{"id":109646,"date":"2020-03-31T21:25:13","date_gmt":"2020-04-01T02:25:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/?p=109646"},"modified":"2020-11-11T13:08:40","modified_gmt":"2020-11-11T19:08:40","slug":"managing-stress-during-covid-19","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.thechicagoschool.edu\/insight\/for-our-wellness\/managing-stress-during-covid-19\/","title":{"rendered":"The Sky Isn’t Falling"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/p>\n

There\u2019s a bit of Chicken Little in all of us.<\/p>\n

You remember the storybook character from our childhood\u2014the anxiety-ridden chick so obsessed with her fear that the sky was falling that all of her energy went into hopelessly spinning her wheels and engendering widespread panic among her barnyard friends.<\/span><\/p>\n

No,\u00a0the sky isn\u2019t falling. \u00a0But the novel Coronavirus has\u00a0commandeered\u00a0our\u00a0national psyche\u00a0and set our mental wheels spinning. Our everyday activities have been replaced by a whirlwind of\u00a0frantic\u00a0must-dos:\u00a0Stock up on toilet paper, take our temperatures, worry\u00a0about where we\u2019ve been and who we\u2019ve touched.<\/p>\n

Media pundits and\u00a0epidemiologists\u00a0are bombarding us with numbers (infections per state, deaths per nation, hours the virus can live on any given surface) while government officials issue a nonstop stream of instructions. Wash our hands. Sit six feet apart. Call the doctor if you cough.<\/p>\n

Everyone is concerned\u2014and\u00a0rightly so\u2014about our physical health. But what about our mental health?<\/p>\n

As president of The Chicago School of Professional Psychology<\/a>, I\u2019m all too aware of\u00a0how easily our emotions can become entangled with our physical well-being. \u00a0Even before COVID 19 became a household\u00a0phrase, we\u00a0were a nation under stress.\u00a0The American Psychological Association has chronicled our angst through its annual \u201cStress in America\u201d report, pointing to our brutally divided political environment\u2014as well as concerns about health care and climate change\u2014as primary reasons. Stress\u00a0has been\u00a0gnawing away at our general well-being\u00a0for years, disrupting our sleep patterns, sending our nervous systems into overdrive, and eroding our sense of optimism.<\/p>\n

And that was before this insidious virus reared its ugly head, upending our world and robbing us of our way of life. Humans like structure and predictability; take that away from us and we can\u2019t help but feel anxious and afraid.<\/p>\n

There is ample evidence documenting\u00a0the effect that anxiety can have on physical well-being, taking its toll\u00a0on blood pressure, cardiac health and GI problems. We know\u00a0that individuals\u00a0who have both heart disease and an anxiety disorder are twice as likely to have a heart attack than\u00a0those without a history of anxiety. And a full-blown panic\u00a0attack\u00a0triples a woman\u2019s risk or a coronary event or stroke. It is this\u00a0in-depth\u00a0understanding of these interconnections that led The Chicago School to adopt the mantra, \u201cNo Health Without Mental Health<\/a>.\u201d\u00a0We believe that you can\u2019t attend to either in isolation.<\/p>\n

\"\"As the pandemic continues, we\u00a0must\u00a0take care of our emotional health at the same time we\u00a0take\u00a0protective measures against the Coronavirus.\u00a0It\u2019s not necessarily going to be easy. Experts are recommending social distancing and self-isolation as ways to stem the community spread of the virus.\u00a0But as humans, we need one another,\u00a0and spending time with family and friends is often one of the most important things we can do to combat depression and anxiety.<\/p>\n

So, what to do?\u00a0I\u2019d like to offer a few bits of advice.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s still important to keep up our contacts. Even if we have to rely on the telephone, email, texts and skype, we need to communicate with those we love. We need to know how they\u2019re doing and let them know how we\u2019re doing. While social media might be your gateway of choice for these communications, try to resist its lure when following national reaction to this illness, along with the plethora of fears, skepticism and finger-pointing that are flung about freely in public discussions.<\/p>\n

The news is 24\/7, but we don\u2019t have to make it our 24\/7. \u00a0It\u2019s easy to become overwhelmed with the multiple layers of\u00a0available information: the need for testing and equipment; the shortage of hospital beds; the\u00a0demoralizing\u00a0economic impact; the closure of schools, businesses\u00a0and virtually all entertainment venues. Choose a one or two sources of information that you trust and check in for updates for a few minutes a day. Then leave it alone until tomorrow.<\/p>\n

\"\"Focus on the short term:\u00a0One day at a time. \u00a0It\u2019s an easily manageable block of time. But don\u2019t give up on the long term. \u00a0Even though we don\u2019t know when this will be over, there will come a time when it is behind us.<\/p>\n

Make a list of things that worry you, and zero in on those that you can control. \u00a0You can make certain that you follow CDC guidelines and limit where you go and who you see. If your usual activities\u2014school or work\u2014have changed dramatically as a result of the pandemic, plan your day. Decide what to eat, what to read, and what to accomplish. Make sure that you do something every day that brings you joy: Talking with a close friend, watching a favorite TV show, taking a walk in the fresh air.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re a parent, think through what your kids need to\u00a0feel settled in their new reality. They are stressed too, even if they deny it, and it\u2019s up to you to set a tone of calm and consistency, and\u00a0to\u00a0create a reassuring structure for everyone to follow. \u00a0Choose your battles; this may not be the time to argue about video games or screen time.<\/p>\n

And, finally, cut yourself some slack. \u00a0These are unprecedented times\u2014circumstances for which none of us was prepared. It\u2019s natural to feel some anxiety, but the trick is to prevent it from taking over. Focus on taking care of yourself, and your family. And don\u2019t be afraid to reach out for help if you need it.<\/p>\n

Chicken Little never did take the time to realize the sky wasn\u2019t\u00a0really\u00a0falling. Don\u2019t let yourself fall into the same trap.<\/p>\n

_______________________________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n

Learn more about The Chicago School<\/strong><\/p>\n

If you would like to learn more about the academic programs available at The Chicago School of Professional Psychology, please fill out the form below to request more information, or you can apply today through our\u00a0application portal<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/section>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

There\u2019s a bit of Chicken Little in all of us. You remember the storybook character from our childhood\u2014the anxiety-ridden chick so obsessed with her fear that the sky was falling that all of her energy went into hopelessly spinning her wheels and engendering widespread panic among her barnyard friends. No,\u00a0the sky isn\u2019t falling. \u00a0But the novel Coronavirus has\u00a0commandeered\u00a0our\u00a0national psyche\u00a0and set our mental wheels spinning. Our everyday activities have been replaced by a whirlwind of\u00a0frantic\u00a0must-dos:\u00a0Stock up on toilet paper, take our […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":48,"featured_media":111636,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[704],"tags":[1143,878,223],"coauthors":[1047],"class_list":["post-109646","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-for-our-wellness","tag-covid-19","tag-managing-stress","tag-mental-health"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nThe Sky Isn't Falling - Insight Digital Magazine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"COVID-19 has\u00a0commandeered\u00a0our\u00a0national psyche\u00a0and set our mental wheels spinning. The sky isn't falling. 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