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Anxiety affects 40 million adults in the United States alone. This is about 18 percent of the population who has some sort of anxiety disorder, ranging from; Generalized Anxiety Disorder, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder(OCD), Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder(PTSD), and many more. As Covid-19 continues to be a prevalent part of life, affecting everyone in many different ways, people with anxiety are taking a major hit. During 2020, many have felt “off” and not much themselves. This is because COVID-19 intensifies the symptoms of anxiety, causing paranoia and fear to run rampant globally as everyone tries to figure out how to deal with this pandemic.
Escalating Anxiety
Mid-March of 2020 is when multiple states across the country locked down and advised everyone to quarantine. As a result, many people felt isolated and lonely. During China’s lockdown, a survey estimated that over 20 percent of respondents with a prior mental health condition felt their symptoms got worse. Not being able to see friends and family can be very devastating for someone who already suffers from some sort of anxiety disorder. Without work or school to distract people from their anxieties, they then sit home and have their anxiety take over. Below are ways that the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has said that COVID-19 can affect someone with anxiety.
- Fear and worry about your own health and the health of your loved ones, your financial situation or job, or loss of support services you rely on.
- Changes in sleep or eating patterns.
- Difficulty sleeping or concentrating.
- Worsening of chronic health problems.
- Worsening of mental health conditions.
- Increased use of tobacco, and/or alcohol and other substances.
The Uncertainty
Many people with anxiety can’t deal with the level of uncertainty that is going on with the world right now. People with Generalized Anxiety Disorder(GAD), have a tendency to think of the worst-case scenario. People fear; losing their job, losing a loved one from the virus, and getting sick themselves. As a result, they are constantly planning on how to deal with all these issues if they were to arise. Constantly putting this type of mental strain onto oneself can be exhausting and stressful. Such stress can also cause physical symptoms, such as; stomachaches, headaches, and trouble sleeping.
How To Cope
There are still five months left until 2021, and with how 2020 has been so far, who knows what could happen until then. It is important for each person who suffers from anxiety to learn how to cope with COVID-19, and the rest of this unpredictable year. Below are a few ways to help someone with anxiety cope with this pandemic.
- Shift your focus on worry to what you can control instead of what you cannot.
- Limit how much you watch and read to once a day for a few minutes, which is enough for need-to-know updates.
- Take deep breaths, stretch, or meditate.
- Find people and resources you can depend on for accurate health information (this is especially important with so much false information that is rotating on the internet).
- Connect with others who may be experiencing stress because of the outbreak. Have conversations about your feelings about the pandemic, share reliable health information, or just talk about things unrelated to the virus to better clear your head.
Keep Your Head Up
Dr. Fauci is an American physician and immunologist who serves as the director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. He says there may be a vaccine for COVID-19 by the end of 2020. That doesn’t mean things will go back to normal right away. Hopefully, it won’t take too much longer once the vaccine is released to the public. If you feel as if your anxiety has felt worse this year, you are not alone. Step Up For Mental Health provides virtual peer support group sessions that vary on different subjects. I would advise signing up for one of the multiple days that they have available. We are all capable of overcoming this intensified feeling of anxiety that COVID-19 has given us. We must not allow our fear and paranoia to determine how we will end the year.
