Managing Anxiety

COVID-19 has impacted our mental health in profoundly different ways depending on factors such as: whether you are a child, teen, middle aged or senior; current health – physical or mental; essential service frontline worker or working remotely; rural or city dwelling. Dealing with it has been disruptive in the least and tragic at its worst.

I must confess that I had trouble finding my rhythm in the initial months. Attempts at finding an activity pattern that felt right were forced and difficult. And given my propensity to follow current events, nationally and internationally, I found myself caught up in a “need to know” syndrome, checking first thing in the morning, last thing at night and likely numerous times a day. It was contributing to my anxiety. I told myself that I needed to be informed to serve my clients but there is a difference between being informed and obsessive. My spouse stated the obvious that I could not see, “stop watching the news!” You know, she was right.

Best advice – control your news intake. If you need background noise, listen to music. Breaking news is often…not breaking news! It only serves to reinforce your anxiety about what is happening around us. So along with all the normal healthy actions like eating balanced meals, exercise, getting appropriate amount of sleep, etc. limit your news exposure. Consider making specific days “news free” and feel your stress slip away.

Be Well,

Cam