be possible to stay away from your own home. You can check if this is ok by reading the current government health advice in English or the current government health advice in Welsh.
If you need to get help with housing problems. See this page of useful contacts for housing to find details of organisations who may be able to help.
If you’re supporting someone who is self-isolating, see the government advice on how to do this safely.
Eat well and stay hydrated
See if you are able to get food delivered. For example, you might be able to order food online for home delivery. Or you could ask someone else to drop food off for you.
Think about your diet. Your appetite could change if your routine changes, or if you’re less active than you usually are. Eating regularly and keeping your blood sugar stable can help your mood and energy levels. See these tips on food and mood for more information.
Drink water regularly. Drinking enough water is important for your mental and physical health. Changing your routine might affect when you drink or what fluids you drink. It could help to set an alarm or use an app to remind you. See this website for more information about water, drinks and your health.
Keep taking your medication
You might be able to order repeat prescriptions by phone, or you may be able to do this online using an app or website, if your doctor’s surgery offers this. You could download the free NHS App and search for your surgery, although some surgeries aren’t on the app yet.
Ask your pharmacy about getting your medication delivered, or ask someone else to collect it for you. This will usually be possible, although if it’s a controlled drug the pharmacy might ask for proof of identity.
Make sure anyone collecting medication on your behalf knows if they have to pay for it. The NHS website has more information on getting prescriptions for someone else and checking if you have to pay for prescriptions.
You should only buy or obtain medication from registered pharmacies.
You can check if a pharmacy is registered on the General Pharmaceutical Council website
You can contact NHS 111 in England or NHS Direct Wales if you’re worried about accessing medication.
Continue accessing treatment and support
Ask about having appointments by phone, text or online. For example, this could be with your counsellor, therapist or support worker.
Ask your therapist how they can support you, for example if you’re struggling with not seeing them face to face.
Take care of your immediate environment
If you are spending a lot of time at home, you may find it helpful to keep things clean and tidy, although this is different for different people.
If living with other people, keeping things tidy may feel more important if you’re all at home together. But you might have different ideas about what counts as 'tidy' or how much it matters. It could help to decide together how you’ll use different areas of the house..
Cleaning your house, doing laundry and washing yourself are important ways to help stop germs spreading, including when there are warnings about particular diseases. The NHS website has advice in English about how to stop germs from spreading.
Your energy costs will probably rise if you’re at home more than usual. Think about how you can manage your energy use, or how to cover any higher bills. You could also ask your energy provider about any support they offer, for example if you can sign up to their priority services register. If you're worried about money, this page of useful contacts for money has details of organisations who may be able to help or provide support.