Assume you are infectious (because you won’t know that you aren’t). Then make sure that you keep a distance of two metres between you and the next person. This can save lives.

That’s the “steer clear” social distancing command that will keep us safe from getting COVID-19 – and from passing the illness on unknowingly if we have contracted it.

We are all in the middle of a stressful time, more than we’ve ever been before. All our normal stresses, minor and major, are now suddenly overhung by the big umbrella worry of COVID-19.

So how can we keep ourselves calm in the middle of all this fear?

We asked Dr Harry Barry, a GP well known for his work in the area of mental health.

Listen to "Dr Harry Barry on minding your mental health" on Spreaker.

Turn off negative news

Aware of farmers’ worries related to price drops and flooding of late he knows that toxic stress is a possibility in farming life. Dr Barry points out that not dealing well with this stress can lead not only to physical illnesses, but can also affect our mental health.

“Farmers, who play a key role in both our society and our economy, have just come through a period of significant stress in the form of falling prices and flooding,” he says, “and are now, like everyone else, faced with a whole new enemy – COVID-19 – which is sweeping the country and indeed the world.”

This is his advice for counteracting stress and anxiety:

1 Take care of yourself first

This would involve prioritising time for oneself from a physical and mental perspective. You should try and get in at least 30 minutes of non-work-related physical exercise every day.

Get eight hours sleep per night. Eat healthily, plenty of fresh vegetables and fruit and a healthy mix of fish, poultry, meat and dairy.

Avoid using alcohol or other substances such as cocaine as a form of self-soothing. Take time to listen to music, read or involve yourself in some simple hobbies.

2 Avoid social media feeds about the pandemic

These feeds are frequently incorrect. Instead take your information from reliable sites such as HSE.ie. Only listen to news bulletins or shows you enjoy and trust. Otherwise turn off the negative news barrage. If you are struggling with financial matters – seek out professional assistance or chat to more experienced colleagues looking for advice. Similarly, with health issues.

3 Take care of your relationships

This involves prioritising your personal relationships and working hard to keep them fresh and intact. Share worries and concern on a regular basis and try and solve the issues together. This will reduce stress on both parties and strengthen your relationship.

4 Keep an eye on elderly parents or neighbours

This is often a good way to reduce your own stress – by prioritising others in your wider family or community who might greatly benefit from your input.

5 structure and routine

If one partner is staying at home with the children and this is outside the norm, try and introduce as much routine and structure into the day as possible, both for adults and for the children.

6 Beware of catastrophising

It is easy for your emotional mind to run riot at such times. To counteract this – write down what you are afraid will happen and challenge it on paper. Ask yourself if it is only a possibility rather than a probability – a drop or a mess of spilt milk.

This allows your rational mind to properly explore your fears and worries.

7 This too shall pass

Finally remember that this period, awful as it may feel at this moment in time, will pass. The clouds will break and the sun will shine again.

Stay connected

Sally O’Reilly is a counselling psychologist based in Youghal, Co Cork, and while she mentions the physical requirements around preventing coronavirus – hand washing, social distancing and self-isolation if we’re symptomatic, for example – mental health is her main area of concern.

She emphasised the need for us to stay connected. “I would say make sure that you do this. I think psychologists everywhere are absolutely delighted that we have social media. Social media is something I’m using a lot at the moment. There are so many apps that you can contact people on – Messenger, WhatsApp, text messaging. Make sure that you’re still in contact with your friends and people around you who are vulnerable or if you’re vulnerable and lonely yourself.”

Listen to "Sally O'Reilly on staying mentally well" on Spreaker.

Feeding our brains

She emphasises that you should radically overhaul your social media feeds, however. “Our social media feeds are packed full of news, a lot of it dramatic, and unfortunately, still some of it fake, about the COVID-19 virus, so I’m suggesting a radical overhaul of it.

That would mean “blanket unfollowing” of pages that don’t give you good news or where there is a risk of fake news. This silencing – using blocking or unfollowing strategies on all your social media apps – is something I feel very strongly about at the moment.”

“I noticed it myself that my screen was being jammed full of bad news. We are all scared and some of us are more scared than others and some of us have more reasons to be nervous as well so it’s not all fake fear.

“Some of us do have genuine reasons to be concerned but equally there is a huge amount of fear being whipped up. There’s quite a frenzy out there and unfortunately, a lot of us are prone to anxiety and to catastrophising and spiralling thoughts so we need to watch what we’re feeding our brains. A radical overhaul of our social media is what I’m suggesting, even begging for people to do.”

Exercise – but stay apart

Her other advice centres on exercise.“Get out, walk the dog. There is little risk when doing stuff like this. If we don’t exercise it affects many of the hormones that we need to stay functioning in a healthy manner. Without exercise, depression and anxiety can creep in quite quickly to our picture if we don’t get out and get moving.”

Sleep hygiene is another important piece of advice.

“Do what you need to sleep and try not to disrupt your routine. Again, I’m hearing of a lot of people who are staying up all night scrolling through news pages and just getting lots and lots of bad news. So again, if you spend some time on social media, expose yourself to good news, like, for example, the fact that there are no new cases in China.”

The other bit of advice she has relates to getting official news from good sources.

“Obviously you will want to have some form of news and know what’s going on. And what I would say is to only consume news from the HSE or the World Health Organization.

It’s about studying the reputable sites for today’s reliable information.”

The four needs: fun, freedom, love and power

In general, she says, human beings, have four needs that enable them to flourish.

“The four needs are fun, freedom, love and power. So love can come in any form, connection or friendship. Fun – we’re great in Ireland at the humour and I’m just laughing out loud every day at the way that we’re coping with this pandemic. There’s so many funny memes and jokes out there and I’m all for that. Our freedom is being curtailed somewhat, of course, so find a way to give yourself some freedom even if that literally means just getting out for a walk or doing something where you have agency, where you decide that this is something you’re doing for yourself.

“Our need for love has not changed, it won’t change, but we may not be able to do that in a way where we can meet friends and hug them but do ensure that you’re meeting that need for love and connection. We can, of course, use social media for that and telephone calls and so on.

“And, of course, we have a need for power but again, we feel quite powerless with this [virus] but what we can do is inform ourselves and protect ourselves and that will help meet our need for personal power.”

Online supports

Although having to work from home predominantly, therapists and psychologists are in a position to offer video conferencing or video therapy, she points out. “I’m using the video-conferencing app, Zoom, at the moment, which is great and it is great for social connection as well.

“[With these technical resources] many psychologists, counsellors and psychotherapists are in a position to continue working with clients as normal.”

These suggestions will help us to get through this crisis in as calm a way as possible, she believes.

“We are going to be afraid, yes, it’s all around us I suppose, but let’s bear in mind what our needs are and do our best to meet them and stay safe.”