To All Students Spending Time at Home | Kiyoka Nozue, Assistant to the Dean of the Faculty of Nursing and Medical Care
May 12, 2020
How are all of you, our students, spending your days? As I write this on May 4, the state of emergency has been extended until the end of May. In Tokyo and Kanagawa, we are still required to continue a similar lifestyle of self-restraint. By the time this article is posted, I imagine society will be exploring a "new lifestyle" and ways to gradually return to normal life. A certain degree of social distance will likely be necessary for some time. Are you students keeping in touch and supporting one another? Are you able to talk to someone about your worries and anxieties? First-year students, in particular, have had to enter this life of social distance just as they were about to build new relationships as university students. I imagine you are feeling lonely, seeing the unfamiliar faces of your instructors on screen while taking remote classes you are not used to.
Social distance is said to have various effects on our minds and bodies. Feeling anxious every day, feeling lonely, feeling depressed, feeling stressed, feeling irritable, becoming obsessive out of fear of infection... I believe both students and faculty are experiencing these things to some extent. As a specialist in psychiatric nursing, I am no exception. Feeling anxiety and stress during an infectious disease pandemic is a normal reaction. Therefore, I would like to introduce some coping methods based on various resources. Some of you may already know or be practicing these.
"Maintain connections with others, be considerate, and be kind to one another." Seeing each other's faces and exchanging words, even online and through a screen, can alleviate feelings of loneliness and stress. While messaging apps and email are also useful, under stressful conditions, words expressed in text can be conveyed differently from the sender's intent or lead to unexpected misunderstandings. If possible, it is better to communicate in a way that allows you to see the other person's facial expressions and hear their voice. At such times, let's be considerate of each other.
"Find your own way to control stress." Limit your exposure to information that causes anxiety or distress to a minimum, find things you can enjoy and that help you relax, and take control of your own stress. It is also said to be effective to change your perspective and view things positively.
"Maintain a regular daily routine as much as possible." It can be difficult to maintain a daily rhythm when you spend the whole day at home. Have you become a night owl? When your daily rhythm is disrupted, poor sleep tends to occur, compounded by stress and lack of exercise. It is said that poor sleep makes it difficult to maintain emotional stability. Try not to stay up too late, and when you wake up in the morning, open a window to look at the scenery and sunlight outside.
Finally, "if your anxiety intensifies and you feel like you can't be your usual self, ask for help from those around you." When you are cooped up at home and living individually, it is difficult for others to notice if you are in a situation where you need support. I am concerned that there may be students in such situations. I hope you will send out an SOS to your family, friends you can easily talk to, or faculty and staff. During the Great East Japan Earthquake, the degree to which people feared the aftershocks varied considerably from person to person. Even in the same situation, how people feel anxiety and stress, and its intensity, differs from person to person. Don't hold back or hesitate; if your stress becomes severe, be sure to talk to someone around you. Please also be sure to check the various support information from the university.
And for those who have not yet seen it, I recommend watching the following video created by the Japanese Red Cross Society.
For a while longer, classes will continue to be held on screen, without us being able to meet you students in person. While recording on-demand classes, I have become keenly aware that the classes we conduct as a matter of course every year were actually deepened, developed, and modified by the reactions of you, the students. Once the current situation improves, I am renewing my commitment to cherish and enjoy the interactions that arise "in the moment" and "on the spot" in face-to-face classes. Let's look forward to the day when we can all gather together, which will surely come, and get through this time by sharing our wisdom and supporting one another.