We’re living in unprecedented times. The covid-19 pandemic has affected and brought about a mixture of emotions to millions of people worldwide. Many face challenges that can overwhelm, be stressful, and create intense emotions in children and adults. Governments worldwide have invented restrictions in movement and social distancing, hoping to combat the spread of the disease. However, it has left many feelings isolated, and they may not understand how to manage stress in a pandemic.
Handling the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic is a challenge for many. These people don’t understand how long it’ll last, how the pandemic will impact them, or how severely everything could get. It might lead them to have feelings such as:
- Helplessness
- Anger, irritability, or frustrations
- Worries, anxiety, or fear
- Disconnection from others
- Restlessness
- Difficulty in sleeping
- Loss of interest and sadness to usually enjoyable activities
- Racing thoughts
These kinds of feelings are understandable in the face of a pandemic. But what can we do about it? Here are five little ways to manage stress in a pandemic.
Avoiding information overload
Having so much uncertainty in our lives at the moment can cause a great deal of anxiety and stress. It’s natural for people to solve this anxiety by seeking more and more information to find answers.
One problem is the information we seek may not always exist. The covid-19 pandemic is constantly evolving. Trying to keep up with this information can become overwhelming. The information that we seek hoping to ease your stress could lead to even more stress.
It would be best to find a balance between getting informed and overwhelming yourself with information. Only seek now from reliable sources like the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
Deciding
Deciding can be stressful, especially during the coronavirus pandemic. Unfortunately, we may not always have enough information to know what’s best for us. For example, here are some decisions you may be undecided about:
- Whether you can go out and eat on a patio
- Whether it’s safe to visit your parents
- If you can let your kids go to school
- When you can go back to your office
In these scenarios, we always remain with limited options, each with its upsides and downsides. Unfortunately, in most cases, all downsides outweigh the upsides. There’s no advantage and disadvantage list that’ll make a clear winner. If you keep putting off deciding until you’re sure you’re making the correct one, you won’t choose. You won’t have certainty.
It would be best to decide after weighing all your options based on the currently available information. There’s no problem unless it’s a reasonable one that’s the best you can hope for amid the pandemic.
Worrying less and tolerating uncertainty
Right now, there’s lots of uncertainty which invites worry. Worrying can feel much like problem-solving or planning. Worrying differs from these because the things we worry about are usually within our reach of control.
So, there’s no way for us to solve them. When we worry, we worry about things in the future. We worry about whether we’ll get laid off or what if you get sick? Or what if you infect your kids? If we knew what the future held for us, we could plan for it. However, at the moment, there’s lots of uncertainty surrounding the future. There’s nothing definite to plan for in a pandemic. Trying to plan for everything will always lead to an endless cycle of “what-ifs.”
It leads to more worries and anxiety. It would be best to accept uncertainty because that’s how things will be for some time. We have no control over it.
Solving the Problems, you can control
While we cannot control a majority of problems in the pandemic, you can come up with solutions that work better for you if you experience struggles. For example, you could also find working from home distracting that you procrastinate a lot. You might have trouble settling down and getting started on your daily tasks. Either way, it would be best to create more structure for your days.
You can select specific periods of your day for when you can work and when to rest. If possible, you could also dedicate a workstation at your home to help define the work part of your day with the rest of your personal life.
Self-care
Be sure to be kind to yourself and practice self-care. We’re all experiencing challenges right now and doing the best we can. Try not to get discouraged if things aren’t going the way you planned them out to be.
Create some time to unwind and do things that help you relax. It would be best to look after your physical, mental health, and wellbeing. You can decide to take weed edibles from JustCannabis and enjoy the beneficial compounds of hemp. You might feel anxious, overwhelmed, and stressed right now, but if you have difficulty coping, consider seeking professional advice or talking with people about your feelings.
Right now, there are plenty of therapists offering remote counseling online. You won’t need to visit anyone in an office or meet face to face.
The Bottom Line
As the situation keeps evolving with the coronavirus pandemic, we also have to develop with it and learn on the go. These five little ways to manage stress in a pandemic will come in handy whenever you feel uncertainty, stress, and anxiety.
