An Anxious Girl’s Guide to Surviving the Coronavirus
Anxiety is in my blood. I come from a long line of worriers—all of which are watching the unfolding news of the coronavirus pandemic for horrified fascination. Through the years I’ve built up numerous strategies and techniques to help keep my anxiety at bay, but nothing prepared me for the unique anxiety that comes with a global crisis of this magnitude. When I felt the anxiety bubbling in my chest to unmanageable levels, I went back to basics and put together a list of ways to cope. Since starting to implement these things, my anxiety levels have significantly decreased and I feel my thoughts stabilizing. If you’re like me and could use a little peace, take a look at my guide to mentally surviving COVID-19 and hopefully one of these tactics will work for you!
Make a list of the hard things you’ve ever overcome.
Write down every single thing that ever felt insurmountable yet somehow here you are today. Some seemingly insurmountable moments on my list?
When I was unemployed for four months after leaving my job to move in with my then-fiancé as we tried to balance living together for the first time in an expensive area on one paycheck.
Having an ex-boyfriend dump me while I was recovering from a particularly horrific tonsillectomy…via text.
Finding a way out of a job that made me miserable but complacent enough to stay for years.
These instances are now only mildly painful memories, and I’m now able to marvel over the person I am today. Things may be hard now and continue to be hard, but we prove to ourselves time and time again that we’re able to make it through to the other side and come out better.
Break out the journal
Before you start groaning, hear me out! I struggle frequently to turn off my brain. My thoughts whip around in my mind and require untangling from time to time. I can spend hours or days stuck in the same repetitive thought patterns, and I can’t figure out how to get out of it…until I put a pen to paper or fingertips to keyboard. I can take out a piece of copy paper and a pen, write down my thoughts stream-of-consciousness style and feel unbelievable better in, like, five minutes! Just getting those thoughts out of your head can be freeing. You don’t necessarily have to keep the paper or what you’ve written, but I’m a huge fan of looking back at past journal entries to see thought patterns, words you gravitate towards in describing your emotions, or continuous cycles of your life that you might have overlooked otherwise.
Create a treasure chest of self-care
My therapist in college taught me one of the most valuable lessons I’ve ever learned for dealing with anxiety. During a time of particularly high anxiety during my sophomore year , she had me create a list of things that I found soothing or relaxing, which we cut up into strips of paper and put into a box. Whenever I felt anxious and needed my focus to be redirected, I pulled a slip of paper out from my treasure chest and did what it said. Some of the items I included are:
Coloring in a coloring book
Taking the dog for a walk
Listening to a meditation
Talking to my mom
The key is finding simple tasks that don’t require a lot of time but do redirect your thoughts. If you don’t have a small box readily available, create a list on your phone with your soothing ideas and pick out at random when you need to reset.
Escape reality
I’m a daydreamer who frequently gets lost in thought and has been called flake-y a time or two. I used to hate being considered lost in the clouds…but really it’s a lovely place to be. For example, I frequently like to daydream about the characters of future books I want to write. And lately, I’ve been struck by the idea of walking through a rose garden during a bright spring day. That particular daydream has become so vivid that I can almost smell the roses. Admittedly, that may partially be because I use a lot of rose-scented products. Whatever it is that transports you, including books and TV, take the detour and get lost in a world that isn’t worried about pandemics.
Watch something mindless yet wholesome
Along those lines, I like a good garbage TV binge every now and again—I even jumped on the Love Is Blind train. But right now, shows like that or even just ones with conflict are enough to amp up my nervous energy. So instead I’m turning to two types of programming: Things I’ve Watched & Know the Ending To and Cartoons. I admit this is very simplistic, but it’s allowing me to escape into another world that I know has a happy ending. If you’re looking for something to fit the bill, I recommend the following:
Emma (2009) or Emma (2020) that will be available to stream this Friday.
Frozen 2
Toy Story 4
Beauty & the Beast (1991 & 2017)
Brooklyn 99
The Good Place
Clean with purpose
Tidying up and getting your home in order is recommended by most experts on ways to adjust to quarantine. And while I think they’re 100% correct, I’m suggesting cleaning in a slightly different capacity. Sometimes my anxiety shows up in different ways. It can be paralyzing anxiety or it can be a lot of pent up nervous energy. When it’s the latter, I need a way to get out the excess energy and tire myself a bit, so I turn to cleaning. I’ll find something in my house that’s been annoying me for awhile (something like wall scuffs or a disorganized closet) and put all of my energy into cleaning up that area and making it sparkle. By the time you’re done, you’ll have both accomplished something and used up some of your energy.
Set boundaries at home.
My husband will start working from home this Thursday, and while he’s my best friend and I love him very dearly, I know we’re bound to get on each other’s nerves being at home together for the foreseeable future, especially since he’s an extrovert and I’m an highly-sensitive introvert. Luckily, we both have a clear idea about the space I need and he’s more than willing to take the dog for a walk or let me shut myself in the bedroom for an hour when I need time alone. If you have a loved one working at home with you, be clear about what you both need to maintain your sanity.
I would love to hear if these strategies worked for you—feel free to reach out to me on Instagram, Twitter, or in the comments below. Looking for a community where you can share your fears and worries? Join my Facebook group 💕