Skip to main content

Self-Care During COVID-19

Note: The following information comes to our University community from counselors at WVU's Carruth Center for Counseling and Psychological Services.

Real self-care is a lot of work. It’s not just long baths, nachos, and Netflix. It requires nurturing physical, emotional, spiritual, intellectual, occupational, and social aspects of your health.

But right now, you might not have the bandwidth to do a lot of work, even self-care work that is essential to wellbeing. You are being asked to make many unexpected changes: take online classes, move back home, care for family members, stay home, and practice social distancing – not to mention that you’re probably worrying about an uncertain future too. And some of the things you like to do for self-care might not be available to you right now.

Things feel more uncertain than ever, which means self-care is so important during this time. So, let’s get down to the basics of self-care, specific to the COVID-19 pandemic.


Gold diagonal. What you are going through is real. Accept and validate that.

If there is only one self-care principle you follow, this is the one. Accepting and validating your experience rather than questioning or judging it is essential for resilience.

Do:

  • Check in with yourself. Scan your body and emotions a few times during the day and notice what’s coming up for you.
  • Are you tired, scared, sad, anxious, angry, confused, or disoriented? Accept that. State it to yourself or to another person to validate it: “I am _____.”
  • Honor your feelings. Allow yourself to be sad, scared, or confused. We have feelings for a reason. What is your feeling telling you about your needs right now?

Don’t:

  • Don’t try to change your feelings. Trying to replace “negative” feelings with positivity doesn’t work. You can maintain a false positivity for a while, but it takes a ton of energy and doesn’t meet your underlying need.
  • Don’t use “the shoulds” (statements like “I should be more positive” and “I shouldn’t be feeling this way”).
  • In the same vein, don’t ask, “What’s wrong with me?” There is nothing wrong with you. You are feeling what you are supposed to feel right now.

Gold diagonal. Build focus in this new learning format.

So many changes can cause so much stress. This causes an overtaxed prefrontal cortex, which means you have difficulty processing information. This can make switching to a new learning format – especially if it doesn’t fit with your learning style – challenging because your information storage and retrieval takes a hit.

To strengthen your focus for online learning:

  • Sleep!
  • Keep a schedule and weekly to-do list.
  • Set up alerts and reminders for your deadlines.
  • Communicate with your professors.
  • Tailor your study schedule to fit your attention span and circadian rhythms.
  • Identify what distracts you and remove it if possible.
  • Find a study partner to keep you accountable.

Want to keep working on focus? Try these exercises.

                   A person says "stay focused."


Gold diagonal. Foster flexibility.

Crisis demands flexibility. Everything is changing from day to day, hour to hour. It takes a lot of brain energy to orient yourself and adjust to your environment.

Use these tips to help foster flexibility:

  • Question your thoughts. We often interpret what we think as reality. Thoughts are not facts, however, and taking a moment to be curious about other possibilities than where your mind typically goes can build mental/emotional flexibility.
  • Stretch before bed and in the morning. Your body and mind aren’t separate. Flexible ligaments, muscles, and fascia mean less stiffness both in your movement and in your thinking patterns. There are many online videos and tutorials on stretching – try one like this.
  • In addition to structured, focused time, allow yourself to have creative, unfocused time too. Don’t require productivity during this time. Your unconscious mind needs unfocused time to cement learning, to create, and to work problems out. It may look like “doing nothing” but there’s a lot going on behind the scenes that will appear later for you.
                   An animated person practices yoga.

Gold diagonal. Rest, rest, rest!

We can take a note from a very helpful tool that people with chronic illness or disability use to understand their energy levels and needs. It’s called the spoon theory. The basic premise is that people with compromised health only have so many units of energy (“spoons”) each day. Each activity they do takes one spoon away from their limited stores. If they begin the day with 10 spoons, for instance, a spoon is used taking a shower, another spoon used getting dressed, a couple of spoons used responding to emails, and so on. Pretty soon, there are no spoons left.

The spoon theory is all about quantifying your energy in order to respond more efficiently and compassionately to your energy needs.

In times of crisis, we all have limited stores of energy and stamina. You only have so many spoons! Be honest with yourself: how many spoons do you have? Rest often to replenish your energy.

                 Donald Duck pulls a blanket over his head while laying in bed.


Gold diagonal. Last but not least, laugh.

Laugh by yourself, laugh with others, laugh with your pets. Laugh every day. Even faking laughter can have positive results because of the neurochemicals that are released.


Gold diagonal. Need to talk to someone?

As of March 25, the Carruth Center staff began working remotely for the health and safety of our students, employees, and community. We will only offer on-site services for those in immediate crisis or danger. However, we will continue to offer mental health care through various platforms depending on your location and need. Please utilize our services during the COVID-19 pandemic.

In addition to the main Carruth Center, satellite centers exist at the Health Sciences Center and for our student athletes. For students utilizing care from those centers, please reach out to your counselor for more information.

If you are in West Virginia but outside of the Morgantown area and are in need of urgent services, please contact your clinician directly or visit our website.

If you are currently outside of West Virginia and would like access to counseling services, it is also important to contact your clinician. They will talk with you about options for support. One of these options may be utilizing an online system called “My Student Support.” 

If you are experiencing a psychological emergency during operational hours (8:15 a.m. to 4:45 p.m.), call 304-293-4431 and ask to speak to a clinician. Our emergency after-hours services (304-293-4431, extension 1) will be available as well as the Crisis Text Line. To use the Crisis Text Line, text WVU to 741741 for 24/7 support.

Useful Resources

WVU Alert

Emergency notification system for the Morgantown campus.

Sign Up

LiveSafe App

Direct, two-way communication with University Police.

Download App

Follow Us

Twitter icon WVU Safety
Facebook icon WVU Safety and Wellness

University Police

992 Elmer Prince Drive
Morgantown, WV 26506-6563
304-293-3136
police.wvu.edu

Carruth Center

Health and Education Building
390 Birch Street
Morgantown, WV 26506
304-293-4431
carruth.wvu.edu
Report a Concern

You can help WVU provide a safe environment by reporting student concerns, student conduct violations, sexual misconduct or other potential threats to campus safety.