Reducing Pandemic Anxiety
Hello
Lovelies,
My
name is Ellie and it’s so good to see you. I wanted to go more
in depth into anxiety because we are facing unprecedented times (whole
pandemic thing). Many of us who wouldn't normally have anxiety are feeling
it right now. So, I wanted to go over a few tips and tricks to try to
stave away the pandemic anxiety that we're all feeling. As someone
who already has anxiety all of this extra pressure really has affected me in a
big way.
The
first thing we can do is understand that in this life there
are so many things that we cannot control. We can't control other
people. We can't control viruses or how they spread. We as an
individual can't control the broader spectrum of things, but you can control
yourself. You can control whether you go out despite instructions to stay
home. You can control washing your own hands and
taking necessary precautions. For me focusing on things that are
within my scope of control helped me immensely.
Besides
looking up the confirmed facts of this virus and taking
ownership of yourself, you can practice stress lowering activities.
This can be meditation or yoga. If you're feeling
overwhelmed you can sit down and do meditative breathing. There are a lot
of informational websites and YouTube videos on this I'll link a
few below. Along with this distracting yourself with
hobbies or things you enjoy can also be effective. Personally, I like
to paint and write poetry. You don't have to be good at these
things, just try something new or that you enjoy. If
you’ve got the supplies for it, try it out. You
could also take a walk. If you have a dog spend time taking
extra care of it bathe and brush your dog. Take it for
a walk, maybe play ball. Get out of the house. Go for a
drive around the block, fill up on gas. While you
should stay six feet away from other people there are still
things outside of your home that you can do. Go to park to areas that you
know there won’t be a ton of people. Make sure
you’re safe about it. Let people know where you're going. You
can plan for the future! There is going to be a
future on this Earth. This is just going to be another
rotation. Eventually when this settles, we are all going to need
to keep living. There are more things out there,
more life to be lived. If you’ve been thinking
about changing jobs now is a great time to
start refreshing your resume. Perhaps start researching programs
that you could get into after this storm passes.
An
unexpected issue that stems from quarantine or self-isolation is loneliness. A
lot of people are stuck at home alone but they don’t need to feel this
way. We have so many different ways to be social without
physically being in the presence of other people. Social media sites
like Facebook, Twitter, and Discord are all available at a touch of a button.
This allows you to meet and be social people all over the world.
Recently, I found out that Google has a Netflix party that
allows you to watch movies in sync with other people for
free.
We
need to remember that as a country, as a world, do everything with
kindness and compassion. Reach out to people who are elderly or
sickly or alone and ensure they are doing okay. Even a phone
call could mean the world to them. If you have a higher immune system,
maybe you could drop off essentials on their porch or pay
for Shipt shopping.
Go
out, try to stay away from as many people as possible but get some
fresh air. Pick up things for people who aren't able. Be calm and be kind
to each other because the world is going to go on and we don't want to be
remembered as the people who were really aggressive over a luxury
item (toilet paper).
References:
Keep
Calm and Carry on Photo from WWII when Britain was being Bombed.
-Photo
from the MMWR Article PDF on this page
Google
Party with Netflix: https://chrome.google.com/webstore/detail/netflix-party/oocalimimngaihdkbihfgmpkcpnmlaoa?hl=en
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