Hows Your Head?

[Bozza]

It's difficult, really difficult.

I massively limit news consumption now - I haven't watched news on the TV for over a week now. I catch a couple of hourly news updates on the radio - they are short, but provide the key points.

Get outside whenever you can, ideally somewhere predominantly green. I have a dog so need to walk him 3 or 4 times a day and I run once a day too (sometimes combining a dog walk and a run) - it really helps to clear the head and lift spirits.

Read, listen to and watch light-hearted stuff that will make you smile and laugh.

 

[The Andy Naylor Fan Club]

I wouldn't say that I've a laid back approach about this situation, it's just that at the moment I don't feel worried. I will say though, for at least the last week my dreams have incorporated the Corona virus in various ways, so maybe subconsciously I do have a few anxieties!

 

[Tom Bombadil]

I was listening to radio 4 this morning. Just before 9 they had an opera singer come on from the ENO. She obviously isn't working atm . She sang the famous aria from madame buterfly from what sounded like a garden shed. It's a tragic song and the contrast of her beautiful trained voice and terrible acoustics and the sadness of the singers own situation atm had me crying into my muesli.

 

[Bry Nylon]

I was listening to radio 4 this morning. Just before 9 they had an opera singer come on from the ENO. She obviously isn't working atm . She sang the famous aria from madame buterfly from what sounded like a garden shed. It's a tragic song and the contrast of her beautiful trained voice and terrible acoustics and the sadness of the singers own situation atm had me crying into my muesli.

Muesli? Where the **** did you get muesli from?

 

[Tom Bombadil]

Muesli? Where the **** did you get muesli from?

The bottom of the hamster cage

 

[pb21]

Really struggling to concentrate working from home, not helped by the remote network being close to unusable.

 

[WATFORD zero]

It's difficult, really difficult.

I massively limit news consumption now - I haven't watched news on the TV for over a week now. I catch a couple of hourly news updates on the radio - they are short, but provide the key points.

Get outside whenever you can, ideally somewhere predominantly green. I have a dog so need to walk him 3 or 4 times a day and I run once a day too (sometimes combining a dog walk and a run) - it really helps to clear the head and lift spirits.

Read, listen to and watch light-hearted stuff that will make you smile and laugh.

I didn't think I would ever say this, but Maybe it's time for that sub-forum. There's a few threads on here on different aspects to give the sub forum a start

 

[BLOCK F]

Best advice I can give, honestly, is really limit the amount of news you watch. Maybe a quick catch up online then leave it, if you're struggling with a bit of anxiety you need to focus your mind on more positive stuff.

Spot on Mikey.
If I'm in the car I put music on rather than the news programmes and as I am retired and spend a lot of time at home,I do my favourite crossword, catch up on some good TV programmes I have previously missed, do the garden etc. etc.
Limiting ones exposure to the news is absolutely key, especially if one is prone to anxiety.
Best wishes to you and your family, whatever your circumstances.

 

[Boroseagull]

We are a bit ahead of you over here in Spain. On lockdown since Saturday night and only allowed out, singularly, for food shopping, health centre/dentist appointments and a few other exceptions. You have to be prepared to stop at Guardia, Policia Local or army roadblocks to explain where you are going. Of course some people, mostly Brits sad to say, have been caught 2 in a car and say 'we always go out together' - doesn't stop them getting a fine, 150 euros first time and rising if repeated. I ventured out to Lidl's this morning for essential supplies, including wine of course and our town was like a cross between a war zone and the scene early on Christmas Day morning. It was mask and latex gloves on before collecting a trolley, although they were handing out disposable gloves at the door. All the non food goods had disappeared to be replaced with extra essential supplies, milk, toilet rolls etc. It was so weird not see groups of excitable, loud Spanish women congregating around the non food aisle talking in their loud manner, absolutely peaceful.

Check out was different, only 2 tills open instead of 5 but queuing only in a spaced line down the centre of the shop and you proceed to the till to unload your goods when the other person(s) has finished. Driving back home up the main street with all the bars/ventas closed and just the farmacia and service station open and plenty of parking either side of the road seemed so strange. It certainly was quicker, out, shopped and back home within an hour - so there is some good.

So back home unpack, coffee and possibly some more Line of Duty on iPlayer - bless my Firestick best investment for years!

Sorry for the long drivel, but it's strangely cathartic to put it all down, but now it's coffee time - again.

 

[Guinness Boy]

I struggled massively on Monday when the scale of everything became clear but have coped a lot better recently. My tips to "sort your head out" are:

1) Exercise - run if you are a runner but a good walk will be enough. Will probably have to be alone but if you are living in glorious Sussex then a beach or the downs shouldn't be too far away.
2) Avoid the news. I'm not watching TV news. NSC gives lots of info and I will put on the radio once a day.
3) Avoid Facebook entirely.
4) Limit alcohol. If you are a heavy drinker I suspect cutting down gradually would be good or you won't sleep but getting on it all the time will promote depression.
5) Try - and it's hard - to understand that there is nothing you can do about the situation other than look after yourself, loved ones and the local vulnerable. What will be will be and this, too, shall pass.

