Anxiety & Quarantine

Anxiety & Quarantine

Anxiety & Quarantine

https://www.restoredminds.com/5-Rules-For-Recovery

In this episode, I discuss CoronaVirus, anxiety and being quarantined. Right now our world is facing a pandemic and as individuals, it is important that we are not consumed by panic. We must do our best to maintain our personal health (mental and physical) during this time of crisis, especially if you are quarantined or spending a lot of time in isolation. In this episode, I offer some practical things to consider to help maintain a healthy state of mind during this chaotic time.  Enjoy!

TRANSCRIPT

(00:13):

All right. Hello friends and welcome to another episode of the restored minds show. My name is Matt Codde, I'm a licensed clinical social worker. And in this episode we are going to be talking about the Corona virus and anxiety and kind of just talking about some key things to consider during this time of the world. So, um, you know, in the last week's episode I talked about this idea of coronavirus anxiety, right? And just how, not only are we facing a a, you know, of, of virus, a pandemic, right? You know, um, but also a panic pandemic, right? If just how when panic is, is taking charge and we're being led by panic, how we often aren't even using that rational part of our brain. We are just, you know, just going into that survival fight or flight mode and really learning to kind of be aware of when we're in that panic state so that we're not just making decisions, you know, we're at least thinking them through, right?

(01:07):

So we talked about that last week. And what I want to do is I want to follow up this week because, you know, every day things are changing, right? You know, lockdowns are being put in place. Quarantines I'm self corn, teens, you know, all businesses are shutting down. Um, you know, it's just an ever evolving thing, right? And, and as we ride through this together, you know, there's some things that I kind of want to just talk about. So, um, and, and what I want to do is really talk about three things that you should be considering as we're riding through this time together to make sure that you stay mentally healthy, right? You and your family, right? Um, so the, the first thing is, is that we need to remember that this will come to pass, right? Like there is a finite time that this, this thing's gonna last, right?

(01:52):

Until, and, and you know, it, this is not a permanent thing right now. We don't know how long that is. Right? And, um, and, and one of the most difficult parts. This is the second part that I want to talk about just with the Corona virus in general. One of the most difficult parts about this is there are events that can change the course of history. Right? And, um, you know, I know in my lifetime, the major event that really, that I can recall, I can remember exactly where I was when it happened. Um, and that really did kind of just altered the course of, of the country in the world in many cases, was nine, 11. Right. Um, you know, where there's this big terrorist attack in, um, in the United States and, you know, many people lost their lives. It was, you know, it was a really traumatic experience for I think everyone to some degree.

(02:39):

And the thing about that specific event was it happened. And then as we, as we moved past it, you know, it was a thing that we looked back on and grieved and healed from and, and, you know, tried to unite around, but the event happened, you know, on that day. And then, um, and then we moved past, healed and grieved. Right? And, and, and what's different about this particular time? And this is something that I think that, you know, as you're, as you're watching this, like, this is something you're going to be talking to your children about and grandchildren about, like, you know, this is, this is a thing that could potentially shape the world and is shaping the world as we know it. Um, and, and we don't know how it's gonna unfold, right? And that's the, that's the scary thing about this is it's, it's still something that we're moving in, in through, right?

(03:29):

It's not like it happened in, was over, and now we're kind of, um, trying to handle the, the results of it. Like we don't know what's happening, right? There's so much uncertainty that's unfolding. And because of that, that's a, it's a really difficult thing to deal with, right? Because we don't know where things are going. We don't know how long this is going to be happening, how long, like, are the secondary ramifications of this, all of that stuff. Right? And so as we go about this, I mean, the only thing we can really do is just take it day by day by day, um, and, and do the best that we can individually and, um, and, and yeah, just write it out to the best of our abilities. Um, and obviously try to take care of those around us, right? And not lose our humanity, um, along the way.

(04:14):

So I want to talk about some questions that you can be asking yourself and some things you can be considering as we move through this time together on an individual and family level, right? Because a lot of us in our quarantined, um, you know, and, and rightfully so, you know, to protect, protect everyone. Um, so I wanna I want to kind of, instead of giving talking points, I want to ask questions and I'd like you to ask yourself these questions. And so the first question that, um, that I think we all need to ask ourselves is, what am I consuming and how much am I consuming of it? Because we need to understand that just like in the same way as a diet, right? What you consume is gonna is going to impact you, right? If I consume, you know, I, I'm a big fan of cheesecake, but if I consume it all day, right?

(05:06):

Like that's going to have a real negative impact on my body and health, right? So, you know, treating myself to it on occasion is, you know, it's, it's more in moderation, right? Um, in the same thing with information, right? When you consume information in the, the, the hard thing about consumer that the hard thing to realize about consuming information as you can do it very passively, right? You can sit there on the couch and just watch TV when you're consuming information. A lot of us don't have to do anything to actually consume it. And so we don't ask ourself and question what we're consuming and how much we're consuming of it. And is this good for us? Right? And so, and I'm not telling you not to stay informed because of course it's important to stay informed, but if you're just binge watching news and watching negative headline after negative headline after negative headline and watching the bipartisan politics fighting about, you know, this topic and that topic and you know, every other case that gets reported, well that's gonna, that's gonna do something to you.

