How to Manage Coronavirus Anxiety

by Elizabeth Barlow

Feeling anxious is normal, completely normal—it’s a part of our lives. It’s a part of the wonderful spectrum of emotions that is the human experience. We developed anxiety to help us deal with anticipated threats and challenges, and ultimately it serves to protect us from our environment. It can help us stay focused in a job intetrview or help us rush home when walking alone at night. Usually episodes of anxiety don’t last very long. Enter COVID-19.

So what do we do with anxiety when we find ourselves in the midst of an unprecedented global crisis?

Don’t constantly check the news for updates

If you want to check the news, especially for updates about your home country, try to limit it to a certain amount of checks during a day, or limit reading to a set number of minutes per day. Also be mindful to get your news information from reliable sources and take caution with news from social media.

Eat healthily and exercise

This sounds obvious but it’s so easy to neglect ourselves when we are feeling anxious. Try to include a variety of fruit and vegetables in your diet. Cooking can be a good stress release; try a new recipe and relish in the sense of achievement of making something that you have never made before. Walk, run, do yoga, home-gym workouts, do anything; any activity is better than no activity.

Practice meditation or mindfulness

If you find it difficult to empty your mind during meditation, then try mindfulness. Mindfulness is about switching your attention to the current moment while calmly acknowledging and accepting any thoughts or sensations in your body.

Try going on a mindful walk—pay attention to what you can see, hear, and smell on the walk. Really notice what is different or new, or what is the same, what colours and shapes you can see. Note such things as 5. colors, 4. sounds, 3. things that are new, 2. things that are the same and 1. how does it feel to be on this walk, can you feel the sun on your skin or the wind in your hair?

Progressive muscle relaxation is something you can do at home—lie on your back, tighten the muscles in your toes for 10 seconds and then relax them completely. Do the same for your feet, ankles, and calves, gradually working up through every muscle in your body until you reach your head and neck. You can find guided mindfulness, meditation, and progressive muscle relaxation videos on YouTube.

Recognize, then let go of anxious thoughts

Allow yourself to recognize the thought and feel it but then let it pass. Imagine the thought as a cloud in the sky. You are laying in the grass and you see the cloud and you wonder what kind of shape it looks like, then it floats away. Visualize your anxious thoughts in the same way.

“Worry time”—allocate a certain amount of time in the day where you will think about your worries, and then after that switch your thoughts to other things. Be careful not to use this “worry time” too close to when you want to go to sleep.

Write down your anxious thoughts and then screw up or rip up the paper and throw it away.

Maintain communication with loved ones back home

It can be difficult as we are geographically far away. With flight bans and travel restrictions being enacted, this can add to the anxiety. There may be a sense of disconnect as Japan is currently not under lockdown procedures, but many of our home countries are. Talk to people at home, but also talk to someone here about feeling anxious. Realizing that someone else feels the same is reassuring. Sometimes saying anxious thoughts out loud can take the power out of these thoughts. Keeping them to ourselves can make them seem bigger than they are.

Follow recommended protocols for where you live

Stay up to date with the local advice for your area as it is changing all the time. Check the emails from the PAs and from CLAIR to get the latest updates.

JET/CLAIR Mental Health Resources: Support or counselling to deal with anxiety, stress, or mental health challenges: https://telljp.com

CLAIR Skype Counselling: https://www.fismec.co.jp/hiroba/en/secure

CLAIR Email Counselling: https://www.kokoro-soudan.net/en/

AJET Peer Support Group: 050-5534-5566 or Skype at ‘AJETPSG’ (hours for both 20:00 to 07:00)

Be gentle on yourself and remember that it’s ok not to be ok, especially during this strange time.