I know everything feels out-of-control right now and this increases anxiety. Watch this video for ideas on how to regain your feelings of control to reduce your anxiety.
Video Transcript
Hi, I’m Natasha Tracy and this is Bipolar Burble. Today I want to talk about feeling in control during a pandemic.* I know we’re living in a very strange time right now. I know we’re living in a time where every social media feed, every news station and in fact every conversation we have mentions coronavirus (COVID-19). I know we’re all talking about it and when we’re not talking about it we’re thinking about it.
Feeling Out-of-Control Because of COVID-19
And the trouble is, with COVID-19, most of what’s out there, we don’t have the facts on, and we can’t control. We don’t know a lot about this virus. We don’t know a lot about treating this virus. There’s no cure for this virus. There’s no vaccine for this virus. The unknowns outnumber the knowns three-to-one.
And there are so many things about this that we can’t control. We all want to do things that are recommended by the CDC and the WHO like making sure that we wash our hands, social distancing and all that stuff, when it comes down to it, we still can’t control if we get the virus, we can’t control what happens if our loved ones get the virus, we can’t control how severe it will be, if they need to go to the hospital, how many cases there will be in our city, and so on. There are just so many things we can’t control.
Feeling More In-Control to Reduce Anxiety in a Pandemic
And the effect this can have is we can feel completely out-of-control in our lives. So, the question is, how can we reverse that, at least a little bit. Because the less in control we feel, the more anxiety we feel.
For me, I’m doing a few things.
One thing is I’m really trying to control my own routine. I had a routine before this started and I’m going to try to keep going with that routine to the best of my ability. And if I choose to modify that routine, I do so consciously. For example, if I can’t go out and have breakfast in my favorite restaurant, then I’m going to purposefully put something else in that spot. So instead of walking to eat at a restaurant, maybe I just take a walk by itself, get a breath of fresh air, move my legs, move my body a little bit, and that takes the place of actually eating my breakfast in a restaurant. I might choose to cook myself something special as part of my routine because I’m not doing what I would normally be doing during that time.
What it is, is thinking about your routine as something you can control. What you do from moment to moment is completely within your control. Sometimes those things that you control are tiny things, like, feeding your cats at 5:00 p.m. – you have complete control over that. It’s very simple. Or maybe you’re going to brush your teeth when you wake up in the morning as part of your routine. Again, very simple.
Realizing You Have Control Reduces Anxiety
When you start realizing you have control over these small and simple acts, that can actually snowball into you having control over larger things in your life and you can feel less out-of-control. And the less out-of-control you feel, the less anxiety you feel. Because that anxiety, with the coronavirus, is completely normal, but if you can decrease it a little, and get a little bit of that control back, you’re going to find a little more peace in this challenging time.
* A big thanks to Dr. Harry Croft for mentioning the importance of control during yesterday’s interview.
I also feel more in control when I can summon the courage to redirect my nervous anxious energies towards something creative or at least something more constructive than excessively worrying about things that make me feel like a victim and drag me down.
For instance, every store I’ve been to is completely out of masks these days. But this weekend I decided to make my own. No easy feat since most stores are closed due to the pandemic. But I was able to buy some plain flannel sheets from Walmart (on sale, super cheap) to use as fabric, then I bought 2 furnace filters (that are already creased accordion style) from Home Depot (I stripped away the frame and wire mesh) to use as a filter (the package said they filter out all kinds of stuff including viruses). Then I pulled out my old basic sewing machine, I hadn’t used in years and after watching a number of DIY videos on line set about making my own reusable masks. I also plan on giving a couple to my brother (his b day is next week) and my mother (who has COPD) for Mother’s Day.
I had Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD) long before COVID19 struck. I am a HUGE worrier and tend to ruminate about A LOT of stuff. Too much caffeine and refined sugars can exacerbate this. I often “what if” every potential problem and then overwork my poor brain tying to come up with every conceivable contingency. Having some choices feels good but too many make decision making feel overwhelming. Many times there just isn’t any possible solution to be found and that’s when the rumination gets ramped up even further
My number one go to tool has been and still is mindfulness. Trying my best not to “live in” the past or project myself too far into the future. I try very hard to live minute by minute, hour by hour, one day at a time. Focusing my limited energies on what’s most important and only doing one thing at a time helps. Multitasking often causes too much stress and anxiety for me when things are not going well
Meditation also helps sometimes to calm my nerves, especially before bed. Sleep is extremely important. It helps to keep me stable and “high functioning”. But too much of a “good thing” can also make things worse.
And like the Serenity Prayer, I try to focus only on what I have the power to change. I’m slowly learning to trust (not my strong point!!!), to let go of what I can not change. Accepting my situation for what it is until my circumstances change, hopefully for the better, when I can then try again to come up with a viable solution
Great, great stuff. Anxiety lives in uncertainty. When we focus on what we can’t control, we will definitely be more anxious. So focusing on what we can control can definitely help reduce anxious feelings and create a sense of empowerment! Thanks for sharing.
It’s good to be reminded of these things.
Helpful, thank u