The human mind is powerful! There are millions of Americans who suffer from mental illness. The COVID-19 pandemic is making life very difficult for people with mental illnesses.
There are all types of recognized medical mental illnesses. This article focuses only on anxiety disorders.
Anxiety disorder is a condition in which the human body reacts abnormally to stress. People are faced with stressors on a daily basis. There is work stress, family stress, financial stress, religious stress, marital stress, parent stress and many other stressors. Stress is like a hammer hitting your body. If left untreated, it can kill. How your body reacts to these stressors is essential to your overall health.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, additional stressors added to the lives of millions of Americans. I have listed some, but there are many more.
The danger of illness and death. The risk of losing a well-paying job. The danger that loved ones will fall ill and die. The uncertainty of the future. The risk of the economy collapsing and you losing your retirement. The risk that your family will no longer benefit from basic services. The risk of starvation or not eating enough. The danger of homelessness. The risk of isolation from family and loved ones. The danger of being assessed negatively by society if he tests positive for COVID-19. The stress of teaching children at home and having a job at the same time. The stress of child care when no daycare is open. The stress of paying your employees or keeping your small business open. The stress of paying bills.
Let’s face it, these stressors are enough to put everyone in an anxiety disorder state.
The boredom of anxiety in its simplest form is that your body reacts negatively to stress. It sounds a lot like an escape or stress-fighting reaction. A person’s brain can literally only absorb that much before causing a nervous breakdown.
According to Dr. Fauci and Dr. Birx (President Trump’s Covid-19 task force) are the following three signs that a person may have been infected with the COVID-19 virus:
- Fever
- Dry cough
- Shortness of breath
You have since learned that each patient is different. Many patients may experience fatigue, chills, muscle pain, redness around the eyes, headache, nausea, diarrhea, and severe abdominal pain.
Some patients do not have asymptomatics and carriers of COVID-19 but have no symptoms.
Because of these common symptoms and asymptomatic carriers, it is difficult to say that all patients have the COVID-19 virus without being tested. People are told to assume everyone has the virus because the symptoms are so common.
The anxiety problem manifests in the bodies in many similar ways. It is not uncommon for a patient to experience the following symptoms under extreme stress:
- muscle pain
- Headache
- Nausea
- Fatigue
- Weakened immune system which leads to fever.
6.diarrhea
- shortness of breath
- Chest tightness
- Muscle weakness in the legs and arms
- Disorientation
- Outbursts of anger and frustration
A person may believe they have been infected with COVID-19 even if they have a serious anxiety disorder.
The first one chose to do is make an appointment with your doctor and see a doctor. You can also delete all social and news media from your life, exercise regularly, avoid caffeine and get enough sleep. There are also prescriptions that your doctor can prescribe that does not include addiction, but advises you to calm your body and reduce your anxiety.
If you are a follower of Jesus Christ, the most important choice you can make is to pray. Ask Jesus to help you in your fear and to thunder the grace to live with it.
It is never only for the disciple of Jesus Christ. It is the right thing to do with the work for their good. It is a source of strength and gives the grace to overcome anxiety disorders. Jesus takes care of every detail of their life, especially anxiety disorders. He helps them in their need.
COVID-19 and anxiety disorder are very real threats, and those with mental illness have problems with government closings, layoffs and illnesses. I hope this article gives the reader the certainty that he will tell the difference between the virus and fear and will not panic developing symptoms.