Why is it recommended to follow a schedule during quarantine?

The outbreak of the coronavirus epidemic has led the authorities in many countries to ask their inhabitants to confine themselves to their homes to help stop the infections.

Faced with this situation, experts have recommended the establishment of a schedule adapted to the quarantine situation as a psychological method to deal effectively with the situation. But what is the explanation behind this recommendation?

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The importance of hours during coronavirus lockdown

It is a preventive measure aimed at reduce the chances of developing a mood disorder in vulnerable patients.

Studies show that the most prevalent symptoms in quarantined people are low mood and irritability. Quarantine means being separated from family and friends, losing freedoms, and living with uncertainty and boredom. This leads to an inevitable interruption of our daily life. By reducing our physical and relational context to a minimum, the probability of receiving reinforcing stimuli also decreases, making it difficult to develop pleasant emotions

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In this way, we can stay in an environment where the absence of reinforcements precipitates or maintains a low mood, or even apathy and reduced enjoyment, all of which are possible Symptoms of depression.

On the other hand, quarantine can alter our sleep and eating rhythms, something that has also been linked to mood disorders.

In fact, both the context and the biological rhythms are at the core of some treatments Psychologicals for Depression: Behavioral Activation Therapy and Social Rhythm Therapy and Interpersonal

Behavioral Activation Therapy

Behavioral Activation Therapy considers that the context is a fundamental variable in depressive moods. According to this therapy, maintaining a level of activity adapted to our circumstances and possibilities would produce changes in our thoughts, our humor and in the quality of life that we perceive.

In any case, it should be noted that it would not be about being busy all day and not thinking, but about finding those activities that we like, connect us with ourselves and accommodate our interests and values personal.

Social and Interpersonal Rhythm Therapy

Social and Interpersonal Rhythm Therapy is based on the hypothesis that life events, both negative and positive, that involve a marked change in daily routines and biological rhythms can precipitate or maintain the states depresogens.

Therefore, everything that involves maintaining sleep and eating schedules and exposure to sunlight, added to the carrying out activities and daily interaction with at least one person are considered, from this perspective, measures that can promote a positive state of mind and a level of energy sufficient to adapt to the changes that are happening in the next days.

In summary, the behaviors that we carry out during quarantine would be essential to prevent the possibility of presenting depressive symptoms as the days of confinement and isolation go by.

In particular, it is considered important to maintain self-care at the level of sleep, diet and exposure to sunlight, and to program a routine of activities that include tasks related to obligations (work, school ...) but also activities for which we normally do not have time and that we have always wanted make. Including everything that favors introspection, with a goal of self-knowledge and personal growth can help give you a meaning to these days and to project ourselves into the future, asking ourselves what changes we want to make in our lives when all this I finished.

Bibliographic references:

• General Council of Official Colleges of Psychologists. (s.f.-a). BEHAVIORAL ACTIVATION (CA): A NEW APPROACH TO THE TREATMENT OF DEPRESSION. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from http://www.infocop.es/view_article.asp? id = 1157
• General Council of Official Colleges of Psychologists. (s.f.-b). The psychological impact of quarantine and how to reduce it, according to one. study. Retrieved March 19, 2020, from http://www.infocop.es/view_article.asp? id = 8630
• Official College of Psychology of Madrid. (2020, March 15). Guidelines for the psychological management of coronavirus quarantine. Retrieved March 20, 2020, from https://www.copmadrid.org/web/comunicacion/noticias/1459/orien tations-the-psychological-management-the-quarantine-the-coronavirus
• Soria, V., & Urretavizcaya, M. (2009). Circadian rhythms and depression. Actas Esp Psiquiatr 2009; 37 (4):, 37 (4), 222–232.