The number one news item across the world at present is covis 19. The outbresk of this new unknown virus is causing all manner of anxiety as major events and film premieres are cancelled or recheduled. This covis 19 anxiety is understandable considering that the public are literally bombarded with updates about covis 19 and of course there have been some deaths.
The challenge for many people seeking reassurance is deciding which information to trust for any kind of reassurance. On social media everyone suddenly imagines themselves as an expert and of course this is not helpful in dealing with covis 19 anxiety. Photos of panic buying of house goods don’t help and now a large part of Italy is in quarentine. I’m reminded of the classic REM track “Its the end of the world as we know it”
Its useful to remember that anxiety can easily be reduced with the right tools. The PCW approach works by changing the thinking/feeling connection rather than spending on more analysis and speculation about what might happen. There’s nothing wrong with speculation, but when that speculation becomes hyperactive, this can create a massive amount of unhelpful anxiety. The key problem is the speed of thinking which cranks up the feeling state which then creates more thinking.
Covis 19 implications
The reality is that we don’t yet know enough about covis 19 to form any real conclusions about the eventual implications. So far it seems to affect older people with pre existing health conditions in the same way that flu does. The respected medical publication The Lancet observes
“There is an emergency in China, but it has not yet become a global health emergency…WHO is following this outbreak every minute of every day”, said Dr Tedros Ghebreyesus, Director-General of WHO, on Jan 23. A novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) outbreak is emerging, but it is not yet a Public Health Emergency of International Concern (PHEIC). As we went to press, more than 500 cases have been confirmed in China, as well as in Japan, South Korea, Thailand, and the US. The virus can cause a severe respiratory illness, like SARS and MERS, and human-to-human transmission has been confirmed. These characteristics are driving China’s urgent public health actions, as well as international concern. But much remains unknown. The pieces of the puzzle that is 2019-nCoV are only now beginning to come together. “
The last line is quite revealing of course and time will tell what unfolds. In the meantime, its smart to take sensible health precautions’
Internal dialogue as a driver for anxiety
I’ve been working with anxiety related problems for many years and my own experience suggests that how we talk to ourselves or think, creates how we feel. I don’t remember a case where problematic internal dialogue was not the driver for creating the anxiety state. It doesn’t matter if the anxiety is about covis 19 or any other issues. The anxiety is created by a process of how we think that then creates how we feel. When we adjust the speed of the internal dialogue this then adjusts the feeling state. Often a person will send themselves a message in an anxious tone of voice that then understandably creates the anxious feeling state. This can be about what the person imagines is going to happen or a commentary on how they are feeling. Examples includes –
“What if I get covis 19?”
or
“I’m starting to feel anxious”
What’s often forgotten is that its not the content of what is thought but rather “how it is thought” We can change the way it sounds in our heads without changing the content and the subsequent feeling is totally different.
To date I have worked with literally thousands of clients all over the globe and regularly work with clients via Skype as well as in my two UK clinics. This experience has proved to be invaluable in working out how best to deal with problem states. To request a client session check go HERE
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