In cities the world over, the COVID-19 pandemic has given rise to unprecedented scenes of social panic. We witness hoarding of supplies, empty supermarket shelves, and even the armed robbery of trucks carrying toilet paper.
In an article for HK newspaper Ming Pao, FEHD's Director of Centre for Psychosocial Health (CPH) Dr Wai-Kai Hou, and research assistant Ms Tsz-Wai Li, attribute such panic to the way the pandemic has changed people's living habits.
Dr Hou and Ms Li stress that both physiological and psychological needs are important to maintain a healthy lifestyle, and suggest people increase their resilience by following these 3 steps:
1. Use your current resources and networks, e.g., spend more time with your families, uphold personal and household hygiene
2. Try to maintain your lifestyle but in a different way, e.g., use social media to maintain your relationships
3. Develop new habits or hobbies under current constraints., e.g., playing board games to replace hiking
The article was published in Ming Pao. Click here for the full version.
