10 Ways to Keep Anxiety Under Control During the Coronavirus Pandemic

10 Ways to Keep Anxiety Under Control During the Coronavirus Pandemic

  • This page was last updated at May 19, 2024.

As humans, we experience anxiety, and anxiety is a common feeling in everybody's lives at some point. Learning to cope with anxiety during a pandemic like COVID-19 is important to do if you want to feel relief. Let's first consider what anxiety does to us when it occurs:

“Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” 

Each and every day of our lives we have the chance to wake up and feel whole. Anxiety can take away from that, but only if you let it. Understanding that you have a choice and how to cope with anxiety is the key to destroying it.

Here are 10 tips to handle anxiety if the coronavirus pandemic situation has you feeling down:

1. Stay informed but don't obsess

    You should stay informed. However, consuming too much news can overwhelm you and increase your anxiety levels. Try these tips:

    • Stick to worthy resource to gather news
    • Restrict how often you check updates
    • Keep away from media when you start feeling overwhelmed
    • Ask a reliable person to share essential updates
    • Verify information before you share the information with anyone

    2. Only pay attention to what you can control

      Does your anxiety go out of control?

      Does fear start to develop?

      Then, you can focus on things that you can control. For instance, you cannot control how quickly the virus is spreading in your city. But, you can take steps to reduce your personal risk. You can do the following things concerning this:

      • Get plenty of sleep to support your immune system
      • Avoid going out. If unavoidable maintain a distance of about 6 feet from others.
      • Avoid visiting crowded places
      • Make sure not to touch your face, especially in public. If you go out, wearing a face mask will help to curb this habit.
      • Wash your hands frequently. Make sure to use soap and water for at least 20 seconds.  Otherwise, use a hand sanitizer with more than 60% alcohol content.

      3. Maintain a healthy diet

        Eating more when feeling stressed is common. Eating unhealthy foods when stressed is a recipe for disaster. In turn, eating more can have an ill-effect on your metabolism.

        Want to stay healthy? Avoid eating emotionally and keep healthy snacks around.  These include nuts, fruits, granola bars, and foods that are low in sugar. Cut out soda and alcohol. 

        Remember that you can keep your mood and emotions in balance. But, this can be done only when your sugar levels are stable all through the day. When you take nutritious foods in this pandemic situation, you can keep your immune system healthy.

        4. Express yourself

          Write down your emotions in any form! It can be in the form of blogs, capturing videos, or even diary writing. This will help you to cope with your feelings.

          You can just write a single line or an entire page a day. You can do it whenever a thought hits your mind or every night before going to bed. This will help with keeping your stress away.

          You might even form a habit of keeping important notes. This could be a positive activity that could lead to higher performance in life and at work. Who knows, you might end up looking forward to these things writing down one day.

          5. Stay connected even when you are away

            Social distancing isn't the end of the world. People are keeping in touch with each other through social media. Workmates are using apps like Zoom, Slack, Microsoft Team, and more.

            Video chatting and meetings are quickly becoming the norm. Face-to-face communication with your friends, family, or team can act as a vitamin for your mental health.

            6. Help others

              Take solace in the fact that you're not the only one with anxiety from the COVID-19 pandemic. Many people are struggling right now. As much as 30% of people have lost their jobs and striving for their livelihood.

              If you're fortunate enough to have extra time, consider helping others. The satisfaction that you gain from helping those in need could very well relieve your stress. Additionally, you could make a difference for others at the same time as alleviating their stress and anxiety levels too.

              7. Get out and exercise

                Simple aerobic exercises can be done right at home. Stair climbing, running, and walking are all great ways to exercise and in turn, relax from the endorphin release.

                You could also exercise by spending time with your children or playing with your pets. Don't have a pet? Grab your phone, open maps, and look up the nearest dog park. Go visit and you're bound to see pet owners there with their beloved animals.

                8. Breakaway from paranoia

                  Even the most level-headed person can get a little bit nervous when it comes to this COVID-19 coronavirus.

                  Learning the symptoms alone can give you a neurotic experience. If you're exercising proper social distancing you needn't worry. Inspecting yourself for changes isn't necessary. If you're worried, take your temperature with a thermometer. 99% of positive coronavirus cases include a fever so if you don't have one, don't worry.

                  Be objective and only follow the facts. If you let your mind wander too far, your heart will start to race and cause anxiety symptoms. My advice is to keep away from anything that could trigger paranoia and not allow small things to build up in your mind. Stay positive and avoid thinking too much.

                  9. Try using CBD

                    CBD oil is a newly studied phenomenon that reports have shown could address issues like chronic stress and anxiety. Consider trying a CBD regimen to calm yourself down and take control of panic attacks. The team at NoHigh.com has written extensively about the effects of using CBD for stress and anxiety.

                    The online store has CBD soft gels, capsules, bath bombs, massage oil, gummies, and CBD tinctures. You can try CBD in any of these forms to potentially get the expected relief from your anxiety. Many users of CBD products feel that they help them handle stress and anxiety with ease.

                    10. Get organized

                      Worrying is like a rocking chair. You're doing something, but you're not going anywhere. Rather than spending time worrying about the latest news about the coronavirus, you could make use of this time to get yourself organized.

                      You might have been thinking to organize your wardrobe for long. Even, you might have many tasks long-pending in your home. You can use the extra time the virus has given you to complete those tasks and in turn, get a sense of satisfaction.

                      To sum up, the idea here is to bring a sense of normalcy in your life as much as possible. Keep your mind engaged in some interesting tasks, and you'll be sure to start feeling some relief from anxiety.