Warning signs for symptoms of anxiety in a time of enforced social isolation: feeling a flood of rapid thoughts,increased heart rate, feeling breathless or shallow breathing, feeling a sense of ‘doom’,concerns with sleep and appetite, difficulties with regulating emotions (contd)
... thinking of all the worst case scenarios, nightmares, difficulties with focus and concentration, difficulty in completing tasks, feeling obsessive about thoughts related to worst case scenarios + more.
Things you can do: Prepare a list of easy to do coping activities that will keep you engaged for a while,pay attention to your body-every feeling response starts first in the body.This can help in recognise when the 1st symptom of anxiety kicks in & help in the regulation process
Pay attention to your thoughts & try to categorise them in 3 columns - The thought, what is the probability that this will happen? (In %), what % do I think this won’t happen and why? Write this down and keep it somewhere you can see it. Do an assessment for every anxious thought
Anxiety is a protective feeling response but it can hamper rationality. Doing this can help to see if the anxiety is valid in that moment or not. It can help in developing a wholesome response to the thought and situation, one that is not solely driven by anxiety.
Think about doable activities in your everyday life that can feel grounding - colouring, tidying up, chopping vegetables, separating green vegetables from their stalks, playing with an object, deep breathing exercises. The activity needs to be repetitive in action for a while.
Grounding activities help with getting oriented with reality. Anxious thoughts can conjure an alternate, terrifying reality in our brains that can feel difficult to get out of. More examples - a workout, folding clothes, doing a 10 minute meditation, engaging in a hobby.
It can also help to be aware of managing strategies that are preventive to experiencing symptoms of anxiety and in practising them everyday. Again, making a list on your phone or in a book can make this accessible and easier to practice.
Maintaining boundaries from triggers is key, especially if it’s the news cycle with #COVID19. We’re a generation that is bombarded with the news and we’re often trying to survive through the news cycle with no time to process what has been told to us. This can feel terrifying.
Think about what’s your news source. It’s usually a phone or a laptop. Activating Zen Mode on android or getting the FLIPD app on iOS helps you deactivate apps from your phone for as short as 20 minutes and as long as 8 hours or more. Your apps will come back once the timer ends
Start at 20 minutes. Think about an alternative activity that’s recreational and grounding to engage in in the time that the apps are deactivated. Your body deserves a back and an overwhelming news cycle doesn’t allow for a break. Disengaging and boundary setting is essential.
Let your social support system know about your triggers, symptoms, your responses and how you want to be helped in those moments if you reach out to them. You have agency here and help is a good idea. Tell them to give you what you need & not what they think is best for you.
If you have access to therapy and it’s been offline, ask your therapist if it can be moved online. You are not being difficult, you’re having difficulties. These are extremely valid health concerns. Anyone who’s dismissive of them is misinformed and ignorant. You got this!
Here’s a thread on how to help someone experiencing panic attacks:
