How to Deal With Health Anxiety from COVID

I’m not going to lie, I’m not a doctor. I’m not going to pretend to be a doctor (and I don’t play one on TV). I’m completely looking at this idea from a mental health perspective.  

When we struggle with anxiety, our anxiety often becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy. What I mean by that, is that if we think that something bad could happen, we assume that it absolutely will happen, and that latter thought is what makes us feel anxious. We have no evidence to support this assumption, yet we continue with this thought process that makes us feel anxious.

This is why Google can be our enemy when we feel anxious, because if we stumble upon something that could happen, then we start to research even more about this possibility, no matter how unlikely it is, and the more we convince ourselves that it absolutely will happen.  

This is why I tell everyone I work with to never Google their health symptoms. Dr. Google will tell you it’s either stress or cancer. If we’re anxious, we’ll assume it’s cancer, which just makes us stress out even more. That stress then makes us feel physically worse, which convinces us that the cancer is spreading.

Covid-19 is a new disease that has spread from China to many other countries. It presents with flu-like symptoms and spreads similarly to the seasonal flu, so general preventative actions with respiratory diseases are recommended. This means you should do the same things you would do to avoid a cold or flu, like washing your hands regularly and thoroughly. Some places have a higher risk of exposure than others, so if you plan on traveling, check with your local government authorities and medical professionals to see what the risk levels are in your intended destination, but if you don’t come into contact with high risk people or high risk areas, your chances of catching this disease is low.

The reason I say this is because when we feel anxious, we end up finding things that could happen. So because this disease could happen to someone we care about, we start to convince ourselves that this absolutely will happen.  

But realistically, it most likely won’t. Of course, I cannot say for certain that it won’t. Those kinds of guarantees in life don’t exist. But it most likely won’t happen. This is an important thing to remind yourself of, if you’re feeling anxious about the news.

So, other than washing your hands, what should you do to handle this virus? Distract yourself and cope with these feelings of anxiety.

Usually when we think of distractions, we think of something physical, but physical distractions won’t always keep our minds busy. We need our minds busy if we want to keep ourselves from worrying. So, do something that will keep your mind engaged. Maybe learn a new language. List everything you can see in the room around you. Or make a list of every food you can think of.  By distracting yourself or grounding yourself more in this present moment, then you’re helping yourself cope with your feelings of anxiety and then you’re less likely to feel panicked about this virus.

Most importantly: if you already struggle with anxiety, stop reading up on this virus on such a regular basis to the point that you’re obsessing about it. Newspapers and news networks intentionally use language that makes things sound more intense than they really are. Keeping up with every new development will not help you feel less anxious.  Because even if you should fall ill, remember that the media focuses on the most sensationalist headlines and does not report on the tens of thousands of people who have already recovered with no complications.

Remember that  no matter what happens, there is a huge online network that is there for you.  You can still get therapy and coaching online, so you aren’t alone.