Ramping up the anxiety

Keep telling yourself “this will pass” and slow down your breathing.

I'll have to be slow breathing for quite some time if I'm waiting for all this to pass espee!

Stop listening to so much news hard I know but put some music on and get out in the fresh air and enjoy whatever you can that’s what I do I forget about the damned virus most of the time ...only way or we ll all go doodally

I think I might have already gone BlueBelle. So I’m off to Kefalonia tomorrow for an eight night break. I’ll be careful with masks and sanitising but I just think the change will do me good.
So I guess the old adage of a change being as good as a rest is true. So JuneRose try to do something different because that will pick you up.

I think it's useful if you can learn to "live in the now", to coin a cheesy phrase.
Just try to focus on how things are for you, now.

Do you have the virus now? No. (Presumably)
Are you doing all you can to stay safe? Yes.

There really is little else you can do.

You may still have your worries, but pack them away in a box in your mind when you can.

We emerged from a year of anxiety and heartbreak straight into Lockdown but we're used to living off the beaten track so isolation didn't bother us one bit.

We were just saying earlier tonight that the last six months have been the most peaceful and stress free that we've had for a long time. Like everyone I have my fingers firmly crossed that we'll get through the winter unscathed but I'm not going to let Brexit or environmental issues get to me.

If I prayed every night it would be for my family to be safe and well during the next few months. What will be, will be.

JuneRose, we are in this together for the long haul- In 2005 I had to evacuate where I lived due to Hurricane Katrina, along with a million others, while others were safe and secure in their homes hundreds and thousands of miles away- Today I'm over a thousand miles (US Midwest) from the West coast "fires", a safe distance from the flames, but the smoke has reached Europe- If not for the haze here, we would have had a sunny day today-

However, too much empathy can lead to unnecessary stress, and too much stress doesn't help anyone- Little by little, more people I know are spending less time online and in front of their TV-

I enjoy listening to the radio and reading and being outdoors- I spent the majority of the warm months outside and have been spending as much time outside as possible even as the temps have begun to cool down- Might as well enjoy the environment as much as possible-

I also agree change helps- I went for a several hours drive through Appalachian towns and it cleared my head- Lots of hay and pumpkins- Saw a sign in somebody's yard that said Be kind, Be humble- Another sign said You Got This- Another said Peace- Another Thank You-

Thanks for all your kind replies. Here I am awake at 4.30! But yes I agree avoiding the news is the only way. So far all my little family are safe and well. I'll be thankful for that not so small mercy. RoseCarmel what an upheaval you went through. That does make me realise how lucky we are in the UK.

I know people keep saying "we are all in this together" but someone I know expressed it slightly differently and, I think, rather more accurately. "We are all in the same storm but some of us are in little leaky rowing boats and others are on luxury liners."

I'm emerging from a very difficult time in my life , where my anxiety rocketed and my mental health took a real nose dive. Not completely back to being me but starting to see daylight - The realisation that it's okay to not be okay , having good friends at the end of the phone or whatsapp , doing the things that help - playing music , online scrabble and cutting out what / who was impacting on me. Yes this 'new way of living' is likely to be with us for a while but being as well as I can be is more important. I support others in my line of work and can honestly say there are more wobbly people out there than we might think xxx

Sorry to hear you've had a tough time MommaP and glad you've survived it and are moving forward. Online scrabble? That sounds interesting.

I agree with all the above. Wise words.

Each generation has its problems. I think back to my parents and grandparents . They had two world wars. My art teacher (mid 80’s) was bombed out twice. The family lost everything BUT they survived and grew stronger for it.

All we can do is our best to keep safe . Enjoy the good things.

To be honest if you are keeping up with current developments then it quite reasonable to be anxious. As has been said, I think that it's a good idea to ration news and concentrate on doing positive things to keep active.

JuneRose,

I think you are absolutely right to be concerned! I believe we are living in very uncertain times with possibly a very difficult time ahead for most of us. Although I’m keeping well clear of the endless fear being put out there concerning the virus, I’m far more concerned about other things. This includes the knock on effect of Brexit and this government’s seeming wish to destroy our relationship with Europe. Even the USA is ringing alarm bells.

Add to this global warming and the lack of any positive action. I couldn’t watch David Attenborough either!

Conspiracy theory is out there and to be honest I don’t know what or who to believe anymore. One thing though is clear to me. Far from calming our fears, the government appears to be sending out mixed messages.

