How are you MENTALLY escaping all the COVID-crazy?

[But_First_Coffee]

I could use some advice, some ideas, some pointers...

I am prone to generalized anxiety and depression which I fight via naturapathic means
like herbal supplements as opposed to xanax.
For someone like myself, routine, regime and stability are essential.
I like my 9-5. I like my morning commute listening to books and bible in the car.
I like my hour to wind down watching interesting stuff on my phone at night.
I need to have quality time with my spouse.
Keeping my son on his routine when I get home after work is helpful for me too.
I need church on Sunday.
I need my coffee in the morning.
I like to keep up with the chores on a schedule.
From day-to-day, I am fine.
If there is some discourse in my house, like an argument with my spouse
or a sick baby or a money issue, I get stressed out
but it smooths out quickly because I keep things stable around it,
like my routine I mentioned above.

When the whole world around me is thrown into chaos,
and everyone is buying up everything at the store and shutting down regular everyday
places and panicking and clouding the media with negativity and messing up my routine...

...try as I might to be an optimist or a good stable Christian woman,
I start to meltdown really fast.

Last night I struggled to fall asleep and kept waking up from small panic attacks, partially because I have an allergy cough that acts up at night but normally it doesn't cause panic.
Throughout the last 3-4 days, there are times my depression feels like it is physically crushing me.

I listened to good church podcasts, the bible, my usual books in the car, walked on the beach, tried breathing techniques....


....What else???

 

[GospelS]

I'm being normal as I'm usually strong, I think. I just rest in the faithfulness of my heavenly father and live for today. Life or death, I rejoice. Nothing gets to me in any way.

 

[Aussie Pete]

I could use some advice, some ideas, some pointers...

I am prone to generalized anxiety and depression which I fight via naturapathic means
like herbal supplements as opposed to xanax.
For someone like myself, routine, regime and stability are essential.
I like my 9-5. I like my morning commute listening to books and bible in the car.
I like my hour to wind down watching interesting stuff on my phone at night.
I need to have quality time with my spouse.
Keeping my son on his routine when I get home after work is helpful for me too.
I need church on Sunday.
I need my coffee in the morning.
I like to keep up with the chores on a schedule.
From day-to-day, I am fine.
If there is some discourse in my house, like an argument with my spouse
or a sick baby or a money issue, I get stressed out
but it smooths out quickly because I keep things stable around it,
like my routine I mentioned above.

When the whole world around me is thrown into chaos,
and everyone is buying up everything at the store and shutting down regular everyday
places and panicking and clouding the media with negativity and messing up my routine...

...try as I might to be an optimist or a good stable Christian woman,
I start to meltdown really fast.

Last night I struggled to fall asleep and kept waking up from small panic attacks, partially because I have an allergy cough that acts up at night but normally it doesn't cause panic.
Throughout the last 3-4 days, there are times my depression feels like it is physically crushing me.

I listened to good church podcasts, the bible, my usual books in the car, walked on the beach, tried breathing techniques....


....What else???

Cast your care on God and leave it there. Anxiety and depression are the result of underlying fears. If you seek the Lord to be delivered, He will set you free (Psalm 34). You need to know how much God loves you - perfect love casts out fear!

Lord Jesus told us to be anxious for nothing. Well, I was good at that. I was often anxious and it always turned out to be nothing. This virus means nothing to me. It took decades, but the Lord finally got me to rest in Him. Last November is was in Emergency. My heart was doing the rhumba or something. Atrial fibrillation to be precise. The ambulance trip was 45 minutes. Most of the time I witnessed to the medic. Long story short, I was supposed to have my heart stopped and restarted. It regained rhythm before the procedure. The attending doctor and anaesthetist we both Christians. We had a couple of minutes of thanks and praise and I was on my way! God has it all under control - if we let Him.

 

[JohnAshton]

No one is promised tomorrow, so . . .

Live today unafraid, take normal precautions, and move along.

 

[crossnote]

I just remember the song, 'Mama said there'd be days like this'.
Actually there is a worse pandemic called...sin.

 

[PloverWing]

For someone like myself, routine, regime and stability are essential.

Your normal routine has been significantly disrupted, but can you create a routine for yourself at home, to follow for the next few weeks?

Going on the assumption that you're telecommuting now, instead of physically driving to work, something like:

9:00-10:15, do telecommuting work
10:15-10:30, coffee break
10:30-11:45, more telecommuting work
11:45-12:15, lunch
(etc.)

