Let me tell you, living with anxiety is very difficult. So, you can imagine how anxious you feel during a crisis.
I’ve lived with anxiety for as long as I can remember, and even dealt with panic attacks during elementary school. Not only did this illness make me a little nervous, it was much worse. It was so bad that I spent many days of my childhood with a child psychiatrist trying to stay in touch with reality.
The struggles of living with anxiety
It was a daily struggle. It was something that a little girl couldn’t understand. Living with anxiety made it difficult to function without help. When I was a little kid, I didn’t understand what was happening to me, so I needed someone to listen to me. It was during the times when I was secretly being abused by one of my relatives. But the good news is that I survived those times.
Yes, my anxiety came from childhood trauma, and now I live with it in semi-normal times as well. When everything in the world is just peachy, I still suffer from panic attacks and unbearable thoughts. Panic attacks either come as a trigger or creep up on me for no apparent reason.
Therefore, when another crisis arises, anxiety may get worse. However, there are ways to stay sane when things go wrong.
How can insanity be avoided during crises?
- Stay away from the media
When the media is filled with reports of deaths or illnesses, it’s easy for anxiety to rear its ugly head. You start thinking about how to stay safe while sick, and whether or not you will survive if you become infected. The media publishes daily the number of deaths and infected people, so your anxiety levels are at greater risk of skyrocketing.
Here’s what you do. You turn off the TV, get off the computer, and put down your phone. Take a break from the media, at least for several hours, and do something else.
Although the crisis may be very real, you can only take your mind off it for a short time. You can even pretend it doesn’t exist, but also remember to come back to reality and adhere to precautions because it does exist. I think you get my idea.
- Focus on your health
Taking your mind off the crisis by focusing on your physical health will help relieve anxiety. For example, taking plenty of vitamin C and eating healthy meals will help you stay on top of proper nutrition.
Also, plenty of exercise, even if you feel like you should stay inside, will help reduce anxiety levels. Yoga is a good example of both physical and mental exercise. So instead of letting anxiety control your life, allow your health and well-being to control your anxiety. This will take some practice but it will help you keep your head above water.
- Take it easy
Although many people may argue with you about sleeping too much or lying down, this option may actually work for you when it comes to anxiety. Yes, you need to stay healthy with exercise and mindfulness techniques, but you also need to switch off from work. If this downtime involves sleeping for several days to recover, then that’s what you should do.
Anxiety has a way of completely stealing your mind while you’re trying to stay fit and healthy, and if you need to check in for a while, that’s okay. Yes, sometimes a nap is all you can do to stay sane.
- Be consistent with your care
During some distressing times, such as during disease outbreaks, you will be instructed to use safety precautions and health practices. Although you should always wash your hands and stay clean, when a crisis strikes, the act of cleanliness will be critical to your survival. So, instead of panicking, try to commit to washing, sanitizing and cleaning your hands.
When you take action in your life, it reduces anxiety. You feel you have a great purpose to protect yourself and your family. Every day, try hard to be more consistent until you create a full day of precautions and protection. After a while, these measures will become fun and even part of your normal routine. Things won’t seem messy anymore.
- Helping others
If you are someone who cannot quarantine during a crisis, and your services are needed, by all means help someone. Work hard during these days to keep your mind off the possibility of negative things happening.
Yes, stay positive, restock food, provide free meals, provide transportation, and if you can, help some people financially. When you’re busy focusing on the needs of others, your anxiety will make these moves routine. As mentioned earlier, anxiety is associated with routine actions.
- Don’t isolate yourself completely
Yes, it is important to stay away from infected people if you are going through a health crisis. However, you can keep in touch with friends via social media or by phone. This doesn’t mean you should go around drowning yourself in media negativity again.
When you can, call your extended family and friends to make sure they are doing well, too. Not only do they value your thoughts, they break the monotony of being alone and living with anxiety during times of mandatory isolation.
- Educate others
If you have important information to share about a crisis, it is your responsibility to share these instructions. For example, when there is an epidemic or outbreak of some kind, it is essential that you share what you know about how to stay safe and clean.
Teach your children what they need to know during this time as well. This has a double effect on your life: you will help educate and you will take your mind off your fears for a moment.
