You Are Not Alone: Coping with Anxiety and Uncertainty During COVID-19.
If you are feeling stress and anxiety surrounding the COVID-19 pandemic (not to mention fires and everything else that feels like the apocalypse), you are not alone. According to a national poll released this spring by the American Psychiatric Association, 36% of Americans reported that coronavirus is having a serious impact on their mental health and 59% indicated it’s having a serious impact on their day-to-day lives. One in five people reported having trouble sleeping and nearly one in four said they have trouble concentrating on other things because of concerns about coronavirus.
These feelings are a normal response to worry and uncertainty, and that there are steps you can take to cope and hold onto hope! This article from Psychology Today discusses this issues and offers the following strategies:
Daily actions to help you tolerate uncertainty:
Practice kindness and compassion whenever possible—toward yourself as well as others.
Hydrate/drink water—many people simply don’t drink enough water and are in a state of mild dehydration that exacerbates stress and anxiety.
Be aware of your breathing and breathe intentionally, making your breathing slower and deeper—when under stress breathing tends to become more rapid and shallow which only increases anxiety.
Reach out to someone by phone or video chat, if in-person contact isn’t an option—a friend or family member—who will listen with presence and emotional availability.
Engage in some movement of physical movement “Movement is medicine!,” says my friend trainer Natalie Raitano, and you need those exercise-induced endorphins now more than ever! And, if you’re stuck at home, just turn up your favorite tunes and dance your blues away. (My friends could tell you, I’m an avid dancer so if you’re coming over for a social-distance visit - be warned!)
Re-animate your core values—bring to conscious awareness the values most important to you.
If possible, be of service and do something meaningful (however small) for someone in need or less fortunate than yourself.
Finally, rinse and repeat all of the above often!
Be safe, take care and know that this too shall pass.
