Anxiety in the face of the coronavirus crisis: an interview with ITAE Psychology

We talked about the impact of the pandemic on mental health with the experts of ITAE Psychology

We must not lose sight of the fact that, in addition to the confinement measures, the risk of collapse of the health system, the risk of contagion and economic vulnerability, the coronavirus crisis also favors the emergence of other types of problems: psychological distress and the risk of developing emotional disturbances.

To better understand the keys to this phenomenon, on this occasion we interviewed the team of mental health experts at ITAE Psychology.

Anxiety and the COVID-19 crisis: an interview to ITAE

ITAE Psicología is an entity composed of a team of psychologists and psychiatrists specialized in problems of stress, anxiety and poor regulation of emotions. They conduct both face-to-face sessions in Madrid and Barcelona and also online sessions by video call. In this case they talk to us about the impact of the coronavirus pandemic on our way of experiencing anxiety, a very common type of discomfort.

These days there is a lot of talk about the medical emergency situation to which we are subjected, but we must not forget that there is also a psychological crisis. What are the most common signs that, when manifested in a person, indicate that the situation is too much for him/her and that he/she needs professional help?

The situation becomes susceptible to professional help when the person observes that he/she cannot stop thinking about the problem, and when negative thoughts about the situation or about the future are so recurrent that they "hijack" his/her mind.

Also when the person has stopped satisfying one or more of his basic needs, i.e. eating or sleeping, since it would indicate that the problem is overcoming him as it affects areas that the person needs to have a minimum basis of well-being.

Likewise, it would be a sign of the need for professional psychological help when, especially in quarantine, the person is unable to maintain his/her attention for a minimum time in pleasurable or enjoyable activities that allow him/her to distract him/her, for a few moments, from the external situation.

Is the anxiety caused by the coronavirus mainly due to fear of the disease, or is the uncertainty caused by the economic slowdown and the quarantine situation more important?

Both concerns are recurrent these days. It depends to some extent on the specific situation of each individual, and on personal characteristics.

There are people who may have a tendency to worry about disease, or rather a greater fear (greater than the general population) of losing physical health or even dying from a physical disease, who are possibly now more affected by the possibilities of exposure to the virus and suffering from the disease.

We also found cases of people with a close relative infected, who are much more "tuned in" to the issue and are more likely to suffer from anxiety.

On the other hand, we also find a high level of people experiencing negative anticipatory or catastrophic thoughts due to uncertainty about the future.

The change of economic conditions for the worse coupled with the experience of confinement can generate a lot of anxiety. Both because of the interpretation of present or future threat (with thoughts such as "there will be less work, I will have less money, I will not be able to pay the rent...") and because of difficulty in managing anxiety symptoms by not being able to perform activities that, possibly, were previously performed to reduce these symptoms (sport, outdoor leisure, etc.).

And what habits can we adopt to protect ourselves from anxiety in such a situation?

There are several habits that it is essential to incorporate in our range of strategies to manage anxiety in these circumstances. We can start by becoming aware of what is happening to us, that is, by listening to ourselves more. Whether it is noticing that we have more anxiety one day than another, observing our thoughts, physical sensations or our emotions.

All this is important information to know how we are reacting in these circumstances. In most cases we do not pay attention to how we are doing so it is difficult to do anything about it at first.

In addition, it can also be very useful to have the habit of expressing what is happening to someone close to us, a friend, a family member. Telling what worries me, bothers me or saddens me is a good way out of emotional discomfort.

On the other hand, it is very useful to be able to create "problem-free" spaces in which we enjoy some activity, alone or with the family, and this allows us to escape momentarily from the circumstances, in order to recharge emotional energy. Of course, physical exercise and a good diet are also an essential basis for health, including emotional health.

What are the psychological mechanisms that favor the maintenance of anxiety over time? Does the bombardment of information on television and the Internet contribute to this?

Anxiety is an emotion, and as such it is temporary. When it is maintained over time it is because we "feed" it. Therefore, any external or internal stimulus that is related to fear, will maintain anxiety for a longer period of time. Of course, at external level, we have the bombardment of information by any media.

The brain is faithful to what we dictate to it and if it receives worrying information or we interpret it as worrying, it will activate all the physiological mechanisms of response to a danger, manifesting itself in symptoms of anxiety. It also happens that, without the need to be receiving information from outside, we can maintain anxiety ourselves by being continuously hooked to negative thoughts.

Here the underlying mechanism is an excess of attention on the thoughts themselves, thinking that we have no control over them and that we cannot "let them go". Hence, acceptance and distraction of thoughts is a more effective strategy to reduce anxiety signals.

In the face of confinement, it is possible that coexistence problems may intensify. What recommendations can families follow so that anxiety and irritability do not produce more problems in this regard?

It is important for families to maintain a routine, first of all, that provides a pleasant sense of order (whether or not there are small children in the family). Likewise, more than ever, it is essential to practice assertive communication skills.

Conflicts in coexistence are common, and even more so now, which requires that all family members establish ways to expose and solve them. For example, agree on a day and time when all family members can talk about how they are doing and what they need so that conflicts can be prevented or, if they already exist, they can be discussed.

Although when a conflict occurs, it is vital that it is not handled "hot", since the intensity of the emotion will not allow dialogue, but that a time is specified when the subject will be taken up again, already "cold", thus avoiding the accumulation of problems and this will lead to the "snowball effect".

Another highly recommended aid is to generate leisure time in the family and at home, since the experience of positive joint spaces usually acts as a catalyst for (accumulated) tensions and promotes affectivity and healthy communication among all family members.

If a global pandemic similar to this one occurs again in a few years, will we be better at managing the negative emotions it produces?

That will depend on the resources we put in place in the current situation. If we use the context in which we are currently living to our advantage to learn about ourselves and improve, we will surely have acquired lifelong emotional management mechanisms and, although no future situation is predictable, we will have more tools to cope with it. This is empowering our resilience.

It is possible that this extreme situation is teaching us lessons that we all receive, and however minimal the learning may be, having gone through this situation will help us to adapt to future adverse circumstances, such as another pandemic.