The COVID-19 pandemic has had a big effect on our lives. Many of us are facing stressful, overwhelming and emotionally charged challenges. Public health actions, such as social distancing, are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19, but they can make us feel isolated and alone and can increase stress and anxiety.
In fact, according to WHO, social distancing is a key strategy to counter the spread of the virus and to avoid overloading health systems.
As social animals, humans need to live in groups. This contact with their fellow humans is essential for their evolution and survival.
These restrictive measures adversely affect the social life, emotional state and eating behaviour of individuals.
Since the start of the pandemic to prevent contagion, it was decided to maintain a physical distance of no less than one and a half metres between people. These measures implemented to avoid or reduce contact between possibly infected individuals serve to slow down the rate of transmission. If you want to know more about that, you can visit this link: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC8183319/.
Learning to cope with ANXIETY
The impact of social distancing on individuals’ lives develops from fear and anxiety to obsessive-compulsive disorders. In principle, anxiety response arises naturally when individuals are exposed to certain everyday situations. However, when the response to these situations is no longer adequate (adaptive), anxiety can be pathological. It also presents itself as a mental disorder. Known as an anxiety disorder.
Learning to cope with anxiety in a healthy way will make you and those around you more resilient. Learning to cope with stress in a healthy way will make you more resilient. Take breaks from watching, reading or listening to the news, including social media. Consider limiting the news to a couple of times a day and disconnect from phone, TV and computer screens for a while.