How to Break the Coronavirus Anxiety Cycle
From the psychiatrist Judson A. Brewer, M.D., Ph.D. in the NYTimes: Anxiety and its close cousin, panic, are both born from fear and uncertainty. We have plenty of that with the current COVID-19 pandemic. If information is lacking, our prefrontal cortex lays out different scenarios about what might happen. Some of these scenarios can be pretty scary. Anxiety is contagious. The spread of emotion from one person to another is called social contagion. "People can sneeze on your brain", says Dr Jud. "Our own anxiety can be cued or triggered simply by talking to someone else who is anxious. Their fearful words are like a sneeze landing directly on our brain, emotionally infecting our prefrontal cortex, and sending it out of control as it worries about everything from whether our family members will get sick to how our jobs will be affected." To break the anxiety cycle, do 2 things: 1. become aware when you are getting anxious or panicking and what the result is. 2. bring...