How can we deal with the anxiety of coronavirus?

The biggest pandemic of coronavirus affecting the whole world is spreading at a fast pace. The virus causes anxiety among people who are both staying at home and going to work. Don’t allow the virus to control your own life.

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Corona virus has led to serious limitations by threatening our lives, causing anxiety, breaking our routines. The severity and continuity of the pandemic may cause feelings of worry, fear and stress; and it is normal to be affected by the situations the pandemic brings about. However, there is a group of people who might be affected more than others: people with anxiety disorder and/or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Those people may feel the urge to repeat the same behaviour (i.e. washing hands) with a strong fear of getting the virus. In any case, adequate and controlled stress may benefit us but the excessiveness may transform the compulsions to phobia.

What can we do to manage our fear and anxiety?

• First of all, create a safe temporary home plan. If you are living with people who are at high risk, thinking the probability of infecting loved ones may lead to elevated fear and worry.

• Take care of your nutrition and sleep routine (try to sleep between 01:00-04:00 am; and don’t sleep less than 6, more than 11 hours).

• When you experience elevated levels of anxiety, take a deep breath and exhale slowly.

• Try to reduce consuming sugar.

• Begin a hobby that you can do at home.

• Imagine the healthy, happy and peaceful days and practice the belief that those days will pass.

• Remember that your health is important for people around you as much as it is for yourself.

Tags

• general anxiety disorder
• phobia
• obsessive-compulsive disorder
• stress
• pandemic
• anxiety
• coronavirus