Coping with Coronavirus

The way I cracked my addiction to sweets was buying a stack of chocolate bars starting at 60% dark and working my way up from there. When I had a craving, I'd eat a square of the 60% dark chocolate. When the 60% ran out, I had the 70%. Then the 80, then the 90. Eventually I was eating 100% dark chocolate, and that's when the cravings stopped, because I had successfully broken my brain's association between chocolate and pleasure. (-:

Venting. Friends in peril.

Spoiler:

Deleting a bunch of background... a friend is in ICU with bloodclots in the lungs and it is hitting hard. Over a week of being home with two kids trying to balance home with work to keep the roof over our heads and no real end to this in sight and now no satisfying way to provide comfort or support to our friends. f*ck this in its stupid face.

edit. Added a layer of you don't need to read this. Sorry.

I'll take this as a sign I'm not doing too terribly: I haven't dipped into the prescription my doctor gave me for anxiety during this time. I requested it as a "back pocket" thing just in case. So far so good. Still exercising every day, now have my DoTerra (yes, a present to my wife from a rep before we learned it was an MLM :D) thingie going with lavender in my home office, good music going, a bit of meditation here and there. Doesn't hurt that my girls are still in a pretty good place health-wise and mentally.

Oddly, last week I found that my ups and down correlated pretty strongly with the Dow :D. I feel like that was coincidence but it still struck me funnyish.

As serious as this crisis and, can be and most probably will be for at least a couple of weeks. I have tired to keep a positive attitude while staying at home. Of course every person family has different needs and freedom to do or not to do... i have tried to make the best of this situation. I would like to share what me and my family have done (video game related) to keep stress and anxiety to a minimum.

I hope this helps to give you guys some ideas on what to do at home

1. We have made a gaming program with the following:

a. Family games (Mario Party, WiiU party and similar games)
b. Co-op games (Platform like Maro Bros, Rayman legends and similar games)
c. Fitness games (Zamba for the WiiU)

I have tried to focus on OFFLINE games incase the internet gets more restrictions

Alongside the usual activities my wife does with the kids and other activities around the house to keep the kids entertained, it has been a good time also for me to advance more frequently on m backlog.

I was able to Finish Persona 5
I have made significant progress on DQXI
I am on chapter 19 on Fire Emblem Fates Conquest
My family and me managed to almost complete Super Luigi U and Marios Bros U
We have played a TON of Mario party 10
I am almost up to date on FFXVI latest story patch.

This has also served us to show respect, patience among ourselves since sometimes we agree to play a game I choose, other times we play what my 4 year old wants of wife.

So.. what have do guys been doing and what games do you suggest?

Darkhaund wrote:

As serious as this crisis and, can be and most probably will be for at least a couple of weeks. I have tired to keep a positive attitude while staying at home. Of course every person family has different needs and freedom to do or not to do... i have tried to make the best of this situation. I would like to share what me and my family have done (video game related) to keep stress and anxiety to a minimum.

I hope this helps to give you guys some ideas on what to do at home

1. We have made a gaming program with the following:

a. Family games (Mario Party, WiiU party and similar games)
b. Co-op games (Platform like Maro Bros, Rayman legends and similar games)
c. Fitness games (Zamba for the WiiU)

I have tried to focus on OFFLINE games incase the internet gets more restrictions

Alongside the usual activities my wife does with the kids and other activities around the house to keep the kids entertained, it has been a good time also for me to advance more frequently on m backlog.

I was able to Finish Persona 5
I have made significant progress on DQXI
I am on chapter 19 on Fire Emblem Fates Conquest
My family and me managed to almost complete Super Luigi U and Marios Bros U
We have played a TON of Mario party 10
I am almost up to date on FFXVI latest story patch.

This has also served us to show respect, patience among ourselves since sometimes we agree to play a game I choose, other times we play what my 4 year old wants of wife.

So.. what have do guys been doing and what games do you suggest?

