I was interviewed a few times about the coronavirus anxiety. People have been asking me how to manage their anxiety about it.
We’re told that things will get worse, numbers of infections and death rates will rise. It is all very alarming. And it is anxiety provoking.
Obviously, it is normal to be anxious but it is also important to look after our mental health in this anxiety provoking period.
As well as good physical hygiene such as washing your hands, it’s important to look after your mind hygiene.
1- Feel the anxiety. Breathe through it. Tell yourself that it is normal to be anxious, and breathe more. You can count your breathing as it helps reduce anxiety. Do Not attach stories to the anxiety feeling such as ‘what if…?’. The worst case scenario thoughts that we attach to the anxiety feeling make the anxiety worse and then it is easy to become really distressed. Breathing through anxiety without adding stressful thoughts is actually hard to do, but with practice, it gets easier.
2 - Limit your exposure to social media and news stories. Perhaps you can allocate a couple of minutes to update yourself on the progress of the virus, but after that, think of other things. Watch other things, like a comedy film, for example, or engage in your favourite hobby.
3- Covid-19 is a serious illness. But we don’t need to be gloomy about it all the time. Even though it is a killer virus, we can still try to bring some lightness to our lives. Laughing does help our mental health. You might want to take the opportunity to introduce fun ways to greet people that replaces a hand shake, how about jazz hands?
4- Sleep. Switch off. In this period of high stress and anxiety, our brain needs more rest. Try to get your 8 hours a night.
5- Develop a practice such as yoga or Thai Chi. These practices are very good for helping us stay in the here and now. During that time, you can give your brain and body a rest from stress and anxiety.
6- Use your common sense. Do wash your hands. Do be careful with social distancing. All of these things will help you feel in control. Keep doing these things. But don’t panic buy. Think of the elderly person who couldn’t get to the shop on time. I’m sure supermarkets will continue to provide toilet rolls for everybody as they have always done if we stay sensible.
7- Let’s be kind to each other. We can all empathise with each other with our different levels of anxiety and fear. We can all respect each other with our different opinions. We can all accept each other whether we come from China or Italy. It is a global problem now. We all own it, so let’s be friends with each other and smile to each other.
I wish you all a safe week.
