Saudi German Hospital Group's Rami Zahran says the first step to reinvention and recovery is to focus on our mental health and wellbeing
For better or worse it has had an impact on every single human being on this planet. It has challenged our economy, our businesses and us as individuals. As human beings we have been humbled, all it took was for the tiniest microscopic particle to change the world. By being humbled we have all been given a chance to take a step back and assess how we live and how we could emerge out of the pandemic stronger than ever. We have been given a chance to reassess everything and to learn to become better leaders, employees, parents, friends or even become better at taking care of ourselves.
Many have focused on recovering their physical wellness after spending lots of time indoors and without exercise, this is extremely important of course, however, we should not neglect the importance of mental wellbeing as well. Mental health issues expressed through anxiety and depression are some of the most common consequences of the pandemic. The lockdowns and restrictions have tested our limits and mental capabilities. As the impact of the pandemic spread through the world, people not only suffered in terms of limited social interactions with families and friends, but also struggled mentally.
however, many people haven’t been proactively implementing practices that would improve their mental wellbeing on a day-today basis. Pre-pandemic many people were unaware of some of the mental issues that others face, or perhaps they were even unaware of their own issues that were not apparent until the pandemic really compounded them. It’s important to start addressing them and to take care of our mental health, as well as the mental wellbeing of those around us to be able to build the foundations of a post-pandemic world. There are many approaches one can take to improve mental health from taking on a life-coach, to self-help guides, to exercise or to taking on hobbies or relaxing activities. For each person it will be different, but it’s important to reprioritize our life based on what will create a healthy environment for our minds as well as our bodies. It’s time to reassess the things we've focused on in the past, and if we've not given our wellbeing enough attention because we've been too busy with other things, then a drastic change needs to happen. To give the world the best we can offer, we first need to be the best version of ourselves.
We've witnessed so much tragedy and despair over the last few months. We all need to come together to build a better world by supporting one another through these challenging times. We need to make allowances for people by understanding that they need help and show compassion towards them. In a post-pandemic world our individualistic nature needs to transform into something more selfless. There should always be a second thought in our actions towards others that maybe they're going through hardships that we don't understand or even know about, but we can try and learn and see how we can help one another. This can apply to strangers but also to the people closest to you, such as family members and colleagues. More than ever, we need to listen to what others are going through and offer them the support they need.
Finally, to truly reinvent ourselves its important to continuously learn and grow our knowledge on topics and area we may have not known about before. It could be in topics we already have an interest in or it could be in newer areas to us. The pandemic gave us time to understand ourselves more than ever and to understand our likes and dislikes. It even made some of us embrace hobbies we never thought we could enjoy.
By keeping an open mind and attempting to learn something knew by either practicing or reading about the topic we can expand our knowledge and our skills. It’s important to learn about our health and the importance of preventative care and wellness in order to avoid future complications. It’s also important to learn about other cultures and traditions to expand our horizons and our knowledge of the world. These are just examples of areas one could focus on that can have long-term effect on who we are as people.
The pandemic has unfortunately brought about lots of challenges and difficulties to many people around the world, but we are hopeful that soon enough it will come to an end. Once we emerge from it, it will be great to look back at it and tell ourselves that we are actually stronger because of it and that it gave us a chance to reassess our lives and priorities giving us a unique opportunity to reinvent ourselves to become better versions of the people we were pre-March 2020.
