Health Social

Fear of coronavirus: recommendations to keep calm

miedo coronavirus recomendaciones psicologia psicologo

The coronavirus has brought to our society a human behaviour globalizado unprecedented near. It is a problematic serious that does not have to be taken to light and follow all the indications of the sanitary and governmental authorities to achieve control the pandemia of the COVID-19. The common social responsibility and solidaria is more necessary that never to put him brake, all together.

The fear to the coronavirus.

The social alarm that has generated  all over the world is unfounded largely because they prevail the emotion to the reason by what the people make irrational behaviours in situations when what more needs  is the calm, the serenity and the coherence in our actions. All this has a name of emotion: fear.

The fear is the emotion produced by a present and imminent danger associated generally to the stimulus that generates it. The fear is an adaptative reaction of our organism that prepares us to give answers and solutions to a problem that presents us . However, when the problem are not able to assimilate it of direct way, can not it see, neither feel, like sucede with a microscopic virus, can generate a big uncertainty that exceed the optimum levels of fear creating states of panic and anxiety that can be alarming and desadaptativos that can arrive even to paralyse us.

The influence of the media.

Unfortunately, this is sucediendo in some groups of population that desbordan to day of today the supermarkets of Spain in search of provisions influenciados by the unfounded fear in a lot of occasions by the sobreinformación or the bad information that the media move or misunderstands . The daily influence of the media on the population is to day of today one of the tools that badly used can collapse a society.

This remembers me to the famous message of the War of the Worlds launched by the famous actor and director Orson Welles in 1938 when through the radio narrated of fictitious form an invasion alien that unchain the collective hysteria in all the United States of America. All was false, but there were a lot of people that believed it. Therefore it is so important to inform only of official sources, concern to contrast the news and avoid the sobreinformación to keep the calm.

The uncertainty that generates the coronavirus, in himself.

The coronavirus do not see it, do not know where is, save in some way if it has touched you suffer it closely, by what our behaviours base  in the uncertainty that this generates. The fear is an emotion that inside his spectrum incluye other secondary emotionss like the anxiety, the fear, the worry, the consternation, the restlessness, the uncertainty, the anxiety, the fright or the own terror.

>> Article related: The fear to the unknown

All these emotions carried to the extreme can give place to phobia and situations of panic that can go back in ours against and in the one of the people that surrounds us. We remember the difference between fear and anxiety, the fear produces  in front of a real present situation and the anxiety does reference to an anticipación of a future fear, uncertain, stranger and unpredictable.

I can not know where it is the virus but yes puedor know where am I. #QuédateEnCasa

Well, to reduce our state of anxiety because of this uncertainty that can produce us this global situation the best are the preventive measures, as the one who are making  these days in Spain of social isolation. I can not know where it is the virus but yes can know where am I. Therefore, the isolation and the prevention is the best way to reduce our anxiety, our irrational fear because this yes that we are able to control it by us same.

>> Article related: How stop an attack of anxiety: definition and strategies

5 basic recommendations to keep the calm in front of the crisis of the coronavirus.

Could do  a long list of recommendations for these days of social isolation because of the pandemia of the COVID-19, but these are at least 5 basic recommendations based in the councils of the Asociación American of Psychology (APA):

  1. Keep the perspective. The excessive information that receive could be interpreted like a greater danger of the that really is for each one of us. If it makes  this measure of containment is precisely to control the situation no for the contrary.
  2. Inform of the facts. It is time to to wake up our curiosity and clinical approach to inform  of correct way on the news on the coronavirus. That is to say, not to remain us only with the headlines of the news, read a bit more and deepen to know really the scope. Learn to inform  only through those means that transmit the security and sufficient confidence as they can be the sanitary authorities directly. It reads and inform you of coherent form and through reliable sources like the World Health Organisation or the official means of the sanitary authorities of the government of the country in which you find you. For example, a good form to be informed of simple form and without sobresaturarse in Spain is to follow the links of information of the Twitter of the Ministry of Health
  3. Communication with the boys and younger. The people in childish age and even teenage do not have still all the cognitive and emotional resources fully developed by what the management of the emotional impact of not knowing the situation of correct and honest way can generate more fear in them because of the uncertainty or to the own frustration that produces the be mentidos. It has to them  explain of form chord to his age the reality of what sucede, they will understand it to his way, but will do it. Besides, the greater part of the learning of the boys produces  by observation with which keep the calm because if we will not transfer our behaviours and emotions to his behaviours and emotions.
  4. Keep the communication with the dear people. We live in an era in which him isolation produces  of physical way, by what can keep our bows of contact with our gathered of normal way. It is necessary people that alarms  by the isolation and carries months without calling or see to his “friends”. Coherence. Keep in touch through chat, calls or even videollamadas will not do us feel us so alone home.
  5. Look for professional help in case of not being able to sobreponerse. In front of this situation there are people that are not able of sobrellevar the anxiety that generates the situation of alarm and that it can affect of considerable way to his emotional state. We remember besides that they exist them groups of people that does not come them at all well be isolated in his house, exists people of greater risk in front of this situation and have to sensitise us also with them. People that suffer violence of gender, disorders of the state of spirit like the depression, people with disorders of personality, people with anxiety generalised or another type of mental problems in which it splits of his treatment based  in precisely not being home. So much for these people as for which need psychological support can be of help contact with a professional of the psychology or skilled sanitary personnel.
  6. Keep active. This recommendation does not go in inside which contributes us the APA but is important to have a daily routine to face long periods home. Make some activity already was physical or manual and avoid the sedentarism avoiding be constantly connected to the technology. Although the technology also help us for sobrellevar the time through video games, series or films not centring our activities only in this. This also will help us to leave to think for one moment in the situation of which bomb us with constant news.

This historical crisis will surpass , is responsibility of all together and joined, although this occasion was from the distance.

_

Bibliography:

American Psychological Association. (2020). Five Ways to View Coverage of the Coronavirus. http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/pandemics

Fernández-Abascal, And., Jimenez Sánchez M.P., Martín Díaz, M.D. (2003). Emotion and Motivation: the human adaptation.

Iván Pico

Director y creador de Psicopico.com. Psicólogo Colegiado G-5480 entre otras cosas. Diplomado en Ciencias Empresariales y Máster en Orientación Profesional. Máster en Psicología del Trabajo y Organizaciones. Posgrado en Psicología del Deporte entre otras cosas. Visita la sección "Sobre mí" para saber más. ¿Quieres una consulta personalizada? ¡Escríbeme!

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