The new CDC guidelines and your Anxiety

In the U.S. we are at a major turning point in the fight against Covid. The CDC has released new guidelines regarding masks and when and whom should wear it. This post isn’t going to delve into the arguments for or against mask wearing, each side has valid points to make. I am also no going to get into the politics, how the media has used the pandemic or anything else highly cynical and believe me there is plenty of meat on those bones to chew on. I am going to talk about the very real (and completely valid) anxiety associated with “getting back out there”

First let’s see what the CDC actually said: “Fully vaccinated people can resume activities without wearing a mask or physically distancing, except where required by federal, state, local, tribal, or territorial laws, rules, and regulations, including local business and workplace guidance.” SOURCE

The key here is “Fully Vaccinated People”. If you have looked on the web over the last few days you would think everyone is now given the green light to go out and get back to “normal”. Again this post isn’t to argue for or against government mandates it’s to discuss anxiety issues around the new reality. People are going to be out and about without masks, some of those people won’t be vaccinated.

The Sun will come out again.

How exactly are you going to know if they are or are not? Will they need to carry a card? Have a symbol on their shirt designating them as vaccinated or non? The quick answer is it’s going to have to be on the honor system because in the U.S. we have a very potent law called HIPAA. This law, unless changed, prohibits your personal medical information from being released without your consent.

Here in lies the trap for people with anxiety. Maybe you felt better or less anxious when people wore masks. Maybe you felt compelled yourself to wear one even though you did not have covid and were not at a high risk of getting it. You are now thrust back into a situation pre covid but with covid knowledge. More accurately, for the last year you have been bludgeoned by media, friends, family, politicians on Covid.

Its omnipresent and now the CDC says mask mandates can be lifted. It’s okay to be anxious, it’s okay to still wear a mask if you want to, it’s okay to still be extremely cautious. What isn’t okay is if you chose to inflict those feelings on other people who, don’t feel the same way. What if someone isn’t wearing a mask or social distancing what will you say or do now that the CDC says it’s okay? Will you demand proof of vaccination? What if the person refuses or worse challenges your authority to even ask?

This is going to be a tense period for many of you, the best possible way to combat covid anxiety is to get vaccinated. Minimally you’ll know you’ve done everything you can to protect yourself. You can’t make other people do anything, particularly with government mandates evaporating daily. You are going to have to find a way to navigate back into the old normal, with Covid fears hammered into your head.

You can do it, I think you are doing awesome as it is and you just need to take this one encounter at a time, one day at a time. Hang in there.

Thank you for coming by and supporting my blog, want to see another post like this one? Click here.

Back to Basics – Get a routine to fight Anxiety

Anxiety sucks, we can all agree on that. The problem in diagnosis and treating anxiety is it’s unique to each individual and that individual’s experience. As an example, driving in the snow causes me to have anxiety, likely you too, but why? The fear of crashing? The fear of getting trapped? A prior accident? We all have different issues and things can get out of hand very quickly.

One of the things we all can do to fight Anxiety is to create or recreate routines. Covid lock downs have created havoc for tens of millions. For those of us with Anxiety it’s even worse because those routines we clung to pre covid were shattered. Sure it wasn’t perfect but routines gave us some semblance of order and some semblance of control which goes a long way to fighting anxiety.

I haven’t worked at my office for nearly a year, it’s disrupted many of my mini routines and there are times when I am at home I feel lost. I get anxious because I have less structure, less focus, less interaction. It’s been challenging for me personally and I know there are many other people out there in a similar situation. Below are a few things you can do to establish (or Reestablish) routines.

Am I contagious?
This guy and his lists….
  • Go to bed and wake up the same time every day. This one is critical because it creates the conditions which your body can be more regulated, particularly your mind.
  • Workout the same 3 days every week. Mon,Wed,Fri or Tues,Thurs,Sat. Whatever it is you do, yoga, stretching, lifting, running, walking get a consistent routine for specific days.
  • 30 minutes a week work on your personal finances. The same time and day every week. My “personal finance day” is Sunday morning. I get coffee and from 10-11AM I look at my investments, balance the check book, pay bills, and look at my budget.
  • Friends & Family time. This one is harder but every week plan a call, plan a walk, plan a meal whatever it is plan something with a friend or family member not spouse and kids but siblings, parents, good friends.
  • Family night. This is the one for kids and spouses. A Netflix night, a movie, a game, a pizza whatever it is at least once a week (preferably every day) you plan one night with your immediate family, like a date night. Ours is Friday night, we get pizza and play cards or board games, and yes that includes occasionally boyfriends and girlfriends.
  • Personal hygiene routine. Now this one might be self evident but since we have all been trapped at home many of us have let this slip. Sure we all still clean up but are you waking, showering, face cream, shave, brush, mouth wash, grooming etc in the same manner as you were before? How about bed time? Get back into a consistent hygiene routine everyday no days off.

These may sound obvious or they may seem simple, they should be and are. The point is routine and structure give us a great tool to combat anxiety. Without it your mind gets to create whatever reality it wants and if your imagination is like mine that might not be the best outcome. Routines require us to focus on the task, and be present. They also create positive outcomes from the effort and that has the residual effect of making you feel better about yourself.

Get back to basics and get your routines (or several) back on track to fight back against Anxiety!

Thank you for coming by to support my blog! Remember to like, share and subscribe! Want to see another post like this one? Click here.