Stress and the pandemic — GlobalShala

Before we engage ourselves in any activity, it is important to keep our brains free of any negative thoughts. However, with how the current situations are unravelling, it can get become a time of stress after getting bombarded with negative news from all around the world about the disease, recession, lag in education, economic slow-down, and whatnot. There is very little we can do to help ourselves during this time and the most important of them all is staying at home. When we are stuck in the four walls of the house for long hours, we can drain ourselves mentally. These testing times put your mental well-being to a test.

Therefore, the best thing that we can do is engage ourselves in yoga or some kind of meditation to avoid getting stressed about the future and living in the present. Along with engaging in monotonous house chores, it is also advisable to engage in some sort of exercise. It can preferably be gardening or reading. Spending time with the elderly orour pets can also be a good source of refreshment. It is important to divert the mind from the surrounding negativity. Instead, focus it on something productive by utilising the time to make our minds stronger. Practising preventive measures does not always mean overwhelming ourselves with negativity but making ourselves grow.

To help de-stress during these stressful times, Tony Buchanan, a professor of Psychology at St. Louis University and co-director of its neuroscience program, and DrJessi Gold, assistant professor at Washington University’s Department of Psychiatry, suggested activities that can help ease the anxiety. They addressed a number of problems brought up by several callers and tried to sort out their anxieties. With the on-going pandemic, uncertainty is at its peak making things spiral out of control for many individuals. Hence, Buchanan suggests not letting this stress affect the people around us. Instead, he encourages us to engage in activities that may help to calm us down to an extent.

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Subarna Basu

Originally published at https://www.globalshala.com.