Tag: Lockdown

Back to Basics – Get a routine to fight Anxiety

Posted on by Karac Avalron

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!

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Genetics

Navigating Anxiety Spikes amid “reopening”

Posted on by Karac Avalron

Depending on where you are the world around you is re-opening. For better or worse, here we go and as individuals with anxiety this will be a challenging period. We all have our own feelings on the pandemic, I have restricted my personal opinions (mostly) as I don’t seem to have a mainstream point of view. Needless to say as a libertarian this has been a very curious time. Without being cavalier though I concede fully, just because I feel a certain way doesn’t mean its right way.

We all have to navigate this stage of the game in our own way. I found a good article here that discusses how we might manage our anxiety as we all venture back out.

From the article: “The days and weeks ahead are sure to bring a good deal of anxiety, as so much uncertainty remains about COVID-19. While staying home all the time might not have been fun, it also removed many sources of stress, especially concerns about catching the virus. With our reemergence comes many questions about whether we’re doing the right thing and if we’re being careful enough—and of course concerns about the actions of others. Are our leaders making the right decisions? Will others thrown caution to the wind and get you sick?”

We can haggle over timing and specifics but I think we can all agree at some point we have to open back up. We cannot sustain the current model long term, it’s going to devastate our economy and residually negatively impact Millions more, if not Tens of Millions.

All that aside what about you and your anxiety? What do you do if you still are uncomfortable or are struggling with how to proceed? Your mental and physical health are paramount and just because everything is opening back up it doesn’t mean you have to be compliant.

Let’s be blunt, you are the best gauge of how you feel and how you think you can best move forward in this new reality. All the blog posts, all the comments, all the news outlets, all the government are not experts in you.

If you are uncomfortable, that’s okay. You make gradual small steps back to where you were before. As an example, a trip to the post office might be your weekly excursion back out there for now. That’s okay, you do not need to rush. As long as you have a secure income source, take your time and take care of your mental health.

There are many people out there now who are sick and tired of all this. That’s their right, it’s also your right to take things at your own pace. Stay safe, and take care of yourself.