Positive Lifestyle Behaviours
Capitalising on coping strategies akin to positive lifestyle behaviours
can vastly improve mental health wellbeing. These activities which
include eating healthy food, engaging in regular physical activity,
practicing good sleep hygiene where possible and guaranteeing sufficient
rest between shifts have been recommended by the World Health
Organisation (WHO).27 Furthermore, avoidance of
harmful coping strategies such as alcohol and drug misuse, consistent
rumination about COVID-19 or engaging in high-risk behaviours (i.e.
gambling / excessive spending) is pivotal due to these activities being
more damaging in the long-term. Alternatively, social media use for the
purpose of maintaining social contact can be considered as a positive
lifestyle behaviour. However, consuming excessive media coverage
pertinent to COVID-19 may impact negatively on mental health, comparably
to the relationship found between viewing disaster media coverage and
adverse psychological outcomes.28