DEALING WITH POSSIBLE ANXIETYAMIDST CONVID 19 PANDEMIC

Ghana has for the past few months experienced a hit from the coronavirus and has since been taking precautionary measures in dealing with the pandemic. The media has done its best at educating the public on how to keep themselves active and also keeping ourselves safe and soundin our respective home since the lockdown was announced. But all the same with or without lockdown one must take precautionary measures in order to keep a good health during this tough times. However it is also necessary to know how to takecare of both our psychological and mental wellbeing. Anxiety happens to be a very possible medical condition to affect a person amidst this pandemic and it’s very important to know how one would be able to deal with it.

            Anxiety is any intense and persistent worry and fear about everydaysituations. According to research, It is normal to be anxious about some happenings in one’s daily life however to have frequent intense, excessive and persistent worry and fear about everyday situation is unhealthy. Anxiety as it is can affect any one of any age starting from age 1 to 60 and above. In this pandemic it is highly possible for one to have an anxiety problem because of the fear of contracting the virus. Another possible reason is how we get worried when we hear of the increasing number of cases. Even knowing that the virus is present in the country brings fear forourselves and we begin to worry about our friends and family. This might seem normal but when care is not taken this frequent fear and worry will slowly develop into a more serious condition.

According to research, some possible symptoms of anxiety are:

• Feeling nervous, restless or tense.
• Having a sense of impending danger, panic or doom.
• Breathing rapidly.
• Sweating.
• Trembling.
• Feeling weak or tired.
• Experiencing gastrointestinal problems.
• Having trouble sleeping.
• Having difficulty controlling worry.

Its however advisable to deal with this by preventing it in the first place. Some simple and useful ways of preventing and controlling are:

• Not getting too involved in checking the media outlet for updates or any kind of information related to the novel pandemic. Staying glued to the television waiting for updates and info about the virus is very advisable but this should have limit because the frequent times you visit the media and check has its level of fear and worry that comes with it. One should just listen and check for update at a limited number of time.
• You can ask a close relative about updates. This way you get to interact with a family or a friend which helps to balance your social life and also helps you get the necessary information.
• Know your source of information. You should have a trusted source of information to help you stick to one instead of multiple media outlets that share nothing authentic.
• Maintain a healthy exercise and sleeping routine.
• Avoid crowds but don’t isolate yourself completely. Have contact with friends and family as frequent as possible.
• Not to forget about our parents and grandparents who are very much likely to go through discomforting feeling they could be helped by being very interactive with them, engaging them in conversations every now and then let’s not forget almost half of them are not technologically oriented to be using technology and staying connected on social media so one should help them fill that void that has been  formed up due to social distancing
• Seek professional support if needed.

Anxiety can easily affect anyone in these times. One has to be very careful and self-disciplined enough to be able to put your mental health in control. Let’s not forgot that the existence of corona virus does not mean other sickness and serious health conditions are on break and cannot form as a threat to our lives. We should make sure to take good care of both ourselves and our loved ones.

ZULAIYAT AHMED