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STRESS, ANXIETY,DEPRESSION, DURING THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC

Are you S.A.D.,(Stressed Anxious and Depressed) during the coronavirus pandemic? Well, you’re not alone.  Even if there is not a likelihood of suffering from the virus, for many, there is still the gnawing uncomfortableness of not knowing when or if  the virus will strike. What is stress, anxiety and depression?

First, let’s take stress.  Stress is a normal physiological response to a real or imagined threat. It goes back to the old fight/flight response. For example, in prehistoric times, when humans were faced with a predictor, they would either fight it or flee from it.  Afterward, when the situation was resolved one way or anther, the human would go back to a state of equilibrium. Today, with the coronavirus, the stress issue is not be as easily resolved. It is a threat is unknown and unpredictable.

Next, let’s take anxiety. Anxiety, on the other hand, is a response to a vague or unknown threat. Anxiety manifests itself when we anticpates something bad will occur before it actually happens. Everyone experiences anxiety at sometime or another, with varios degrees of intensity. If the physical and mental intensity is great enough, you can easily think you’re getting a heart attack or going crazy.  To the extent you don’t perceive you have contol of the coronavirus outcome, that will influence the intensity of your experience.

Finally, let’s take depression. Depression can manifest itself by a sense of apathy, discouragement and hopelessness, depending on one’s state of mind in any given situation.  Depression can manifest itself in various physical and psychological ways. As with anxiety, the intensity varies from one person to the next. Just immersing yourself in the round the clock news outlets on the corona virus can trigger an underlying depression.

Though these feelings can seem overpowering during these trying times, you need not be powerless. You can slowly take back control over your life as you wait for  the conclusion of the coronavirus pandemic. Here are some things you can do.

  1. Stay informed with actuate information.  A good source is going online and reading the up to date information listed on the John Hopkins Resource Center.
  2. Don’t automatically believe what you hear or see on various news outlets. Take time to reseach the facts through reputable sources.
  3. Be informed but don’t be obsessed. Too much exposure to various news sources can have a negative affect on your health.
  4. Now is a good time to get in shape.  Take a walk, jog, ride a bike, exercise. Get into a routine and stick with it.
  5. Socialize. Though you can’t be in face to face meetings right now, you can utilize the phone and video for virtual socilaization with one or a group of people.
  6.  Watch a game show with a friend by utilizing face time and competing with one another at a distance.
  7.  Meditate or utilizes a kind of prayer or quiet time on a regular basis..
  8. Watch classic movies or comedies.
  9. Take on a project, learn a new language, learn to cook or cook more new dishes.
  10. Read a book you been putting off, listen to relaxing and enjoyable music, take a relaxing bath.
  11. Create a menu of personal self-care activities that you enjoy. You can put them together from the list above or add on things that come to mind to you.

The possibilities are many.  You can discover them if you focus on things that make you happy rather than S.A.D., Stressed, Anxious, Depressed.

Readers are invited to comment, anonymously if you wish, sharing your thoughts, ideas or suggestions about this blog or any other previous blogs. Readers can e-mailing me at lifesourcecenter@aol.com or mailing me at lifesourcecenter, 710 Main Street, Plantsville Connecticut, 06479.