Coping with the coronavirus panic and anxiety these days
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Recharge your optimism!
Remember those days when people were buying hygiene paper like never before in human history? That’s the mere manifestation of panic, coronavirus panic… Then countries all over the world raised the pandemic alert level progressively, and we all had to face a social NEW situation and find the resources to adapt to the new work and living conditions. So, it came naturally that many of us had our share of coronavirus panic.
Some got over, some have a feeble glimpse of panic from time to time, and some hardly remember they panicked at the beginning of the pandemic. Congrats to the later! We’ll see why we panic, why it’s normal, and how to disable that mechanism to stay mentally but ALSO physically strong. Oh, and MobileRecharge team shares their experience and tips.
Why do we panic?
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The coronavirus. . . reminds many people of their own mortality. (Will de Freitas, Psychology can explain why coronavirus drives us to panic buy, TheConversation.com
It’s strange how most of our modern societies got away from the natural death acceptance. It’s a tabu for most. Mexicans, Haitians and Indians are still obviously approaching the topic more friendly and logically; see Dia de los Muertos. As Einstein put it “the only things we can be certain of is death and taxes”.
A huge fear & good imagination
Instead of logical approach… That is the underlying issue of the iceberg tip called the coronavirus panic. When hearing a piece of news, our imagination goes boom on scenarios that involve us or someone close, without realising we might be 100% wrong.
That’s the impulse of panic-buying for lots of hygienic paper. And we’ve seen that in Australia, the USA, Europe…
But the thing is that when news started to break out on the new pandemic, a new mindset got installed on our minds’ hardware. A combination of fear and rich imagination.
Uncertainty
No one can deny we’re crossing uncertain times. Yet, systems we are part of are strong enough to uphold some balance. That’s why it’s important to get to a peaceful place and make plans, think logically and remember it’s going to pass just like wars did, other pandemic too, other crisis in the past as well.
Plus, it says a lot about us as a species. We made certainty and control a device of our existence, when in reality there are so many factors we cannot control. We think our job is certain until it no longer is. :) So, what’s to do? ADAPT! In the past, the human species was always adapting, and that is an evolving mechanism. Both physically and mentally. New situations stir up the mind, and when this is understood as being clearly human and natural you can set at peace with the uncertain situation. Live step by step, buy what you need, breath as much as you need, focus on what you need not what you could be in need of in 2 months time. Because you never know…
As Will de Freitas, editor from TheConversation puts it in his article about COVID-19 and the psychology of panic…
The coronavirus outbreak is not only a time of uncertainty, but also a period in which many of us are experiencing social isolation. Both of these factors can psychologically motivate people to buy things they don’t need. Feeling unable to tolerate uncertainty is associated with more extreme hoarding behaviour.
Coronavirus panic is now e-trending, besides the the inherent panic some of us were experiencing everyday life, no matter if we saw or not the bear… And now the social distancing creates anxiety. The lockdown put many of us on a new stage, and we had to reinvent our individual and familial reality.
Social distancing is actually PHYSICAL DISTANCING & SOCIAL SOLIDARITY
The toughest thing for me is not the fact that I have to stay home, but that I can’t go walking outside at least during my days off. What helps me during these days is talking to my friends and spending time with mom and dad( I keep thinking that moving back to their place during isolation made us stronger together). — Iulia
1. DEFINITELY, reduce news intake
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Media is a strong force looking for income as well… And since COVID-19 makes the world tour with news it becomes the number 1 topic of media consumption. To stay mentally healthy is to relax the brain from objective news, and definitely stay away from fake news that are win clicks by being spectacular and COVI-19 panic triggers.
I no longer watch news programs on and on. I only take a small dose of basic news in the morning. — Claudia
Instead, learn something new or…
- Watch some good series: Money Heist, The Good Place, Vikings (our colleagues tips)
- Documentaries on documentary platform like Vimeo, Fandor, Sprdword, Documentary Heaven, TopDocumentaryFilms, SnagFilms, etc.
- Podcasts on your favorite radio channel with shows you’ve missed, or on YouTube.
- Check https://www.wdl.org/en/ , Unesco’s digital library
- Filter your news and trust the official ones only…
2. Scientists know what it is & how to test it
The scientific world has been focused on coronavirus panic from another perspective, by collecting data and developing tests. Done! Plus 80% of the cases are mild according to multiple official sources. It’s only the rapid spread that has created all this coronavirus panic, along with the news and the overthinking the basic measures.