Ooh, I should pull out the wiiu if we start getting bored. Or those may even be better for my 6yo.

I've been trying to find a mix of at least vaguely educational games were possible.

We are lucky enough to have a Ring Fit and my 9yo makes use if it more than the rest of us.

We started with No Thank You, Evil, d&d for kids. They are enjoying that. I need to be a better dm, but I'm working on it.

Lots of puzzles. Those are sort of game like.

I've taken to listening to this 10 hour video of rain while I work. It blocks out the construction noise (residential condo construction is an essential business? f*ck off) and isn't distracting like podcasts or music.

First day of not working almost done with. I have made myself a list of things to do, some apply for everyday (get dressed is number one) and some are one offs (sort the garden out). I feel this is the better way to go than crossing off the days. Mainly because I have no idea how long that is going to be.

I might need to put myself on some kind of news schedule. I’ve been checking it way too often throughout the day.

ColdForged, remember, the Dow and the markets in general reflect the public mood, so it's no coincidence that major events that worry you will also worry it. In other words, it's not a coincidence that big international scary things make both you investors afraid... It's reacting just like we are.

One less thing to worry about, perhaps.

steinkrug wrote:

I might need to put myself on some kind of news schedule. I’ve been checking it way too often throughout the day.

This is a great idea. I've found that I've spent a lot of my day lately F5-ing the news websites on my desktop. Then when I get up to do something else, I get out my phone and start refreshing those same sites on my phone as though this is a different activity.

polypusher wrote:

I've taken to listening to this 10 hour video of rain while I work. It blocks out the construction noise (residential condo construction is an essential business? f*ck off) and isn't distracting like podcasts or music.

LongInhale......
THANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOUTHANKYOU
Quiet exhale.......this is..........nice

That’s really good. Thanks, Polypusher.

Along the same lines, I frequently use this to fall asleep. I have a YouTube Red subscription, so it can play with my screen off.

Also this

Also, I’ve been doing a lot of paced breathing recently.

If you don't have Youtube red...found this on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3C...
15 hours

Been enjoying cigars on my back deck. It’s the norm on nice days, but after driving to work and seeing very few people it’s a relaxation thing. Been very stressed.

I'm setting up a Jackbox play-by-stream session for my local friends who are all hiding out in our various homes.

Wayfarer wrote:

If you don't have Youtube red...found this on Spotify
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/3C...
15 hours

Pretty sure Chrome ublock extension keeps ads off Youtube, FYI.

I’ve been in the D&D thread mostly, but I thought this would be good here.

https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1...

I was mildly sick for a few days w/ covid symptoms. Then my 29 yr old healthy boyfriend got really sick. 13 days later, after a relentless fever, awful nausea, pneumonia in both lungs + a reluctant trip to ER, he is finally turning a corner today. Some things I learned:

We tried our absolute best not to clog the health care system too much. We did not seek testing, and even the ER doc didnt bother testing my bf, just said it was obvious he had it. Doctors are also learning about the virus in real time, so learning to cope at home is key.

As a caretaker, I recommend keeping an hourly log of fever/symptoms, time medication was taken, food eaten. When you talk to a primary care doc, bring as much concrete info as you can. They dont have much time to spare right now.
I kept 2 hospital to-go bags on our door every night for last 2 weeks, 1 for me to take him (since no visitors are allowed in hospitals right now) and 1 for him to stay the night. We decided we would only go to ER if he couldnt walk across the room without gasping for breath.

When he started to deteriorate at the 1 week mark -throwing up pills and pretty much stopped talking, eating, drinking, we went to an urgent care. Better 1st option than ER if you are not in critical condition. Docs there found pneumonia on an Xray, told us to go to ER.

Here's the regimen that worked for him: Tylenol extra strength every 5-6ish hours, prescription anti-nausea + cough medicine, pulse oximeter to check oxygen levels at home, Pedialyte for hydration. Z-pack for pneumonia has helped. Congee is good for nausea.

