People are rightly speaking about coronavirus anxiety concerning the strain of uncertainty. The continuous news about the pandemic can feel constant. Whether it be the current data on deaths and new cases, new societal rules laid down by the Government or the latest public figure to return with the virus. It appears to be the one subject of conversation on social networking.
What is happening?
We’ve got social distancing and for many a sense of being imprisoned inside one’s own home. It’s all getting a bit much. Not knowing the future about anything of course was always true before coronavirus anxiety was about. Who would have said with certainty that they would not have got run over by a bus the following day? Could we all have been convinced about not being made redundant? No-one understands their future condition of health.
But now a world catastrophe is on us, we’re obliged to look at uncertainty full in the face. Doubt and vagueness may result in anxious worry. That’s if we dwell on the unknown future. Negative thoughts can flit around in the background of consciousness and activate coronavirus anxiety. Some people may focus our thinking on them. Then worried ideas can go around and around in circles without getting anywhere.
A lot of pressure
What if the market doesn’t recover? Will I have a livelihood? What if I get the virus? Who will do what’s needed? Will I die? No certain answers are possible because nobody knows just how long the pandemic will survive and that will find the virus. Traffic is disappearing because colleges, clubs, and several offices have shut until further notice. Because of this, we no longer have the type of social interaction they supply. In spite of online contact, we have far less chance to share time with relatives, friends and fellow employees.
Far less chance for social support which may help reduce stress and stress of coronavirus anxiety. However, there are different methods of receiving and giving support like more phone calls, texting and video-chat. Our stress and fears should be acknowledged, shared and better known rather than ignored. Persistent coronavirus anxiety is unpleasant to experience. Also, it can exacerbate stress-related illness like tension headache, high blood pressure, constipation, irritable bowel syndrome or even stroke.
Take note
What can be done then? How do we feel less coronavirus anxiety? The standard answers are useful. For instance, during times of stress, it is better to focus on your own needs and feelings. Engage in healthy activities that you enjoy and find relaxing. Exercise regularly, keep regular sleep patterns and eat healthful food.
Another fantastic suggestion comes from the World Health organisation. Minimize watching, reading or listening to information about Covid-19. Too much exposure is very likely to makes you feel stressed or stressed. Best to seek out information updates at a particular time only, one or two times a day. Use advice only from trusted sources and mainly so that you can take sensible actions to prepare your aims and protect yourself and family members.
Remember
Get the details; not rumours and misleading info. Doing what you can based on facts can help minimize irrational fears. We will need to protect ourselves in the fake news that’s doing the rounds. All of us differ. Some more prone to coronavirus anxiety. We don’t all readily tolerate uncertainty. Whether it be about things which may go wrong to do with relationships, finance, health, livelihood.
So, some find it more challenging to follow the advice to keep things in perspective. Easier said than done you may think. Just how can we do this then? One answer is found in the emotional therapy named CBT. The UK Government recognises this approach as an effective means of reducing anxiety. It’s partly based on the concept that we unnecessarily increase our anxiety by the mistakes we make in how we believe. Automatic ways of viewing things because of absurd and unrealistic perception.
Good news
The good news however is that fantastic sense comes from the logical mind. It reveals what is occurring unclouded by the chaos of feelings. It can detect our automatic anxiety-laden habits of thought. But we will need to cultivate its powers of scrutiny. Exaggeration is 1 kind of mistake of thinking that can boost coronavirus anxiety. That’s when we amplify our disorders as when without much proof we flip a frequent cold to the dreaded covid-19 disease. Or perhaps overstate the odds of catching the disease by thinking in terms of a greater probability than the statistics reveal. Another error is jumping to conclusions.
This mistake can amount to turning an innocuous piece of information to a catastrophe. Just because a loved one queues at a shopping line; it does not mean they won’t be observing social distancing. And even if they can’t do this due to the behavior of others, they need not get infected. If infected, they may not develop any signs or any severe symptoms. Just because they sadly did become sick, it does not follow they will require hospitalisation.
Overgeneralisation
For instance, if we assume that since one member of our neighbourhood dies of covid-19, then we will have a severe risk of death also. This is overgeneralising in the particular case to everybody. It’s a fantastic idea to grab ourselves out making these mistakes of thinking. But it requires careful self-reflection. This is because irrational thought is automatic. So habitual that it passes unobserved. Mindfulness meditation can help bring about the required self-awareness.
Through self-reflection and meditation, we can become more able to observe our coronavirus stress as well as the ideas that accompany it in an objective way. Without rushing to judgment but keeping a balanced perspective. Focusing consciousness on the present moment, while peacefully observing feelings, ideas, and bodily senses. This subject enables one to take an emotional step back from what’s happening around oneself. Then we can analyze our ideas in the light of day and challenge them if unrealistic. If we start searching for more sensible methods of thinking, it’s possible to adopt a calmer attitude.
Conclusion
When we worry, it’s as if we feel that by worrying about some event, we could somehow stop it occurring. But this is palpably untrue. It’s one of those negative assumptions that need bringing out into the clear light of day. Only when it’s in the open can we start to challenge it. Otherwise it will continue to function under the surface causing injury. To expose such underlying assumptions to daylight, we may use the potential that’s inbuilt into humanity. This is the human power of rationality. In one scene of the movie Zulu, the native African’s encircle a small group of British soldiers at Rorke’s Drift. They face being murdered. A young private voices his fear and disbelief: “Why is it us, why us? A sergeant appears over, and answers, as if this were self-evident:”Because we are here lad.” The experienced man wasn’t asking for passive resignation but suggesting that, if we are realistic about what’s happening, then we give ourselves a type of chance to get the most out of the situation by taking whatever actions we could. The logical mind says’In the end
we can only do what we can do. We can simply get on with what’s happening at this time.