I'm fine, but I've never tended to be a worrier. I remember when I used to have extremely stressful jobs, I used to joke that It didn't bother me because I was too thick to realise when I was in a stressful situation and i suspect there may be some truth in that

I remember when you had a stressful job and I suspect I was part of the cause of the stress

 

[Tom Hark Preston Park]

Muesli? Where the **** did you get muesli from?

Keep it to yourself but there's a Muesli Mountain in Brighton *taps nose*

 

[Madafwo]

I find I'm snapping at the wife and kids today and none of it is their fault. Kitchen is nice and clean though as I've just gone in there to get a bit of a break and I'm about to go and do some washing to keep my mind off things. Although I find myself counting how many sheets of kitchen roll I'm using incase I can't get any more.

I'm avoiding the news but then the wife decides to show me the queues at all of the supermarkets which is setting me off, my best friend and his 2 year old are self isolating as well now so it's becoming quite real.

 

[Bry Nylon]

II massively limit news consumption now - I haven't watched news on the TV for over a week now. I catch a couple of hourly news updates on the radio - they are short, but provide the key points.

Limiting ones exposure to the news is absolutely key, especially if one is prone to anxiety.

I struggled massively on Monday when the scale of everything became clear but have coped a lot better recently...Avoid the news. I'm not watching TV news

For anyone struggling. I would say avoiding the news and the style of news reporting is key. If this country had been exposed to this level and type of news reporting during WWII then I reckon the nation would have crumbled. Of course, I'm not advocating that the government pump out Pathe style propaganda, but it was recognised in WWII that managing the message and the morale of the masses was as important as fighting the enemy.

Therefore, it is important that anyone who feels they are struggling to manage the message for themselves.

 

[Guinness Boy]

Keep it to yourself but there's a Muesli Mountain in Brighton *taps nose*

YOU ARE NOT ALLOWED TO TAP YOUR ****ING NOSE ANY MORE

 

[Stato]

It's all a bit weird. History is happening all around us all the time, but we don't notice until macro events like this change our way of life suddenly. Take solace that we're all in the same boat. Nobody knows what is happening from moment to moment. Try to resist the need to have to. Previous generations got by in difficult circumstances without getting live updates of the latest events. Try to get off social media: In the absence of real news, speculation will fill the gap. Turn to the sources who will be very sure of themselves before publishing and treat them like a print newspaper, getting an update once a day and then forgetting them until tomorrow, instead getting on with the stuff that you can control: Working, loving and looking after your family. I think we all have to try to give our days a bit of structure, especially if there are kids around, routine to them is essential.

To fill the hole left by football, perhaps turn to something you have loved before. I've started The Wire from the beginning: that's sixty hours. Or maybe take the chance to read something you've always meant to. If you haven't got books, a lot of the classics are reproduced free on: https://www.gutenberg.org/. Dickens, Austen, Hardy, Poe, Melville, Shakespeare, Wodehouse, anybody old enough to be out of copyright.

 

[Marty___Mcfly]

There is some genuine good advice here brothers. Stay strong.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/health-51873799

 

[Is it PotG?]

Turn the news off, shut the curtains, whack these two on. Volume up, then get on with the rest of the day feeling refreshed, clear and focused.

There, feel better already.

 

[Napper]

All fine here. Hlping some old folks where i can but not drawn into the blind panic as that is well over the top.

Its a situation and one that will get through. No pant pissing needed

 

[LamieRobertson]

It’s why i started a Covid free day thread..and then got told i was putting my head in the sand

Lots of good ideas from posters which will help me too..nice too know you aren’t on your own

 

[Dick Swiveller]

Everyone struggling has my full sympathy as I know what a bitch anxiety can be. It just makes it all the more bizarre that I seem to be coping a lot better than the majority when I have a history of anxiety and more specifically, health anxiety. I know the cause of mine was three urgent referrals in the last 3 years - all of them precautionary but still not fun - my dad being diagnosed with bowel cancer (Now clear), my friend dying quickly of cancer and I think the one that sealed it was a lady I played stoolball with and who was a year younger than me and a fit person, collapsing and dying of a heart attack. It has now made me a hyper hypochondriac about the smallest thing and it basically manifests itself in my brain tensing the part of the body it is worrying about and then giving you pain/discomfort in that area to nag you constantly. I know it is irrational, I know what the brain is doing, but I can't control it.

However, this actual health concern has me a lot less jittery. I am tense, worried for my and my girlfriend's parents and my asthmatic nephew but I am able to not dwell on it. And I have no idea why.

My guess is that those of you who don't normally worry about such things are finding it hard because you aren't used to those feelings. Hopefully as it is just a natural fight or flight reaction and not irrational, you can find a way to combat it. It is a rational fear, not an irrational one that I suffer from. Most of my time is spent arguing with myself, telling my subconscious I know what its game is. That is the cycle that is very difficult to break.

I did a course of CBT last year which, whilst it didn't really fix my issues, it did help to explain them. The arguing with yourself is actually reassurance. But all it does is repeat the cycle. The aim of CBT is sort of like immersion therapy - you are led through a scenario of your fears in order to deal with the feelings rather than think about how you would deal with them. I believe the idea is that you shouldn't or can't stop yourself worrying. It is something the brain needs to do. You need to allow yourself time to worry so your brain can deal with it and then let it go. Easier said than done but the advice about going pretty much cold turkey on the news is a good one. Keep yourself up to date once a day and then try and do activities that won't involve the subject coming up.