Jasmine Curtis-Smith shares how she dealt with anxiety while living alone during COVID-19 crisis

As COVID-19 pandemic takes its toll on the Philippines and the rest of the world, Jasmine Curtis-Smith admitted that she has been experiencing anxiety lately as she is living alone away from her family.

"If I can be honest, nitong last weekend, medyo umiikot na 'yung utak ko," the Descendants of the Sun (The Philippine Adaptation) star shared in a Skype interview with GMANetwork.com.

"Anxiety started na parang 'pag mag-isa ka, 'yung challenge is mabato ka sa pagiging mag-isa mo, that definitely sparks anxiety and loneliness.

"'Di na maiwasan na tanungin ko sa sarili ko na, 'Kailan ko kaya sila ulit makikita or makakasama?' kasi hindi rin naman gano'n kasimple, so that gives me a lot of anxiety.

"Especially hindi ko rin kasama si Ate in one of the biggest growths of her life, with her newborn baby so parang ang dami kong nami-miss out din in these times at nakaka-sad at nakaka-spike ng anxiety 'yon."

She then added, "Kaya kong mag-isa, I can handle and entertain myself pero 'pag tumagal na pala ng more than one month na rin, 'yung pakiramdam hahanap-hanapin mo talaga 'yung presence ng family members mo."

Being worried is normal. However, Jasmine trained herself to take care of her well-being by managing her emotions.

She said, "Previously I had to go through depression as a teenager so alam ko na 'yung ways to cope or dapat kong gawin if hindi enough 'yung pakikipag-usap sa friends para naman I can take care of myself also.

"'Yun the first step is talk to your friends, reaching out with my family also, video call.

"If hindi enough then I seek professional help para naman malatag ko nang tama, mabigyan ko ng sense 'yung troubles ng thoughts ko."

As going outdoors is highly discouraged to stem the spread of COVID-19, the biggest challenge of living alone is how to keep oneself entertained to stave off boredom.

Jasmine shared, "The biggest challenge na lang siguro of living alone is 'wag kang mabato sa sarili mo, mahanap mo 'yung daily goal mo kasi it's easy ngayon na madala tayo with our feelings, especially 'yun nga hindi physically o externally tayo kailangan magresort into indoors, 'di ba?

"Even 'yung feelings natin, we're not always exposed to people.

"So nakaka-affect din 'yun sa emotional stability or sa mental stability ng tao so 'yun lang ang pinaka-disadvantage so kailangan um-effort lang din ako bilang mag-isa lang ako dito.

"Um-effort ako na maghanap ng makakausap, ng magagawa, hindi naman sa pagiging productive.

"Baka ma-misinterpret ng tao 'yung productivity sa paglipas ng oras kasi ang productivity hindi lang work pero it can be self-entertainment or self-growth."

Celebrities admit to having anxiety attacks due to COVID-19 pandemic