Turn off excessive news. If you have heard it once, it is enough. No need to keep watching the same thing over and over. Information is important, but by keeping yourself in a constant repetitive loop it becomes less about getting news and more about feeding fears.
Turn off social media. Just like with the news, too much can become an overload to an already sensitive system. Keep you screen time to a minimum. Instead go for a walk, exercise or meditate.
If you feel panic coming on, take deep breaths and give yourself permission to accept everything that you are feeling, including the panic.This allows you to move through the symptoms and into the present moment.
Make sure you are eating well. Many times when we are stressed, good eating habits go out the window. Healthy eating has a direct link to keeping anxiety levels low. Fresh whole food meals and snacks can keep anxiety at bay.
And lastly do your best to not buy into catastrophic thoughts. Worst case scenarios can pop up in our minds and we need to remember just because you have a thought doesn’t mean it will become true.
It is natural for anxieties to rise during this global issue, but we absolutely have the power to choose how we react to the anxiety and all the information overload.
Lucie Dickenson
Author of Overreacting: a memoir of anxious proportions