If your family knows about your anxiety and need for consistency, maybe they can help: Cuddle and chat with your spouse 4:30-5:30 while the kids do their homework, keep chatting with your spouse from 5:30-6:00 while the two of you cook dinner, dinner 6:00-7:00, etc.

I'm sorry about your panic attacks and depression. I know that this social distancing and schedule disruption is especially hard on those who need consistency in their day.

 

[But_First_Coffee]

Your normal routine has been significantly disrupted, but can you create a routine for yourself at home, to follow for the next few weeks?

Going on the assumption that you're telecommuting now, instead of physically driving to work, something like:

9:00-10:15, do telecommuting work
10:15-10:30, coffee break
10:30-11:45, more telecommuting work
11:45-12:15, lunch
(etc.)

If your family knows about your anxiety and need for consistency, maybe they can help: Cuddle and chat with your spouse 4:30-5:30 while the kids do their homework, keep chatting with your spouse from 5:30-6:00 while the two of you cook dinner, dinner 6:00-7:00, etc.

I'm sorry about your panic attacks and depression. I know that this social distancing and schedule disruption is especially hard on those who need consistency in their day.

no I’m still going to work. It’s more like everything Around me is about ... THAT. Every email, every update, every customer who comes in... the subject is that pandemic.
And the fear of the unknown and worst case scenarios... not with getting sick but with things just falling all apart and we can’t get what we need or we lose our paychecks. That kind of thing. It’s causing unneeded stress. No I can still listen to the Bible in the car. It’s everything else going on, the 30 minute commute is now not enough to charge me up mentally.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

....What else???

In all you do, who do you trust ?

 

[Josheb]

Philippians 4:4-9
"4Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice! 5Let your gentle spirit be known to all men. The Lord is near. 6Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. 7And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

8Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, dwell on these things. 9The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you."​

How are you MENTALLY escaping all the COVID-crazy?

You have to buy into it before you can escape it.

I could use some advice, some ideas, some pointers...

I am prone to generalized anxiety and depression which I fight via naturapathic means
like herbal supplements as opposed to xanax.

And coffee? How's that working for you?

For someone like myself, routine, regime and stability are essential...... When the whole world around me is thrown into chaos....

Is the whole world "thrown into chaos"?

Or does it just seem that way because of sensationalist newscasts and a lack of toilet paper at the grocery store?

My world isn't in chaos. Many posters here in CF have expressed similar positions. My work has been adversely affected by the anxieties of others. So has my family and leisure life (my wife is much more worried about COVID-19 than I), but the effects are minimal and I appear to be having a positive mediating effect on the worried ones around me.

...everyone is buying up everything at the store...

So what?

Last night I struggled to fall asleep and kept waking up from small panic attacks.....

I listened to good church podcasts, the bible, my usual books in the car, walked on the beach, tried breathing techniques....


....What else???

Stop buying into the hysteria.


Of course you are going to have great difficulty doing that if you are "prone to generalized anxiety and depression." So in circumstances like this, when the media and others' bying behavior works to exacerbate your already-existing condition you have warrant to seek out more intense solutions, like xanax (or some other medication) and counseling. When the hysteria ceases then maybe you can return to your previously existing maintenance rituals.

Or not.

 

[GOD Shines Forth!]

In all you do, who do you trust ?

This I know, that God is for me.
In God, whose word I praise,
in the LORD, whose word I praise,
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
What can man do to me?

Psalm 56

 

[Joined2krist]

Fear not, for God is with you, He will never leave you or desert you. Read Psalm 23 every morning

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

You have to buy into it before you can escape it.

OR, never be part of it to start with.
i.e. if not deceived already, do not seek to be deceived.
Always seek truth, and keep seeking truth.

 

[Josheb]

OR, never be part of it to start with.

I completely agree.

 

[longwait]

I could use some advice, some ideas, some pointers...

I am prone to generalized anxiety and depression which I fight via naturapathic means
like herbal supplements as opposed to xanax.
For someone like myself, routine, regime and stability are essential.
I like my 9-5. I like my morning commute listening to books and bible in the car.
I like my hour to wind down watching interesting stuff on my phone at night.
I need to have quality time with my spouse.
Keeping my son on his routine when I get home after work is helpful for me too.
I need church on Sunday.
I need my coffee in the morning.
I like to keep up with the chores on a schedule.
From day-to-day, I am fine.
If there is some discourse in my house, like an argument with my spouse
or a sick baby or a money issue, I get stressed out
but it smooths out quickly because I keep things stable around it,
like my routine I mentioned above.

