How to Keep Calm and Reduce Anxiety in the Face of COVID-19
With so much uncertainty swirling as the world responds to the coronavirus pandemic, it is all too easy to become overcome with anxiety.
Here are a number of helpful resources to share with your employees to calm anxiety about the coronavirus.
- The Anxiety and Depression Association of America offers a video of tips and strategies to manage coronavirus anxiety and stress for families.
- The Center for Disease Control offers a number of stress and coping resources.
- The American Psychological Association offers a Corona Virus Anxiety video by Dr. Baruch Fischhoff who is an expert on public perception of risk and human judgment and decision-making.
- Harvard Health Publishing published an information-rich blog on coping with coronavirus anxiety.
- Mental Health America has an information and resources page dedicated to COVID-19.
- The Child Mind Institute produced a video about how to talk to children about the coronavirus.
- The National Association of School Psychologists published tips on helping children cope with changes related to the coronavirus
- Be informed by trusted and verified sources such as World Health Organization the Center for Disease Control or coronavirus.gov.
In addition to the above resources, consider sharing the following tips for reducing anxiety in general:
- Avoid caffeine and alcohol
- Don’t neglect your diet; make healthy choices
- Be sure to get enough sleep
- Create a routine
- Get up and move; exercise daily
- Take deep breaths; consider counting to 10 (or even 20) slowly
- Listen to music, do yoga or try meditation
- Consider a virtual therapy or mental health app
- Reach out to others- social distancing doesn’t have to mean social isolation
- Take a break from social media. Being informed and connected is important, but too much social media trolling can paint an inaccurate picture.
- Acknowledge that you cannot control everything; then focus on what you can control
- Keep a positive attitude to keep negative thoughts at bay
We’re all in this together. Take a deep breath, get your bearings and take advantage of the resources available to help us all keep calm and carry on.