Unstuck: 10 Things to Do to Stay Safe and Sane During the Pandemic - 11

Managing Anxiety and Worry
In a pandemic, it is normal to worry and feel anxious. On top of all the
stress and changes, you may worry about you or someone you care about
getting coronavirus. You may have struggled with anxiety and worrying

a lot before the pandemic (anxiety disorders are the most common
psychological problem). Regardless, anxiety can be helped by addressing
its three parts:
For the body: find an app, like Calm or Insight Timer,
to learn relaxation and calm breathing. There are many
amazing apps that can help. Being in the present moment,

BODY

and being mindful of your body and the space around you
can help you feel grounded in the moment you are in.
Also, doing restorative activities like taking a relaxing
bath or getting comfortable with a soft blanket and

THOUGHTS

BEHAVIOR

reading a good book can really help.

For the thoughts: write down all of your worries. Make a recording of them to "externalize" them
and play it back, offering a different perspective on how they sound. If you are struggling with
worries every day and it's interfering with your life, make a "worry recording" where you list out
all of your "What if..." thoughts and play it back for ten minutes a day until you become bored by
the thoughts. It sounds counterintuitive to do this, but the brain becomes bored by information
that is repeated over and over. Think of a commercial you've seen a hundred times: it's hard to
pay attention to it. For the first few days, your anxiety may go up, but at about day four or five of
listening, you will start to find these thoughts unalarming and boring.
For the behavior: anxiety can make you want to avoid things. For example, if you are afraid of
showing your face on video-conferencing, try to challenge yourself and start the video. Or if you
are nervous to say hello to your neighbor, challenge yourself to face your fears and say hello (while
keeping physical distance of course). Anxiety can also make you feel like you have to ask a lot of
questions or ask for reassurance from your parents. When you do this, it can make the anxiety
worse, so try to challenge yourself by writing the questions down instead and delay asking them.

List three things you will do to reduce your anxiety:
1.
2.
3.

Unstuck: 10 Things to Do to Stay Safe and Sane During the Pandemic

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Unstuck: 10 Things to Do to Stay Safe and Sane During the Pandemic