Hello everyone, today I want to talk about the coronavirus that has been affecting all people for about 1 year. I will try to explain how we can reduce the anxiety we experience about this pandemic that has affected the world. Many people describe themselves as very stressed, explosive, and on guard in this regard. First of all, we need to remember that these emotions are completely normal emotions, considering the information we are exposed to on social media or television every day.
First of all, we must try to explain in a more scientific way why we are worried about the coronavirus during this period. So that we can understand the basis of the anxiety we experience.
Human nervous systems have developed to constantly recognize safe and unsafe events, places and people around them. If we encounter something that threatens our security, our nervous system will focus specifically on that situation to cope with it. In this way, we can take action against the threatening situation if necessary. This mechanism is one of our most important features for our survival. If we are constantly alert to potentially threatening situations or people, we can act appropriately when the threat is unavoidable. However, since this threat we face today is an invisible virus that currently has no cure, our nervous system fails to produce the action we want and need against this situation. In other words, we cannot escape the coronavirus like we would escape from a wild dog you see on the road. At this point, although our nervous system takes action to cope with the threat, it cannot find a solution to release this energy to eliminate the threat. That's why we can easily become agitated and begin to feel anxious at every moment of every day. We even see that people are trying to respond to this situation in a panic. When the coronavirus started to spread, you may have seen people buying too much food or toilet paper for their home. Maybe you've even acted this way yourself. These behaviors are just the methods we find to reduce the anxiety we experience.
Another issue we need to mention is that people infected with the coronavirus avoid being tested. Because we are social creatures, we The fear that we will be ostracized by people affects the decisions we make. This situation can cause the virus to spread much faster.
So what should we do in this situation?
Exposure to a threatening situation for a long time can lead us to make wrong decisions, argue with other people, or exclude a group.
I will give you a few tips to avoid the effects of Coronavirus anxiety. The first of these is that we should not break off our communication with people close to us in order to feel safe. The most important response we can give to stress is social interaction. It was emphasized on television and social media that social isolation is especially important. However, the term social isolation here is actually used extremely wrongly. It could be called physical interaction instead of social isolation. Because in this situation where we perceive a threat, the most important way to cope with stress is not to be socially isolated and to keep in touch with the people around us.
Until now, it was thought that the nervous system had two reactions: activating and calming. However, a recent study identified “social interaction” as the third response of the nervous system. In other words, we can activate the nervous system enough to increase social interaction, and to calm ourselves down when social interaction increases. Actually, we all know how to increase social interaction without physical contact. We should use platforms where we can meet people, especially over video.
Another method is to do what you want to do to relax yourself. So, like cleaning your house, buying hand sanitizer, buying a mask. These steps you take to protect your health will help your nervous system calm down by taking a more active role. However, if people around us tell us that we are losing our grip while taking these steps, you may need to take what they say into consideration and seek professional help if necessary. Especially if you have had a previous or current obsessive compulsive disorder problem, you can consult a psychologist to prevent this condition from recurring.
The third method is actually very simple, but it may be the thing that we will have the most difficulty in doing. spent online We must limit the time we spend. In other words, we should reduce our interaction with unnecessary and unfounded news that we are exposed to from television or social media. Because these false news can create an unnecessary burden on our nervous system. Of course, this should not prevent us from accessing accurate information. That's why I'm leaving some links below the article where you can get accurate information.
Fourthly, we should avoid making big decisions as much as possible. Because in periods of long-term threat perception, our ability to think analytically decreases. This may cause us to make impulsive decisions and create a more stressful environment.
Finally, I would like to give you a method that everyone can easily apply at home. We should take time for ourselves to relax our body for a certain period of time every day. To do this, we can relax the muscles in our face, jaw, shoulders and neck. Because when our nervous system senses the perception of threat, the first muscle groups in our body to be activated and tense are in these regions. When we actively activate our muscles in this area, we convey the message to our nervous system that we are fine.
I hope these tips will have a positive impact on our lives and reduce your anxiety. If you have any questions about this topic or other psychological issues, feel free to write a comment.
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