How to excuse yourself on Freedom Day marred by a 50,000 case increase and a pending third wave.
Post-Pandemic Anxiety Ignored As Cases Escalate; How Can You Help Yourself?
The 19th of July going down in history as the day England cast-off-the-mask-to-covid just before the third wave set in. I’m lucky enough to be a bit of a solitary introvert with minor agoraphobia…and I also live in Scotland. This means that I have another few weeks of masking before the insanity spreads across the rest of the island.
But with near 56 Million people across the border flapping their masks in freedom as though we didn’t begin this whole charade with a drastic shortage of PPE, the celebration is somewhat marred by a daily 50,000 case increase in cases. The NHS tracking app is pinging hundreds of thousands of people a day advising they self-isolate or quarantine. And despite the Prime Minister U-Turning on his own insistence that he was ignoring his own personal ping to isolate, we’ve got people clubbing until dawn and shops tearing their “MASK UP” posters from the windows.
Enjoy it, you’ve got until September until they activate the vaccination chips that let us in and out of buildings; that’s another U-Turn that was introduced today.
Considered by some to purely be an economic recovery mission (hilarious side-note; the finance minister was also advised to isolate and refused…then agreed), Freedom Day, and the run up to it, looks remarkably like Lockdown Day 1. Supermarkets are expressing concern for stock shortages due to individuals rapid needs for self-isolating, and the pound has fallen more drastically in the FTSE 100 three days prior to the lift of restrictions than it has in 3 months.
These are just figures. I hate maths. I like people:
Jess, an Artist and disability activist, has been shielding since the beginning of the pandemic. The results have been drastic to her mental and physical health with reduced services. Needless to say she is concerned about the cavalier attitude towards a virus with still rising numbers.
As you celebrate a sense of normality, our anxiety and dread is all consuming…the support we experienced in the first wave, the accommodations put into place, all of it is scrapped…government food boxes, medication support, community health care and co-ordinators…gone.
It is true that the NHS and government was forced to redirect as much support as possible towards managing the pandemic but, as records will show, this was not necessarily tailored to the benefit of the most vulnerable. From the lack of available PPE to health care workers to the poor management of outbreaks in care-homes, we turned to clapping on our doorsteps and reaching out as much as we could to help the community. I hear no clapping now.
Charities are reporting an increase in anxiety and panic across a multitude of medical disabilities and illnesses.
Kidney Care UK Fiona Loud says there has been a “tidal wave of people getting in touch with us and our partner charities”.
“We are overwhelmed with people asking for support and feeling distressed,”
Aplastic Anaemia Trust, says “we’ve seen an 800% increase in the number of people who’ve been contacting our support line” since the announcement about the removal of final restrictions was made.
It comes as relief to many still shielding and vulnerable that the office of national statistics revealed that 64% of adults are still planning to wear facemasks in shops and on public transport.
And 60% of adults are planning on keeping their contact with crowded places to a minimum.
The 42% of those choosing not to, however. Well, here in lies the anxiety. So here are a few tips to get to grips with that nonsense.
1. Be at one with that sh*t.
Meditation and mindfulness is harped on about when it comes to improving mental-wellbeing. Once marketed as hokey-hippie getaways for the newly budding 20 year old “gahp yahr” in elephant printed hareem pants, or the recently divorced and invigorated, it’s now a go to for just about every guru, doctor, occupational therapist, psychologist. There are even those little breathing ads on your instagram; You know, where the circle gets bigger and smaller with rain sounds behind it.
Fact of the matter is that studies have proven that 30 minutes of mindfulness and meditation a day can reduce stress, improve productivity, increase grey matter, alleviate insomnia, better physiological function and strengthen psychological resilience in the lives of everybody who gives a little time over to meditation!
I put this first because it aids in one of the key components to managing anxiety and panic! Giving your time to process your anxiety on your own terms, permitting thoughts to be there while you are in an entirely relaxed and safe space, and learning to let them pass.
2. Sign-post Your Triggers.
Any journey takes planning and prep so we don’t get lost, led astray or run into additional stress! And that includes your journey through the minefield that is your anxiety! With a little bit of conversation with those closest to you, a therapist, or through mindfulness, you can start taking note of what prompts you to feel anxious.
It is okay to plan to avoid these triggers or limit their impact if they are unavoidable. Put it this way, you’re going to the shops and don’t like snakes, so we’re going to plan to take a detour avoiding the local reptile shops. And that’s absolutely fine! We’ve been in this pandemic nonsense for about 2 years now; it is a legitimate concern and, if you’re anything like me, you know the folks paying attention or ignoring the guidance.
It’s more of a social map but that’s okay. It’s okay to map out the day in accordance with this. Turn off the radio, limit your screen time, don’t walk past the park at the busy hour.
If we run into trouble, that’s okay because we’ve got step 3.
3. Get Back On Solid Mental-Ground
Grounding is the process of bringing your mind back to the body by focussing on physical sensations that bring the mind back to the body. There are a variety of ways to do it but a very simple way of starting is putting the feet flat on the floor, sitting up straight and taking a deep breath. Focusing on keeping your feet still and flat, and sitting up straight promotes circulation around the body, enables oxygen to move round the body easier and gives your mind a direct focus on a single task. Yep, that single task my seem simple but, mid-anxiety attack, feet twitch and toes curl so it takes real focus to keep your tootsies at rest.
Another approach is to carry a small grounding kit with you that accesses senses! I call it STATS 555!
It’s simple: Have a separate pouch filled with 5 objects that you positively link to the 5 senses and focus on engaging with each for 5 deep breaths.
Mine: Sight-Something with holo glitter on it
Touch-A specific pen that I love and a piece of paper
Sound-Spare headphones for Stephen Fry audiobook on the phone OR just to block out additional noise
Taste- Strawberry hubbabubba
Smell- Jasmine soaked hankie
4. Draw Up Your Map!
Write it all out before, during or after! The thing about anxiety attacks is that they’re relatively unseen. The response can be very physical with the tears and the snots and the red face and the twitchy limbs. But the actual event, once it’s passed is past!
Writing it down gives you something tangible to access, to make it real and to monitor and plan for any event in the future.
Get yourself a notebook dedicated to your anxiety attacks, one that you find attractive or sparks a sense of enthusiasm and reserve it as that special place where your special experiences are documented and have true form.
5. Get out.
You don’t have to explain your anxiety. You have your reasons for leaving or politely excusing yourself from a situation when you feel it becoming overwhelming or feel the need to check out. Like going to the toilet or needing to vomit, you don’t announce to the room that you are about to unleash the golden tide into the bowl or projectile your lunch!
This is a key one. “No” is a full sentence. And you can use it, without explanation in this circumstance whenever it strikes.
See you in September when the anti-vaxxers can’t get into clubs!
