Coronavirus Anxiety
Right now people around the globe are spending an enormous amount of energy and attention navigating the Coronavirus pandemic. We scroll social media posts, read email and text threads, and discuss, sometimes heatedly, the facts at hand and our choices about how to respond on a personal and societal level. It is stressful and anxiety inducing. Perhaps more basically, the daily flow of information regarding the virus occupies internal space. One of the biggest challenges may well be the toll on our subconscious as we go through our days carrying around unexamined anxiety and fear.
How do we best approach this challenging moment? I have two thoughts.
First, this is as good an opportunity as any to practice mindfulness. It can be grounding to pause, take a big step back, and simply notice how you are in response to the moment, the exact moment, you are in -- physically, emotionally, and psychologically. What are you feeling? Are your thoughts racing or on repeat? Are you triggered by thoughts of the zombie apocalypse movies you have seen? Are you checking the news obsessively or avoiding it? Are you tense, or having trouble sleeping? Are you feeling edgy or maybe numb? Literally taking a few deep breaths and stopping to observe ourselves in the moment doesn’t necessarily make everything better, but it has two real merits: one, it helps us stay in reality and remain connected to ourselves. And two, it reduces stress and gives us a sense of agency about how to negotiate whatever is front of us.
Second, social science research shows that disconnection is a grave threat to our basic physical and mental health. The pandemic has the potential to drive fear and hopelessness and add gasoline to the tribalism already prevalent in our current political culture. Between the public health necessity of “social distancing” and anxiety about the future, there is a danger of literal and emotional isolation. Staying connected to friends and family and maintaining personal relationships may be as important a strategy for getting through this moment as any. Stephen Kinney, a psychologist and Episcopal priest in Austin, Texas, recently wrote about transcending fear with love in times of crisis. He talked about practicing basic kindness, helping neighbors, rising above self-interest, and doing things to support one another. He argued that it takes courage but that we must embrace our common humanity. I think he’s right.