When the whole world around me is thrown into chaos,
and everyone is buying up everything at the store and shutting down regular everyday
places and panicking and clouding the media with negativity and messing up my routine...

...try as I might to be an optimist or a good stable Christian woman,
I start to meltdown really fast.

Last night I struggled to fall asleep and kept waking up from small panic attacks, partially because I have an allergy cough that acts up at night but normally it doesn't cause panic.
Throughout the last 3-4 days, there are times my depression feels like it is physically crushing me.

I listened to good church podcasts, the bible, my usual books in the car, walked on the beach, tried breathing techniques....


....What else???

Pray Psalm 91 over yourself and over loved ones. The world won't last anyway. We know it from the book of Revelation. Just stay righteous and holy and you will have nothing to worry about.

 

[Isilwen]

I have no way of escaping it as an EMT. It is in face as I work and in my face when I don't as I need to keep up with the latest to do my job.

 

[Aldebaran]

no I’m still going to work. It’s more like everything Around me is about ... THAT. Every email, every update, every customer who comes in... the subject is that pandemic.
And the fear of the unknown and worst case scenarios... not with getting sick but with things just falling all apart and we can’t get what we need or we lose our paychecks. That kind of thing. It’s causing unneeded stress. No I can still listen to the Bible in the car. It’s everything else going on, the 30 minute commute is now not enough to charge me up mentally.

I'm right there with ya!
It is pretty frightening to hear and see what's going on and not know how life is going to change, and whether or not we'll be ready for it when it happens. It's been keeping me up at night too. I've done my physical preps years ago for the most part, and have just been tying up some loose ends that way. My advice is to do what you can right now and then it might help your anxiety knowing that you're more prepared than when you started.

 

[yeshuaslavejeff]

"Be anxious for nothing , but in everything let your request be made known to God"

"He whose mind (and life) is stayed on Christ, is kept (well-guarded) in peace (by God) "

 

[mama2one]

follow

 

[Take Heart]

Not sure if this has been mentioned yet but i try to limit the amount of news/youtube vids related to this issue and watch movies/YouTube videos that Ive enjoyed in the past that has made me laugh or just happy. It helps me to unwind a lot annd of course, praying to Jesus, telling Him my worries and concerns and trying my best to let Him be God in my life and to put those things on His shoulders and not allow myself to carry all these anxious thoughts and concerns on my shoulders but to cast them on the only One Who is capable to handle it Himself and trade those worries for His peace when we let go of our anxieties.

 

[FutureAndAHope]

I could use some advice, some ideas, some pointers...

I am prone to generalized anxiety and depression which I fight via naturapathic means
like herbal supplements as opposed to xanax.
For someone like myself, routine, regime and stability are essential.
I like my 9-5. I like my morning commute listening to books and bible in the car.
I like my hour to wind down watching interesting stuff on my phone at night.
I need to have quality time with my spouse.
Keeping my son on his routine when I get home after work is helpful for me too.
I need church on Sunday.
I need my coffee in the morning.
I like to keep up with the chores on a schedule.
From day-to-day, I am fine.
If there is some discourse in my house, like an argument with my spouse
or a sick baby or a money issue, I get stressed out
but it smooths out quickly because I keep things stable around it,
like my routine I mentioned above.

When the whole world around me is thrown into chaos,
and everyone is buying up everything at the store and shutting down regular everyday
places and panicking and clouding the media with negativity and messing up my routine...

...try as I might to be an optimist or a good stable Christian woman,
I start to meltdown really fast.

Last night I struggled to fall asleep and kept waking up from small panic attacks, partially because I have an allergy cough that acts up at night but normally it doesn't cause panic.
Throughout the last 3-4 days, there are times my depression feels like it is physically crushing me.

I listened to good church podcasts, the bible, my usual books in the car, walked on the beach, tried breathing techniques....


....What else???

Psa 112:1 Let the Lord be praised. Happy is the man who gives honour to the Lord, and has great delight in his laws ...Psa 112:7 He will have no fear of evil news; his heart is fixed, for his hope is in the Lord.

The LORD is with you, know that he will steady your heart as you place your trust in his hands. Know that God can order your steps.