I’m currently burying my head in the sand and watching events as an outsider. Reading information from as many sources as I can find and “switching off” the rest of the time.

I used to be in the grip of anxiety for many years. Finding activities such as crafts, TV, reading keeps my mind busy and finally I’m generally keep anxiety at bay for most of the time.

Do whatever works for you and if necessary take some medical advice. Modern anti depressants have helped me over the years but I’m not taking them at the moment.

We are in self imposed semi lockdown due to me being 'extremely vulnerable'. We cancelled our holiday to India and really can't see ourselves getting on a plane anytime soon.

So one of my daughters made me get an eight week old kitten. She said that she would take it if we struggled. We have had him a few days and he is absolutely beautiful. Our house is a smelly mess but nobody visits us at the moment so it doesn't matter.

He is very, very pretty but my husband has renamed him 'dragonarse' (sorry but how can such a pretty, tiny little thing produce something so smelly?) He is fluffy and we washed his bottom twice yesterday evening without resolving the problem.

He was terrified when we first got him and a few days later is now very happy and has us firmly under control.

Personally I’ve nothing objective to worry about - no money worries, a house with a garden, dd and family (4 in total) a few minutes away, both of the parents in safe jobs with considerate employers. I have my weekly sm delivery and have regular trips out to very uncrowded areas. My GP surgery is first rate and my and DHs underlying conditions are well controlled. My disability is a fact of my life covid or no CoVID But I worry about others - my lovely neighbours facing redundancy or loneliness, people not getting the health care they need, parents juggling children off school and work, the millions facing real economic hardship now or shortly. How can I not care about and worry about others? I hate not being able to do more for others and the fact that things can only get worse.

So yes I wake up some mornings with the heaviest of hearts. My distraction techniques in everyday life have been cooking and meal planning - it appeals to my creative side. I also book regular zoom chats with friends. Most evenings we watch a film or tv programme. Last night we started watching a new drama on Netflix which was so bad I insisted we carried on watching it as it made us laugh so much and that was very cheering

Feeling anxious and worried is a sign of your humanity and sanity - it’s only the deluded who think everything will be fine. I know some people can shut it out ( but that’s another category)

I think being concerned and anxious is a perfectly natural response to the situation we find ourselves in. My usual approach to life is “What is the problem, how do we fix it? Right, let’s get on with it” But there is very little that most of us can do about the problems we have right now, other than taking the advice we are given. The approach of just worrying about the things you can control is very difficult, to me it feels like sticking your head in the sand, but its all we’ve got. So, I’ve tried to get used to it.
When I wake up in the middle of the night and my mind is racing, I’ve found the Calm app to be very helpful. They have bedtime stories for adults! Its not nearly as twee as it sounds. I’ve started listening to them but never got to the end of a story, I always fall asleep before the finish.

When I look back to the last century 2 wars with huge losses, one cold war under the threat of a nuclear holocaust, the 1980s, where we watched our manufacturing base being, literally, demolished and unemployment soaring,

I remember when you could wait years for an operation on the NHS, regular financial catastrophes - and somehow we have survived the lot.

Undoubtedly these are worrying times, and like other peoples I have down days and miserable days, especially when DD nearly died, not because she had COVID but because anyone suffering from anything other than COVID was just seen as a nuisance and fobbed off.

But taking the broader a view, when I see what we as a country have survived over the last 100 years or so, it comforts me that we are all here and overall our living standards are much higher, pharmaceutics and medical treartments ar more advanceed and active social control more eident than it was when the last pandemic swept the country in 1918.

Thanks for all your replies. For some reason I do feel less anxious today and have resolved to avoid the news and concentrate on the good things in my life, my family, my home and my job which I enjoy. Wishing everyone peace of mind tonight.

Well put MissAdventure,totaly agree.

We had decided to almost lock down here. I cancelled our one meal out as it was in a pub. We are still having groceries delivered and I have sent off an order for " gourmet " precooked food for a treat instead .

I think rationing the news is key for our sanity. Let's face it, the news tends to dramatise to some extent in order to make it "newsworthy" in their eyes, focussing on "what ifs", "coulds" and "possibles". We can only take it one day at a time and continue to do what we can to keep ourselves and others safe. There's some good advice being given on this thread.

I prefer the radio- I had watched the news for years but had to quit due to hype and their neglect to cover important stories that I guess they couldn't sensationalize-

I don't miss it-

I also enjoy podcasts, I can listen to what I want, when I want-