Fear and Anxiety, Two Symptoms of the Coronavirus

Advice on how to cope with unpleasant emotions linked to the pandemic crisis.

We are facing a global health crisis, as well as a crisis of fear and anxiety.. It is very important to be able to understand how these two symptoms work in a situation as special as the one we are experiencing.

However, it is difficult to measure, describe or predict an emotion, since each person experiences it in a different way in certain circumstances, depending on their previous experiences, learning, and specific situation.

Emotions fulfill an adaptive function to guarantee our survival. All emotions are valid and there are no positive or negative emotions; for this reason it is important to express all types of emotions, since withholding them can cause major problems. Here we will see some of them keys to managing anxiety and fear linked to the coronavirus pandemic.

First, I would like to define fear: it is an emotion linked to an unpleasant sensation that the perception of a risk or danger, real or imagined.real or imagined. In addition, fear is related to anxiety.

Anxiety is an anticipatory reaction of the body that appears involuntarily and keeps the nervous system in a state of high activation to internal stimuli (thoughts, memories...) or external stimuli (sounds, skin sensations...) perceived as threatening. In addition, it goes hand in hand with somatic symptoms of tension.

The management of fear and anxiety in the face of coronavirus.

Of all the primary emotions, the most important is fear, since it helps us to detect dangerand if we do not detect it we do not survive.

For example: if we are in a bar drinking something, and suddenly a person enters with a gun shooting, the first thing that will happen to us is to be afraid of this real situation. But if we are in a bar and we imagine that someone might come in with a gun, surely what we feel is anxiety, which is an anticipatory response to fear. And we will experience an anxiety crisis.

In this case, in the situation we are living in these days, there is a real threat which is the virus called COVID-19, or better known as "Coronavirus", but we decide how to live it. For example, if we decide to spend the whole day watching the news on television, we are in a state of constant alert, over-informed, and therefore, we do not talk about anything other than the news, we don't talk about anything other than the virus..

In this scenario, we are going to encounter a neglect of the activity, and that means we are going to be much more likely to get sick, because of the fact that the threat is constantly in our head.

On the other hand, there is the real fear. A fear in which we are facing something with a lot of ignorance, but it does exist.. It is something new to all of us and we react as best we can.

That is why, in view of what is happening worldwide, from PSiCOBAi we want to provide some tips so that, despite the fear, we can live a little calmer and with less anxiety:

1. Plan daily routines

Isolation takes away the notion of time and space, which are fundamental for our psyche to be balanced.

2. To be in communication with our loved ones

Not seeing them physically, does not mean not being able to continue relating to them through phone calls and messages.and thus share what is happening to us

3. Do not neglect our appearance and personal hygiene.

Being in our homes does not mean abandoning ourselves or being in our pajamas all day long.

4. If necessary, ask for professional help

To cope with this situation, where we are faced with something unknown, we often do not know how to act and how to control our emotions.. Therefore, it is important to ask for help in time.

5. Maintain a good diet, and complement it with physical exercise.

As it has been demonstrated, physical exercise favors the release of endorphins, which contributes to maintain both physical and mental well-being.

6. Accept the emotions and feelings we are going through.

It is very important not to deny themIt has been proven that those who develop a level of acceptance develop a lower level of stress and anxiety.

7. Using humor is very important

It always helps us to cope in the best way with a distressing situation.

8. Stay active

Do not stay in bed and isolate yourself from everything and everyone.

9. Get information from official sources without over-informing ourselves.

Over-information The only thing that will generate in us is to increase our anxiety levels..

Conclusion

It is clear that in order to beat this virus, we must all be together. To do this, it is essential that each of us is in good mental and physical health. If you are interested in contacting our team of professionals at PSICOBAiplease access this page.