Psychological advice for different groups of people amid the epidemic

For children:
1. Parents should monitor their own emotions, as their emotions will affect their children’s.
2. Parents should tell their children what is happening and explain the epidemic with vivid examples.
3. Children should maintain a steady pace of life.
4. Parents should often communicate with their children.

For adolescents:
1. Parents' stable mentality is very important in adolescent families.
2. Parents should make plans for the new semester with their children. Adolescents should balance their life, study and break as if they were at school.
3. Adolescents should study independently and lead a regular life.
4. Adolescents should communicate with their classmates and share feelings and information about the epidemic.

For staff returning to the workplace:
1. Participate in various prevention and control measures with a positive attitude.
2. Keep a regular routine, such as getting up and going to sleep on time, and take three meals a day regularly.
3. Use the spare time to do some exercise after work, such as traditional Chinese fitness activity Baduanjin and radio gymnastics exercises.
4. Focus on work and pay less attention to irrelevant information. Pay less attention to any negative information related to the epidemic.
5. Call psychological counselling hotlines or visit a psychologist if unable to maintain mental balance.

For pregnant women:
1. Create a safe and comfortable living space.
Pregnant women should avoid going out, make the home clean, safe, and comfortable, and keep the indoor air clean by opening windows appropriately.
2. Maintain a relatively regular lifestyle.
Pregnant women should eat three meals a day and maintain relatively stable eating and sleeping habits, following a bland diet with rich nutrition.
Do some housework and exercise every day to increase life control.
3. Don’t focus much on negative information related to the epidemic.
4. Be prepared mentally.
Pregnant women must be aware that during and after pregnancy, there may be changes in their body shape, mood and eating habits, as well as in their role in the family and the level of attention from their spouse.
5. Increase awareness of emotional reactions.
It is normal for pregnant women to have some emotional reactions such as nervousness, panic, anxiety and irritability during the epidemic. Pregnant women should learn to accept their emotional reactions and not to blame themselves.
6. Get more emotional support.
Pregnant women should distract their attention and communicate more with their husband, parents, and friends. Pregnant women can also call psychological hotlines for professional support.
7. Follow the doctor’s advice to do pregnancy check-ups.
Pregnant women should not panic when go to a hospital for pregnancy check-ups, as long as they and their family members are well protected and wearing masks. It is safe to go to the hospital for pregnancy check-ups.

For elderly people:
1. Master some scientific prevention and control information through official and authoritative media.
2. Rest well and maintain a positive attitude.
Elderly people should go to bed and get up on time, and eat three meals a day regularly.
3. Relax and do appropriate exercise.
4. Focus on their own hobbies to distract attention and get pleasure from them.
5. Keep in touch with family members.
6. Go to hospital for professional help if mood swings affect the quality of life and sleep.