Before you search “coronavirus” for the tenth time today, take a breath and take a break. We know it may be tempting to hit “refresh” on the trending social media posts and the news sites, but reading this information is probably doing you more harm than good.
Our brains are being inundated with information, which is leading to unfounded fear and anxiety. You may have seen the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) being compared to the flu, both in terms of similarities and stark differences, depending on your sources. It’s important to differentiate what we do know from interpretations: many cases are mild or asymptomatic and though we keep seeing a rise in fatalities, the reality is that most cases are not fatal. We know those most at risk for complications are the elderly and those with weakened immune systems (strangely, children do not seem to be impacted as of yet). We also know that statistically, if you are exposed to the coronavirus, you are likely going to recover from it.
When it comes to protecting your physical health, it’s important to follow trusted and evidence-based sources, like the CDC and World Health Organization. Situations like these can also impact your mental health, particularly if you are vulnerable to anxiety and obsessive disorders.
Here’s what you need to do at this time to protect your mental health:
Stay calm
As human beings, we often let our biases take over and turn to fear. We know it’s easier said than done, but the best thing you can do at this time is stay calm and not panic. There is a lot of uncertainty in what will happen and unfortunately, nobody knows where this virus will go or how widely it will spread. It’s important to differentiate between perceived crisis and actual crisis when it comes to virus exposure.
Some evidence already suggests that the spread of the virus is inevitable, but contamination does not mean crisis, just as correlation does not mean causation. Being exposed to coronavirus does not equal a death sentence. This may seem like a scary time, but you should take comfort in the fact that we are all in this together and we will all get through this together as we have done before when facing similar threats.
Be intentional about your exposure to information
Our emotional responses aren’t always founded in reality. Right now, there is a lot of information being passed around, including graphic photographs, and the best thing you can do to minimize the anxiety is to turn off the notifications and limit your time on the internet and limit your exposure to TV. Give yourself one check in per day — ideally in the morning — and then separate yourself from it. This may mean turning off notifications on apps that send alerts around the clock related to new coronavirus-related infections.
You also want to make sure you are filtering through information. Don’t believe everything you read. Do you trust the resource? Do you know the journal? How can you put these facts into context? Many of us are reading reports of a death rate of approximately 2%, which is higher than the flu’s death rate of 0.1%. However, because so many cases are mild or asymptomatic and we don’t have widespread testing, international tracking standards, or a full understanding, we don’t actually know the base rate for infection. This 2% may in fact be inflated because we don’t know how many individuals have actually had the virus. This is one of the many reasons it’s important to ask questions, check resources, and pay attention to the facts.
Pay attention to the bigger picture
There are many natural human errors that impact how we assess risk. More recent and more novel information can seem scarier than bigger threats. The coronavirus is new and we keep hearing more and more information about it, which makes it seem more threatening than another prevalent threat like heart disease. As human beings, we are not always great at using data to assess the level of realistic risk, but in times of crisis, it’s important to look at the bigger picture.
When you’re feeling anxious about coronavirus, it’s tempting to seek out solace through incessant internet searching. The mind can convince you that some new piece of information — whether it be about the disease itself or a piece of advice about preparedness — will be a magical solution for eliminating your anxiety, but instead this exacerbates our panic and keeps us from living our lives.
Maintain self-care
When making decisions about travel, hygiene, and minimizing risk of exposure, follow the advice of the CDC. Your company may implement a no-travel ban or advise you to work from home, which gives you an opportunity to skip the subway trips or the gridlocked traffic and enjoy the experience of working outside of the office.
Do not turn working-from-home into a self-imposed quarantine. Keep doing what you normally do, whenever possible. Take your dog for walks. Keep in touch with your friends, family members, and co-workers via FaceTime or Skype. Focus on keeping your immune system strong and maintain healthy behaviors and self-care practices. And unless you have symptoms or are a medical professional, do not buy a face mask. This can lead to greater panic (or a false sense of security; often times, the masks are not properly fitted to the face) and a shortage of masks, which should be reserved, first and foremost, for those dealing with the disease directly.
Be realistic
The encouragement of prepping your pantries and having a stockpile of medicine can incite more anxiety and lead to more widespread shortages for the community. For individuals who are impulsive and can be suicidal, stockpiling medications can also pose significant risks.
Emotional reasoning can lead a person to believe that a threat is serious because we have to prepare for the threat. It’s important to keep a healthy perspective on why you should be preparing your home for potential disruptions. Reminding yourself that you are preparing as a way to protect the greater good will help keep anxiety in check and prevent “doomsday” concerns. You can take a similar perspective on hygiene: washing your hands and sneezing into tissues or elbows is not to eliminate all germs, but rather to protect your community and the most vulnerable individuals.
Embrace the unknown
Embracing the unknown isn’t easy, but the reality is that you don’t have control over the spread of this disease. None of us do. You can focus on your hygiene and your health, but you cannot do anything else to prevent the spread of this virus.
Wash your hands (singing the ABC’s until you finish), but don’t overwash your hands. It can be tempting to wash them over and over again, without reason, but this can also be problematic. Even with the best hygiene, we must accept that some germs will always remain. For individuals in treatment for OCD, this outlook is a core part of treatment and should sound familiar.
Take action when necessary
If you have symptoms (fever, cough, runny nose, difficulty breathing), call your primary care physician (PCP). Remember that we are all subject to the recency and availability bias. When something has recently happened and we have more information available than typical (in this case: millions of articles and social media posts), we are primed to think it is more common than it is. A story about shark attacks, for example, gets people thinking they should avoid the beach even though shark attacks are statistically incredibly rare. Because a lot of the symptoms of coronavirus overlap with other things, such as the common cold, it can be tempting to assume the worst, which is why we recommend talking to a medical professional before going into panic mode.
Uncertainty, invisibility, and lack of control can make the coronavirus seem a lot scarier than it is, but we don’t have absolutes and we don’t have all the answers at this time. Without answers, it’s important to accept and embrace the uncertainty, and know that we’re all in this together. And if in doubt, repeat the words of Reinhold Niebuhr: “Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change the things I can, and the wisdom to know the difference.”
Seek support
If you find yourself occupied by worried thoughts throughout the day, or you’re unable to complete daily tasks because of the over focus on hand washing and contamination, or you’re unable to concentrate because of physiological anxiety symptoms, it is probably time to talk to a mental health professional. Many therapists offer options for telehealth.
If you are noticing any of these mental health symptoms, make sure your clinician specializes in the evidence-based treatment of anxiety disorders, so you can get the best care possible.
