Any form of anxiety is an exaggerated fear about a hypothetical situation. What? I may hear you ask. Surely, COVID has killed thousands of people. Well yes, and so has cancer, yet most people don’t have panic attacks about it. More people die in road accidents, yet we still get into cars and drive 60-70mph without waking up with anxiety about it. In fact flu and pneumonia killed more people from June 2020 to Sept 2020 than COVID according to recently recorded statistics.
The main point to grasp here is that there is a difference between concern and caution versus panic and anxiety!
Anxiety and panic make you feel like the threat is bigger than it is ….and it is just round the corner…. and it will kill you. This will affect your mental health, sleep, diet, your behaviours’ and mood.
When you are cautious and concerned about a threat you keep things in perspective while being safe and careful. You recognize that if you are in a vulnerable group the risk of more serious harm goes up, however for the vast majority of the population no symptoms, mild symptoms or a few days in bed at worst is a small possibility. This thinking DOES NOT make you complacent or take unnecessary risks. It allows you to carry on your daily business without that terrible fear. It will propel you to follow government guidelines in ALL cases but not isolate, overthink or make yourself ill.
COVID is clearly a nasty virus, as a 50 year old woman with no health problems I do not wish to contract it. However if I do it wont be the end of the world and I will tolerate any discomfort it may bring. I have a 99.999999999% chance of surviving it. I also do not want to pass it on so I will carry on with my life being concerned and cautious. I suggest we all do.
There is a difference between concern and caution versus anxiety and panic. This is my point.
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