We already know that it is a new coronavirus from group 2B, of the same family as SARS, which we have called SARSCoV2. The disease is called COVID-19. It is thought to be related to coronavirus from bats. Genetic analyses have confirmed it has a recent natural origin (between the end of November and the beginning of December) and that, although viruses live by mutating, its mutation rate may not be very high. (TheConversation.com)
3. Measures work
Wikipedia is full of updates about measures that have been taken to reduce the spread on national level in all countries affected. Which led to first results of less cases in China and even Italy, the popular red zones.
4. Get logical. Doubt your beliefs!
Coronavirus panic and fear in general talk about yourself. How?
Well, the most disturbing emotions are the results of thoughts. So what are thinking and believing about life and the current situation. That’s important to see in order to get real and change the approach.
Cognitive psychology is infused with demonstrations and theory on this topic. Katie Byron, an informal teacher that has million of followers and changed many lives with her easy technique based on cognitive psychology is pointing to the object quality of the thoughts. In other words, imagine the thoughts are things. And treat them accordingly, don’t give them so much credit when pain is what they provoke. Here’s a demonstration that works on any disturbing thought situation. It will make difference…
5. Get your daily dose of humour
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Stress or panic… more harmful than any virus. If viruses affect certain areas of the body, and leave no important traces once the immune system got familiar with it, stress and panic included can affect more than 1 organ and long-term effects are hard to make disappear, if not impossible.
SimplyPsychology.org talks about fear as affecting the digestive system, the heart and the hormonal life of the body and mind. So, next time you use your imagination again to get on some panic rush, remember you’re doing more wrong than covid “livin’ la vida loca” his own viral way…
When we’re stressed, the immune system’s ability to fight off antigens is reduced. That is why we are more susceptible to infections. (SimplyPsychology.org )
Photo by Phillip Goldsberry on Unsplash
So, here are some suggestions to put yourself into some other shoes than your frightened imagination building up scenarios.
- Podcasts of your favorite comedians or radio shows
- Stand-up comedies on YouTube
- Jokes on Google
- BoredPanda articles
- Call your funny friends…
- Use your imagination to find playful situations, and become a kid again…
- Or dance like never before.
6. Keep doing what you like or always wanted to try
Coronavirus panic is somehow also associated, as we can see around, to the thought of not being able to go out, or getting into the claustrophobic corner of the mind…
Or thinking about people as being in danger. Especially parents and grandparents, who could be affected more violently due to their age. That’s also Teo’s concern.
So, Teo from MobileRecharge team shared a bit about her stress of not seeing her parents for a longer period or even undetermined.
For someone used to visiting her parents as often as she could is somehow strange and sad not to be able to travel home anymore, even if it’s less than a 2 hour drive. However, I am sure that we will appreciate the time spent together even more, after all this is over. In the meantime, I spend my time with small projects: gardening (which has been postponed for months) and beading (which is a newer hobby, but I didn’t have as much time as I wanted to practice). So the conclusion…. my flowers will be happier and I will have more jewellery to wear this summer ;) wink. Trying to stay positive is the best thing that we can do during these times. — Teo
You’ll find MORE ideas about how to spend your #stayhome time in this article:
7 easy things you can do to keep emotionally fit in self-isolation >>
7. Keep a routine
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Although it’s hard to completely detach myself from everything that’s happening nowadays, I found that holding on to my regular habits (as much as possible) really helps. Among the things that always fill my heart and clear my mind are: keeping in touch with my loved ones, reading, physical exercise & a daily dose of humor and silly jokes. Also, reducing the amount of news I read/listen to has helped me more than I would’ve thought. — Simone (MobileRecharge team)
8. Don’t you dare not to make plans :)
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Plans put your mind in a motivational perspective. Then, it comes natural to have the gut to try, to have enthusiasm. Do you see anything wrong in this? We don’t.
Plus, remember the crisis will go by soon, so this time is time to make the dough grow, if you know what we mean… ;)
9. Lower panic by shopping online
When we find ways to shop online, the fear of being exposed lowers. Which makes a sense, right? The coronavirus panic knocks to the door when putting the shoes on… That moment when your imagination goes “There are chances I catch it…” Which is not necessarily true. Just a subjective estimation…
Please consider you can now use online payment for most of your bills, whether from an app or the website. Also, shops make deliveries at home and launched apps for your online shopping cart. We are there since day 1 of our trade. So, count on us with your online mobile top up.
Also, you can use MobileRecharge app or MobileRecharge.com to top up your family’s mobile phones too. No matter the country, no matter the distance. It takes 1 minute.
Plus there are daily BONUSES. These days top ups to Telenor Myanmar get 50% EXTRA. Free credit also applies automatically to top ups to Latin American countries, as well as the Caribbean, Ethiopia, Cambodia, Kenya, Pakistan and many MORE.
