MY TOP TEN SELF-CARE PRODUCTS TO GET YOU THROUGH THE LOCKDOWN | ASOS, BOOTS, AMAZON, B&M & DISNEY

 So, there’s been a lot of tweets recently of people sharing their Amazon Wishlist’s for complete strangers to purchase items for them… I think it’s not just an incredibly kind and generous (no matter the price of the item) gesture, but it’s also illustrating the power and influence that material items can have on your mental wellbeing. I’ve been called ‘materialistic’ a number of times over the years and at first, I would argue against the label which seemed so offensive; and then I realized that the fact I appreciate material things and find that they benefit my mental health shouldn’t be an insult!

So, with that in mind; I’ve put together a little list of self-care products that I think could help you through the Coronavirus Lockdown…

1.       Anatomicals Cruisin’ For A Snozzin’ Sleep Kit £8.50

FIVE THINGS THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC HAS TAUGHT ME

You may have read Martin Baker’s guest post on his five things? The actual plan was to publish a post with both of ours, but Martin’s was finished sooner so I decided to post it alone and before my own.


I was recently in A&E (Accident and Emergency) with suspected liver failure but it – thankfully – turned out to be a really bad bout of gastroenteritis(!) and I was talking to one of the Doctors about the pandemic. She asked why I’d self-harmed a little while ago and my reason was something that’s actually stopped happening because of the UK lockdown! We laughed about how there’s been positives (is that the right word?) to the entire Pandemic and all the consequences that have come from it. And this inspired these posts... I’m definitely one of those ‘look-on-the-bright-side’ type of people and I’m definitely a ‘glass-half-full’ girl so for me, I find it helpful to look for positives and benefits from difficult situations in order to make them more bearable and easier to cope with.


After over a week of the UK lockdown, I received a letter telling me that because of my Asthma, I’m in the ‘extremely vulnerable’ category and am more likely to be admitted to Hospital if I contracted the Coronavirus. The letter instructed me to isolate for a further twelve weeks from the day of receiving the letter! This meant that whilst a lot of people are probably on Week Two or longer by now, I’m only just onto Week One (I only received the letter on Tuesday 31^st March)! So, I really do need something positive to think about and thought that finally writing this post might be a good idea...

FIVE THINGS THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC HAS TAUGHT ME BY MARTY BAKER | GUEST POST

I’d like to thank Aimee for inviting me to contribute to this article for I’m NOT Disordered and for the opportunity to share things I’m learning in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.

1. I Live a Very Privileged Life

Coronavirus has brought home to me what I already knew, which is that I live a life that is privileged in many ways. I’m fortunate to be in employment, my job is secure, and I’m able to work from home during this crisis. I’ve had to cancel my holiday and I miss meeting friends but I’m fine for groceries and can cover any extra costs and expenses that might come up. Most importantly, I’m able to keep in touch with the most important people in my life. As I said recently in an audio blog, “There are many people in far worse situations than I am. I count myself as very fortunate.” 

2. How Interconnected the World Is

I think we’re all learning how interconnected the modern world is. There’s a downside to that, in that it’s meant the virus has spread rapidly within communities and around the world. But there are positives too. I’ve been moved by people’s responses to what’s happening, many of which are using the Internet in creative new ways. Local support networks, Amazon wish list exchanges, online concerts and exercise classes, counselling and therapy appointments using Skype and Zoom, and social media peer support are just some of the examples I’ve come across. 

WHY MENTAL HEALTH IS TAKING A BEATING WITH THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC | IN PARTNERSHIP WITH CUMBRIA, NORTHUMBERLAND, TYNE & WEAR NHS FOUNDATION TRUST

This post is in partnership with the wonderful mental health NHS Trust for my area; CNTW (Cumbria, Northumberland, Tyne and Wear NHS Foundation Trust) so at the end I’ll be including all of their links and one of their most important articles produced during this Pandemic.

I’d like to think I’m a pretty fair and balanced kind of person in that I can usually see a disagreement from both sides, so when I write blog posts and posts on social media I try to imagine the other side to it… You know, in my last post: ‘WHAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC,’ I talked a little about how people are feeling that they can’t talk about how the pandemic is affecting them because they’re sure that there’s someone ‘worse off.’ And I absolutely get it; I mean, there’s tweets about Grandmas dying alone because visiting in hospitals is suspended and people having their lives genuinely turned upside down to coincide with the UK lockdown regulations (which you can read here).

I think that the one common impact that the Coronavirus Pandemic is having on at least the majority of people, is on our mental health. People often make the mistake of thinking that to be struggling with your mental health, you must have some sort of diagnosis, but this isn’t true. Everyone has mental health in the same way that everyone has physical health, and you can struggle with your thoughts and feelings without it being you must have an official ‘label’ or disorder. Someone can feel sad without having a formal diagnosis of Depression. You can feel anxious without it needing to result in a panic attack for it to be worth talking about. And you can struggle with your mental health without needing to feel suicidal for it to be deserving of asking for help and support.

WHAT I WANT YOU TO KNOW DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

It was only a matter of time before I would blog about the Pandemic, wasn’t it? I mean, if you aren’t talking about the Coronavirus are you even on the planet? The subject has been trending on social media for a while now and every time I flick through Twitter or Facebook there’s another service/organization being closed or putting special measures in place. Still, it seems that no one can make a decision that absolutely everyone is ‘happy’ with; whether that means the government handing out recommendations on ‘social-distancing,’ McDonalds ‘taking too long’ to close their doors, or your best-friend not following guidelines and taking precautions!

Having a bit of a moan about how the Coronavirus Pandemic is affecting me is difficult because I’m fully aware that the impact is probably quite insignificant compared to the devastating consequences it has had on others; but if we aren’t able to talk about our own experiences for fear of them being compared to those of another, then how can we move forward and support one another? So, please don’t be afraid to talk on social media about how the Pandemic is affecting you – your experiences are as important as anyone else’s. Sharing what you’re going through might just help someone else who can relate to your story to feel less alone and forgotten.

It’d be unfair though, to not shed light on the fact that there’s also a lot of good going on in the world with so many companies offering freebies and discounts to NHS staff and supermarkets opening early for the elderly. It seems though, that people are either jumping down one another’s throat and accusing them of being careless, or they’re making purchases from a stranger’s Amazon Wishlist’s (you can see my Self-Care Wishlist here) and promoting that others do the same!