03/12/2020
Are YOU experiencing anxiety? What are you doing to manage?
My Self-Prescription for the Most Recent Pandemic
Along with COVID-19 we are facing another pandemic: viral anxiety. As laughable as the toilet paper hoarding seems to some, psychologists remark that it is really a symptom of feeling out of control. As events unfold around us, we realize we really don’t know what to expect.
We went to bed last month watching what was happening across the globe and woke up today to find our own worlds upside down. Events and gatherings have been canceled in an unprecedented way: all sports franchises have suspended their seasons, international travel bans are in place, conferences, meetings, concerts have all been canceled; people are even postponing weddings and baby showers. Businesses are closed, and some of us are out of work indefinitely. Our schools are closed, and children are home for an indefinite amount of time. The places we often turn to as communities when we’re in fear and in need, our houses of worship, have shut their doors. People are getting sick. Some are dying. And yes, people are hoarding toilet paper.
We don’t know what to expect, and we feel out of control. The last time I remember sharing such a sense of vulnerability and uncertainty with my neighbors was 9/11. And this is global. And just like the pandemic that sparked it, the current anxiety it has awakened is just as contagious (and arguably harmful).
As I woke up with symptoms of this viral anxiety, I decided I needed to spend time thinking about how to do two things: how to protect myself and how to not contribute to further infection.
Here’s what I’ve come up with and is the prescription I have written for myself:
Be Discerning About Media Consumption:
We must stay on top of critical information. We need to know what our local health officials are instructing us to do. We must understand our community’s procedures are for closures. We need to understand and weigh risks based on the best information we can find.
But it is also our responsibility to be critical about where we find that information.
I know where I will NOT find it! In the comments section of most posts online following any news story.
I love the meme I saw with the guy at the computer that basically says, “Hey, look, honey. I didn’t realize that so many of my friends who were authorities on constitutional law last week are also epidemiologists!” If anyone can find that - please send it to me.
So I have selected three sources that I personally trust. No channel or social media surfing for information allowed.
One of them is the direct, live press conference feed from my local health department officials. Rather than read what the media reports after going to the press conference, I can watch it live without the interpretation, spin, and bias. I get alerts when they are going live with a new press conference. I trust if there’s anything new I need to know, I will get the alert when the press does.
I will visit those three sources twice a day. Once in the morning AFTER I have had a cup of coffee and morning meditation. And the second at the end of my work day. And most definitely NOT right before bed. For now I feel confident that nothing that is happening needs my 24 hour focus.
Balance Media Consumption:
In addition to balancing the amount of time spent consuming information and the sources for that information, I am committed to balancing the kind of information I am exposing myself to. I absolutely know what I am going to hear if I turn on my car radio or if I turn on a major network or cable channel. Whether or not it’s media hype or socially responsible reporting is not even really of interest to me at this point. And debating it online does nothing to reduce my anxiety. I absolutely know for a fact that it is not ALL that is going on.
So, for every 10 minutes I spend searching for recent COVID-19 information, I will balance it with 10 minutes of intentional surfing on sites I know will help me find a more balanced perspective. Here are some of the sites I turn to.
Good News Network
https://www.goodnewsnetwork.org/
Happy News Network
https://happynews.com/
Sunnyskyz (You can even post stories!)
http://www.sunnyskyz.com/
Kindling
http://kindling.xyz/
Ask How I Can Help?:
The best advice in most times of self-absorbed anxiety is to get out of ourselves and stop being the center of our own worlds. Social distance is not the same as isolation. Reducing my own anxiety hinges on connection and service. So I am actively looking for opportunities to help others. If it’s related to the current crisis – great. Can I drop off food to someone who is home sick? Can I offer childcare to a parent whose child is out of school but has to get to work? But if not (because my area is not heavily impacted by the direct consequences of the virus yet) where else can I help?
I don’t know what is going to unfold in the days, weeks, and months to come. Just like COVID-19, there is no vaccine for anxiety. The best I can do is follow the course of action I just prescribed for myself and adjust accordingly to the ever-changing situation. And maybe taken inventory of my toilet paper.
Are YOU feeling the anxiety and what are YOU doing to manage it?
Your daily source for only good news: Inspiring stories and images from around the world will make you feel uplifted, optimistic and positive about life.
Your daily source for only good news: Inspiring stories and images from around the world will make you feel uplifted, optimistic and positive about life.
