Subtitles section Play video Print subtitles Narrator: As the coronavirus pandemic continues to escalate, we are flooded with images that may be contributing to our anxiety. We watch as cities around the world are disinfected and get constant updates on the number of cases near and far. When we get away from the TV and internet, there isn't much relief. We are faced with closed offices and empty store shelves. We spoke to a therapist to find out how to deal with coronavirus anxiety. So can you talk to me about what is at the core of our anxiety and how does this anxiety serve us? So, anxiety really is healthy and evolutionary, right? I mean, it is there to say you need to prepare, you need to watch out, and anxiety really precedes action. You know, we would see a tiger on the savanna or whatever, or we'd have a lack of food, and anxiety showed up to make sure that we acted and protected ourselves from whatever that threat was. Now in this instance, it's an interesting situation because we don't have enough information to really be able to assess how productive our anxiety is. We want to find somewhere between alarmism and nonchalance, and we don't know where that is because we don't have enough information and there is a large degree of misinformation. So this is all to say that the anxiety that we're feeling, a certain degree of it actually is really helpful. One of the things we tend to do, with any uncomfortable emotion, whether it's anxiety or sadness or loneliness, is we judge ourselves and then we end up feeling anxiety for feeling anxious, or ashamed for feeling anxious or depressed or whatever it is. So in this case, we want to be able to sort of take pause, recognize that we're feeling anxious and make some space for that anxiety. And actually practice what we call self-compassion in response to that. Those are real, valid, warranted fears. Now the challenge is a lot of people, again, they don't actually go so far as to understand what their anxiety is telling them. They just sort of catastrophize and ruminate. And so what we want people to do is to be able to recognize the anxiety they're feeling and then ask themselves, what's anxiety telling me? And anxiety is essentially correlated with uncertainty. OK, what am I most scared about? Is it my health? Is it my parents' or a loved one's health? Is it my job? You know, is it the markets? And then start to really understand, what do I need right now? Now, in terms of dealing with uncertainty and thus lowering our anxiety, there are two ways of coming at this: One, we want to be able to find certainty where we can. I would encourage people to find a reputable media source, check that not constantly or nonstop, because you will just fuel the anxiety and it will just frankly be exhausting and incredibly distressful. So find your reputable news source and check it - give yourself a number of times a day that you might check it, and also playing out different scenarios, thinking OK, if I want to feel a level of preparedness in this situation, what seems realistic, in terms, of responsible preparation? Yes, do I want to go out and but some extra toilet paper and non-perishables, or water, or whatever. If that seems to serve you and help lower you anxiety in the situation then by all means do it. You know, another thing we can do to feel a sense of control and find more certainty around this, is, OK, are you washing your hands? Are you practicing social distancing? Are you doing what you can to support your immune system in the event that you are exposed? And that means getting enough sleep, making sure that you're nourishing your body. Then when it comes to coping with uncertainty and sitting with uncertainty, self-care of course is super important. So what I mean by that is doing certain things that will help bring down the cortisol and norepinephrine levels that are stirred up by anxiety, and that might be something like exercise, meditation, yoga. If normally you go to a gym or an exercise class or a yoga class, this might be a time if it feels more serving for you to find an app and do something from home. A certain degree of self-care is about distraction and that's oftentimes what we label as coping. But really we can't be having this conversation in our heads and with others 24/7 because this is debilitating. Listen to some podcasts that are on a completely different topic or watch a show or something. Try to do something that's engaging. Try to be present with people that you feel safe around. Most importantly too is still finding connection while we're practicing the social distancing. So that might not look the same as it would have a couple of months ago but hey, this may be a time to resurrect the phone conversation. Given the severity of this, how are you helping clients put some of this into perspective, and their anxiety around it in perspective? Some degree of anxiety around this is helpful, so I really do want to encourage people to not judge themselves for that anxiety and to allow room to examine that anxiety and see what it's telling you. It can be helpful for people to remember do what is within your control and also still be able to live their life to a certain extent. Just make some changes.
B1 anxiety uncertainty degree anxious find coping How To Deal With Coronavirus Anxiety According To A Therapist 12 1 林宜悉 posted on 2020/10/23 More Share Save Report Video vocabulary