(06:06):

You know, both psychologically and physiologically, right? It's gonna induce more fear, more panic. And it doesn't mean that you shouldn't stay informed, but you have to have a balance on what you're consuming and how much you're consuming, right? And so it's, it's, it's a good idea to stay informed, but set limits for yourself of how much you're going to be checking in, staying informed, right? Because this can quickly become a compulsive behavior where you're just checking in, in reading and then feeding it and feeding it and feeding it. And then you're calling and that's all you're talking to people about. So we have to remember, like there, there's plenty of other things that we can be consuming, right? You can watch, you know, shows with your family, you can watch movies, you can read books, you know, I mean, you know, you can listen to podcasts, you know, uh, you know, other motivational, positive things, right?

(06:52):

During this time as well, right? We don't wanna we don't want to create an imbalance of our, of our consumption of information, right? And we want to protect ourselves and our families, right? Because again, if we're consuming something to the point where it's causing us to panic and causing us to arise to a point where it's detrimental, well then we need to realize the ripple effect we have of causing Pamela panic with our loved ones and then overreacting to things, you know, and which leaves people of course, to buying all the toilet paper healthy off the shelves. Right? Like we're seeing like, you know who, who would've thought that that would be a problem that we're facing, but it is. Right. You know? And um, so that's the first question. You know, I was just asking yourself, Hey, what am I consuming? How much am I consuming?

(07:34):

How much of it am I consuming? And is it doing anything to me? Right? Secondly, um, I wanna I want to talk about how asking yourself, how we interact with that voice in our mind. Okay. Because if you've noticed, right, if you deal with anxiety or depression or you know, any other kind of, um, mental health struggles, that voice in the mind is, is almost always at the root of that problem, right? Notice how it rarely says positive, you know, uplifting things, right? For many of us, right? It's always a very catastrophic, you know, thinking mindset, right? You know, worst case scenarios, what if this happens? What if that right? And if we are just listening to that voice in the mind without challenging, without, without, you know, um, taking in facts and, and you know, getting, getting, gaining perspective on things. If we are just being on the receiving end of the voice of the mind in assuming that everything it says is true, you know, that can be very dangerous.

(08:41):

It can be making lead to a lot of problems. And especially because, you know, many of us are quarantined, right? We're, we're just at home alone, right? So what that voice of the mind is saying, it's not, it's not necessarily, it's saying that's important. It's how we're interacting with it. That's the most important, right? Because that voice of the mind can run, you know, if you're laying in bed, it can just run like crazy, right? It doesn't mean that it's necessarily something that we have to always engage in or listen to, but if we're just mindlessly consuming it and mindlessly letting it take control to the point where we're not even questioning how we're interacting with that writer or how much were, you know, how much we're going, you know, trying to gain other perspective is stuff as well that can be very dangerous. Right?

(09:27):

And that can lead to very quickly spiraling out on certain topics. Right? Um, so, so just how you're engaging with it, right? And what you're doing right. And just being aware of that. Right? It's just, just so, so important for your mental health and, and not only that, but the mental health of those around you as well. Because again, a, like I said, panic is contagious, right? Fear is contagious. And so if you're reacting and watching the news and you know, telling everyone to be quiet and you know, cause you just want to listen to the next thing, next thing, next thing, realize how the impact, that secondary impact that that panic is having on your relationships with your family right there as well. Just just being aware of that. And then finally, this is the kind of, um, another question that I think is really important and that's just how can we use this time for good.

(10:11):

Now, I don't know, you know, your specific beliefs and all that and um, but you know, I can't help but ask myself. Um, I was, I was having some, some conversations with some friends, um, on this the other day. I can't help but ask myself about what, what a forced break could do for many of us, right? Because a lot of us and myself included in this case, so like, believe me, all this stuff that I'm saying is stuff that it's just not, it's not just like I, like, I'm, I'm not immune to any of this either, right? This is stuff that we have to, we have to develop a practice, right? And we have to make decisions and be decisive. How we're going to go through this time together. And that's why getting clear on what we need to do is so important. Right.

(10:58):

Um, but, but the one thing that I want to ask is like, you know, how can we use this time for good, right? And so, you know, at restored minds, um, my wife and I, his company, you know, what we're doing is we're, we're running live group, um, live group coaching sessions for, for all of our members, right? Um, you know, once a week where we hop on live and we, you know, we're creating a group environment virtually, right? Where, you know, people from all over the world can call in and, um, you know, ask questions, support each other, you know, and so that they don't have to be alone. Right. Um, also, you know, we're, you know, just making sure that we're checking in and tuning in with our family, especially some of our families that's more isolated, right? We also have a little baby.

