I’ve heard a number of people who have been experiencing increased anxiety due factors relating to the COVID-19 situation. I know personally I’ve seen an increase in my overall stress and anxiety since March.
Anxiety can be a pest, but a lot of the time we discredit the important role anxiety plays in keeping us safe. Anxiety, as well as all of our other feelings, play an important role in our human experience. Our feelings give us important information about the world around us. Anxiety is no different. I think of anxiety as a bigger umbrella for other feelings such as worry, fear, and stress.
Anxiety exists to let us know of physical and emotional risks to us in our environment. For example, if we were standing on the top of a tall building, I would expect there to be some healthy anxiety. Standing on top of a tall building is not a safe action to have, as you could fall, which is a risk to physical safety. Similarly, if I told you that you had to give a presentation to 150 people on a topic you didn’t fully understand while not wearing pants, you would also experience some healthy fear. This fear is protecting you from emotional harm. In previous posts, I discussed how human beings are social creatures, therefore, being excluded from the herd leaves us open to risk. Belonging is a survival instinct.
So how does all of this relate to the current world. There are a lot of safety concerns in today’s society. There is a virus that you can’t necessarily see or feel, and it could be anywhere. This is going to heighten our anxiety due to a threat to our physical health. Pile on with financial difficulties, job loss, social distance, making educational decisions for children, etc. All of these are examples of other threats to our emotional security.
I offer this information to normalize and join us together in our collective anxiety. I want us to come together to know that we are all trying our best to survive through a global pandemic. Within the anxiety, recognize what is in and out of your control. Get the education you need to keep yourself and others safe. Set reasonable goals and expectations for yourself and your family. Adjust goals for this year. And finally, have some self-compassion for yourself, heck, you’re living through a pandemic!
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