If you are sick or are taking care of a sick person, please DM/email and I can share more advice. Bad cases can take 2+ weeks if not longer, so don't despair if you are in the middle of it. (Also, tip all delivery people outrageously well.)

After 7+ years and lots of flus, colds and viruses together, I’ve never seen him even close to this sick. But he weirdly still managed to look brooding/handsome at one of our lowest moments, so that’s something.

IMAGE(https://pbs.twimg.com/media/EUEbNZlX0AIYE__?format=jpg&name=large)

Glad that things are on the mend! Sounds terrifying but you handled it well.

Oh, that wasn’t me, it was a Twitter thread. I thought the advice on how to care for someone was really helpful. My wife and I could be in that same predicament.

Omg, sorry, I somehow passed over the first little bit :o. Thanks though.

Thanks for all the YouTube recs! I'm sure it's against YouTube's terms of service but there are some pretty easy to find services/plug-ins for downloading YT videos for later viewing. Just search for "download youtube videos" or similar.

I made the decision last week to be clean-shaven for the duration of the work from home shenanigans. I've shaved clean once or twice for a day in the past decade. Hate it. I have moles and bad skin, but I'm enjoying the "I can't wait for this to be over so I can stop shaving again" line I get to deploy during business meetings. Little things.

I ended up with an Amazon Show - bought it with the Ring at a huge discount - and it has all those ambient sound and video things, including the one cited above. They are skills. The sound ones are under “Sleep Sounds”, and the others are under “Ambient Videos”, I think. “Alexa, show me ambient videos” will get a list of popular ones.

I like them for work background, occasionally.

I listen to ambient music (Brian Eno, Chill Hop, Soma FM) while I work. A few years ago I stopped being able to focus on work if the music had lyrics.

I just have to make sure my daytime music is different enough from my work music. If it’s the exact same music I worry I would think of work when I should be sleeping.

Governor Inslee (WA) clarified the essential businesses order to make it clear that residential construction is NOT an essential business. The two sites approx 4 feet from my 'office' window are closed and silent for the first time in like 4 months.

Its amazing. I heard birds chirping today instead of hammers and tejano music with bad sing-along and saws and generators and yelling!
I opened my windows to feel the breeze!

Cross posting as it seems relevant here.

We've all just gone into lockdown in my house on Doctor's orders because of my kids various underlying health issues and we're not planning on emerging for the next month or two.

I know many places around the world are further along the curve and I know how much of an impact anxiety around the current situation and feeling isolated can have on mental health.

Luckily for me I have an amazing therapist on hand and I wanted to put it out to the community that she's doing virtual sessions via Zoom at the moment.

I haven't discussed it with her but If you let her know you're a Goodjer she'll looks after you.

Home Harmony

DSGamer wrote:

I listen to ambient music (Brian Eno, Chill Hop, Soma FM) while I work. A few years ago I stopped being able to focus on work if the music had lyrics.

I just have to make sure my daytime music is different enough from my work music. If it’s the exact same music I worry I would think of work when I should be sleeping.

Eno has several outstanding ambient generative music apps on iOS. Check 'em out. I got Reflections when it first came out. It's expensive, like more than a double album expensive, but I thought it was worth it. He has since released others (search for Opal ltd. on the app store) that are less expensive.

Coping? I’m basically not... and that’s hard for me to even admit.

I caught the content pre-edit. I'm sure you're handling it to the best of your abilities and hope things pick up for you. I actually thought my wife would be the one to flip out but, if anything, I've been more stressed out than her. Just so much going on, feels like so much to keep track of, worry about. And probably I'm taking in more news than I should.

Antichulius wrote:

Coping? I’m basically not... and that’s hard for me to even admit.

Hang in there. What are you doing for self-care? Perhaps more importantly, what aren't you doing? Use every tool at your disposal! Don't be afraid to reach out to your doctor and tell him/her that you're struggling. There's no shame in being overwhelmed by this.