(11:38):

So we're trying to take precautions there, right? Um, but you know, like when we talk about this time here, this forced break that many of us are being given this forced quarantine, right? How can we view this as something that's positive and for on, obviously the pandemic is not positive. I understand, but the situation we're in, like what's the good that can come out of this? Right? And at least asking ourselves that question because many of us just jumped to the idea that this is bad, you know, to be quarantined in the, you know, this is, you know, and we get so internally focused on our personal experience that we miss opportunities to use this experience for something bigger than ourselves or something good. Right? And you know, I, again, I just can't help but ask myself about how, you know, not only myself, but many of us are live our day to day lives where we're just going from the moment we wake up to the moment we go to sleep, right?

(12:33):

And even, even then, you know, we're checking our phones like all the way till we, like we are like put it on the side and then go to bed, right. And then wake up and have our phones. We go to work, we hit the gym. You know, we just try to be hyper and hyper, hyper productive. Um, you know, like, you know, to the point where we're just always going. And the reality is that's just not sustainable. In fact, like, you know, the, the idea that, you know, health organizations are actually determining that there's like real, a real problem of burnout to the point where they're, that you're maybe not officially diagnosing it, but recognizing it as a serious issue that we're facing and why are we facing them? What was it? Because we operate at a way that's unsustainable and for many of us, you know, this, um, this quarantine, this break that, you know, many of us just are kind of being forced into to the point where, look, we don't have the normal distractions that we normally have.

(13:24):

We don't have sports anymore. Right. Um, you know, news is, you know, pretty much one topic going on, right? And, and so instead of us always jump into that next distraction during this time, right? Like, I'm going to just binge watch as many shows as I can, you know, kind of at least taking this time that you're, that we have. Right. And, and one thing I would suggest is just kind of reflect on like, Hey, look, how can I use this time for good? Who can you call and who can you support, even if it's just doing a video call or, I mean, you know, sending something to someone in the mail that may not have access to the grocery, you know what I mean? Like all the things we can do to support each other during this time, right? Like, how can we use this time for good?

(14:08):

So obviously making it more than just about yourself and, and seeing what good we can actually do. You know, I know one of our members is hosting live workouts, right? You know, workout classes, right? And, and I was like, yeah, it's great. Right? And so people are just, you know, doing workout classes together online and, and I know it won't always go on like this, right? We'll get back to the point where we're, you know, congregating together, Ian, but what can we do to make this more than just about ourselves and to like during this break, let's not, let's not miss the opportunity to take a break personally if that's where you are, if you are quarantined and you know, you're just there, it's like what does it mean for you to really take a break? Right. You know, cause many of us, even our vacations aren't breaks, right?

(14:52):

We go on vacation and we just jam packed the vacation full of every activity we can to the point where we never just slow down, right. And I can't help but ask like, look, it, you know, is this opportunity for many of us in many ways to just slow down. And I, and I know it's scary and I know it's, it's, it is, it's very uncertain. It's anxiety provoking, all of that. But as I look at it, it's just like that's just one thing I think that a lot of us can kind of use this time as because we're forced to stop to start to take a risk like a reset button, right? And to calm down, slow down the pace we live instead of just jumping back into the pace that we were living at and instead of trying to just go back to how we were doing things, at least question how we were doing them and if it was the right way and if we were living how we really do want to live, right?

(15:40):

Because what this, what this can do is really give us the opportunity to gain perspective of how things were going and actually gives it an opportunity to make a conscious choice about how we want to move forward. You know, what will revaluing before this forced break that we're in. Many of us are given no aware. It's just like, look you, you're stopping, right? What were we, how are we operating before that? How are we and how do we want to operate once it's done, after, after it is done right? Again, we don't know when that is, but at least taking the time to reflect on that and ask yourself that. So, you know, just to, to quickly kind of recap the questions, you know, again, what am I consuming? How much am I consuming of it? Right? And just being cognizant of that, right? Just just being aware of that.

(16:28):

Um, the second is, you know, how are we interacting with that voice in our mind? Are we just being led by it or are we, you know, challenging it? Are we, you know, are we actually determining how we're thinking versus just letting our mind go? Right? And then finally, like, how can we use this time for good? How can we be of service to others? And more importantly, in this downtime, in this time that's slowed down this, this kind of quarantine, you know, break from everything that we've been given. Have we been living life? How we really want to live, how we've been living according to what we really value? And as we, you know, move, move through this time and more importantly, past this time whenever that comes, how are we going to, how are we going to go? Are we going to just jump back into what we were doing or other changes that we need to make that we can use this time to really kind of reflect on and, and kind of get clear on as well.

(17:22):

And so those are just some, some thoughts I want to share with us. I'm with the community this week and again, you know, thank you so much for tuning in this show. We really appreciate your help. Again, we have resources available. Like you said, we're doing weekly calls during this time. Um, you know, for all our community members, we have our, uh, core trainings as well that are all online, all virtual to help support you during this time. So, um, if this is something that you're struggling with and you, and you're feeling overwhelmed and you want connection, you want support, please, um, you know, we have some links down below where you can go over to restored mines.com and join. Join our community, um, you know, to receive support during this time. And, and as we move forward this together as a group, you know, we are here to support you, so thank you all so much. And, uh, again, just check out the links below and I will see you guys soon on the next episode of the restored mind show. Take care.