Anxiety During the Coronavirus | Lexington, KY
The coronavirus is a breeding ground for anxiety, when our health, economy, and daily life as we know it feel threatened. Anxiety is a natural response during times of uncertainty, with our brain alerting us to potential threats and helping us to keep ourselves and loved ones safe. Our thoughts significantly impact our anxiety level, and keeping a healthy perspective during a prolonged period can be hard. Here are 6 ways to reframe our thoughts to decrease anxiety:
Self-compassion: There is no right or wrong way to react to a pandemic or crisis. It is quite natural to feel a roller coaster of emotions, and to feel quite differently day to day, even hour to hour. One minute we may feel like we are coping well, and the next not. Please remember that feelings come and go and that “no feeling is final.” Our main goal right now is to survive the pandemic. For some people, they may thrive on distraction and being super productive, which is their coping mechanism. Many other people may feel too overwhelmed for their creative juices/productivity to flow and need to do less, which is how they are coping. We are all mourning and grieving our former lives and sense of normalcy. Be gentle on yourself right now, and extend this grace to others as well. Get rid of the word “should” when chiding yourself and replace it with “could” or “choose to.” Example self-statement: Of course I feel this way right now, but I won’t feel this way forever. This is a hard time. I choose to give myself grace.
Accepting uncertainty: It is important for us to acknowledge that there is a good portion about our lives that cannot be predicted or controlled. This happens every time we get in the car, or just start our day. Anxiety results when we try to stay two steps ahead of the “what ifs” to stay safe, making attempts to avoid worst-case scenarios. None of us can predict the future. We are learning new information about the coronavirus everyday, and unless we are the scientists doing the research, it is difficult to know all the answers. This does not mean we do not take reasonable steps to prevent getting the coronavirus, but we let ourselves off the hook for things that are impossible to control and things we do not know yet. We can accept that we will do the best we can, and we just don’t know all the information yet, nor can we prevent everything. Helpful self-statement: I accept that I cannot control everything, and I’m doing the best I can.
Focus on what is in your control: While accepting what is out of our control, we can spend time focusing on what is in our control. It may feel like very little is in our control right now, but most of us have choices on how we structure our day and what we choose to focus on over the course of the day. We do not always have control on how we feel, but we can control our response. For some, that may be focusing on our schedule/routine for the day, what we fix for dinner, and what we choose to do each day. For others, a sense of control may be following the CDC precautions to prevent the coronavirus, or making a donation to a good cause. We can also “choose” and compartmentalize some worries, such as setting time aside to look at finances, instead of worrying about it all the time. Example self-statement: I choose to get out of my pajamas, stop eating potato chips, follow a routine today, and focus on activities that promote good mental health.
Gratitude: It can be helpful to focus on what we are grateful for in the midst of a difficult time. In the course of any day, even during a coronavirus lockdown, many things go “right.” This is not to make us feel guilty for feeling bad at times or telling us how we “should” feel, but to gently shift our mind at times to what is going well. For example, maybe we have plenty of coffee in the pantry and we appreciate the warm cup in our hands, or we are happy to have more family time at the table, more sleep, a funny television show to watch, or a comfortable bed. Example self-statement: I am grateful the weather was beautiful and I called a good friend today.
Meditation/mindfulness activities: Anxiety thrives when we focus on either the past or the future, as we relive painful memories and/or focus on the bad things that may happen in the future. Mindfulness is the practice of paying attention to the present moment, and doing it intentionally and without judgment. Most of us can acknowledge that in “this moment,” we are okay. It is impossible to stay present-focused all the time, but giving our brains a break from worrying is necessary. Meditating is a way to practice mindfulness, in which we can learn to stay in the present moment for chunks of time. There are many apps and online resources that offer free meditation exercises for beginners to the more advanced, in different time increments and different styles. Two popular apps include Calm and Headspace, although there are others. Even if you can do a few minutes a day, this can be helpful. Other activities that can help you stay present-focused are breathing exercises, a mindful body scan, and walking meditation exercises that help you focus on your senses instead of your thoughts.
Limit exposure to news and anxiety-provoking material: While it is important to stay informed, there can be a point when we are oversaturated with news. In our quest to find out more in these uncertain times, it is natural that some people want to read everything they can, in hopes they will gain a sense of control. Research shows we feel better after getting clear information about a potential threat, but we feel worse after receiving ambiguous information. Ingesting too much news and news from certain sources can increase anxiety. This also may go for exposure to certain on-line support groups, text threads, reading the comments on news articles, and people in your social circle discussing their own anxieties in detail. Set a limit as to how much news and which sources you will expose yourself to each day, possibly setting a time limit or a time of day when you “cut yourself off” from news. Also be mindful of false information and news sources that serve to induce panic instead of being helpful. Helpful self-statement: I will read news twice a day for 20 minutes and not after 7 pm.
These are just a few ways to help reframe your thoughts to decrease anxiety. If you feel like you could benefit from counseling and talking about your anxiety more with an expert on anxiety, please call our office at True North Counseling and Development at (859) 740-7374.