If you’re unemployed, you need to watch this video.

If you’re retired, you need need to watch this video.

If you are at home due any other reason, you need to watch this video.

Here’s the link to the video if you want to watch rather than read this article: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Xe85VGsBvY

There are many people out there who are unemployed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. Depression and anxiety in on the high and when you do not keep yourself busy, you will lose your mind. I want to share some ways in which you can keep the depression and anxiety at bay.

I have an elderly client who have retired this year. This client told me that although the body is kept active by working in the garden every single day and walking 4km, 3 x p/week, the mind isn’t active anymore.

When you do not keep your mind sharp or active anymore, things like dementia and alzheimers creeps in. Not just this but things like depression and anxiety as well. Do you remember when you used to work full time, there was no time to even entertain any thoughts you might have? Keeping your mind busy, will “shoo” those thoughts away.

Ways in which you can keep your mind sharp and busy:

In a study of the Neurology journal, regular reading and writing in late life reduced the rate of memory decline by 32%. Read intellectual material but also something that is entertainment to you. My advice is reading something that make you laugh. Laughter produces endorphins which fights off depression and anxiety. So it’s a two in one thing: Reading that stimulates the brain and comedy to fight of the depression and anxiety. Reading will also keep your mind busy and the thoughts won’t be able to enter your brain.

If you are a blogger, great. Then you have the writing thing already under wraps but if you aren’t, start a journal. Yes, you men as well. There’s a USA male personal trainer which I follow and he started to journal to remember all the things his children says and does. He wants to remember and not forget.

My grandmother started to color but when she stopped, her memory started to decline. Things like coloring, playing soduku, cross word puzzles and trivia games, keep your mind sharp. These things tend to make you “think,” which you won’t normally do in routine kind of activities.

Exercise – the word that many people dread.

Dr. Scott McGinnis, an instructor in neurology at Harvard Medical School says:

Your mind and body are interconnected so, often, what benefits the body benefits the brain. Regular exercise, even taking a simple walk, goes a long way toward improving your memory and cognitive skills

The blood flow that happens during exercise, goes to the brain and this results in a healthier mind. You don’t need to do strenuous things like jumping, crossfit or bodybuilding. Things like walking, cycling, running or a hike in nature, do the same thing.

I know that unemployment can be hard, sickness and disease keep you house or hospital bound and retirement is hard on many people to adjust to the change, but try some of these things and keep that mind sharp. You want to remember your grandchildren and you want to experience joy instead of depression and anxiety.

Remember, if you do suffer from depression and anxiety, get help. Call a friend, counselor or pastor. And remember, Jesus is only a “help” away. Call out to Him as well.