Today I want to talk about stress, anxiety, blood pressure, and COVID-19. This pandemic has caused many people to be quarantined, jobless, and worst affected personally by the infection. As a result, many people are feeling stressed, anxious, and blood pressures are rising in response to emotional stress.
Is your blood pressure uncontrolled or worsening? Do you find yourself eating more comfort food lately, staying up all night looking at social media or the news? Are you having difficulty concentrating and getting your work done, and smoking, using drugs or drinking too much? These are all common signs of stress according to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
1) Take breaks from the news and social media
2) Take deep breaths, stretch or meditate
3) Eat healthily
4) Exercise on most days
5) Sleep 7.5 hours a day
6) Avoid drugs and excessive alcohol
7) Talk with your family and friends using facetime, text, or email
8) Share your feelings and concerns with people you trust
9) Monitor your blood pressure routinely and contact your doctor by phone with elevation because your medication may need adjusting. This can be done as a facetime call.
10) Contact your doctor if you or someone you know is having stress or anxiety continuously for several days without relief. You can also call 1-800-985-5990 or text TALKWITHUS, to 66746
Listen to Your Body to Reduce Stress and Anxiety
Dr. Gabor Maté says to “say no and don’t take responsibility for everyone and express your needs to be well. In the video, below he encourages you to listen to your body to reduce stress and anxiety. He gives several very interesting examples that demonstrate that the mind and body are one unit. “Whatever happens to you emotionally will show up in your nervous system, immune system, and in your hormones.”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Bz-VObNRmu0
Gut Health Stress& Anxiety
In the video below, Dr. Steven Gundry tells why it is important to fix your gut to adapt to external stressors like the new normal of our day to day world, only. Most of our hormones are made in our gut and pesticides, and other poisons harm the gut and change the hormones that we produce. This could make us susceptible to excessive anxiety and stress or make us unable to adapt to stressors.
Chemical Imbalance, Stress & Anxiety
Journalist Johann Hari explained in his TED talk that food, water, are necessary physical needs that must be met to survive. Likewise, natural psychological needs must be met as well. When your natural psychological needs are not being met you may have depression. “You are not crazy or lazy, you are a human being with unmet needs”.
Natural psychological needs are feelings of acceptance, being heard, being seen, being supported, camaraderie, and visual exposure to outdoors or nature. Unmet psychological needs create feelings of rejection, lack of control over your life or job, and loneliness.
It is normal to feel depressed when your natural psychological needs are not being met. If your needs remain unmet for a short period, you can recover quickly, but if these feelings persist, you are in danger of changes in your brain called neuroplasticity. For decades, it was thought that people who are depressed have a chemical imbalance.
Robert Whitaker discusses the lie surrounding the chemical imbalance theory and the fact that certain drugs can cause a chemical imbalance. He recommends avoiding benzos for no more than 2-3 weeks as prescribed by your doctor.
He says if you take benzos too long, you could potentially stop breathing and may eventually have problems with coming off the medication. See the video below that describes what happens if you are considering medication for stress to deal with COVID-19.
So What Should You Do About Stress & Anxiety?
Marcus Aurelius, the stoic philosopher, said, “Very little is needed to make a happy life: it is all within yourself, in your way of thinking. “It also has to to with the extent your environment helps you meet your needs and the action you take to help yourself identify and meet your needs to prevent anxiety,” according to Mark Tyrrell, a psychologist at Uncommon Practitioners.
Use this brief 39 seconds video to help you to relax.
Again, contact your doctor if you or someone you know is having stress or anxiety continuously for several days without relief. You can also call 1-800-985-5990 or text TALKWITHUS, to 66746
Mark Tyrrell also says that “anxiety is the signal” your body gives you “when you are not meeting your needs just like thirst is a signal that you are not meeting your need for hydration.” He says it is easier to ot change feelings than to change thoughts.
The host of Therapy in a Nutshell gives some practical steps to eliminate anxiety. One step is to sit with the anxiety until it decreases. The video below is a little more than 1 minute long. It will help you sit with your anxiety and it gives instructions on how to deep breath to relieve anxiety.
Resources:
Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
Tyrrell, M. [Uncommon Practitioners]. (2019,. 3 Instantly Calming CBT Techniques For Anxiety Uncommon Practitioners. YouTube Video Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JiDaTi_iQrY
Therapy in a Nutshell. (2019, April 25). Rewiring the Anxious Brain – Neuroplasticity and the Anxiety Cycle(Anxiety Skills #21). [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zTuX_ShUrw0
Rebel Wisdom. (2020, June 3). The Hidden Epidemic, full Robert Whitaker Interview. [Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LQvN5aFcBr8
Gundry, S. (2018, August 24). Your brain is not in your head (Doctor Explains).[Video file]. Retrieved from https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Resc3sAq8B0
Hari, J. This could be why you’re depressed or anxious. Retrieved from www.youtube.com/watch?v=MB5IX-np5fE
