Find a Dog and Pet It
The coronavirus catastrophe is rapidly becoming the greatest psychological experiment in human history. Among the countless ways in which we could tally the effects of our global lockdown is psychological stress. Whether you have been impacted directly through a COVID-related death or illness, are a frontline worker, are experiencing economic uncertainly, or are feeling general malaise about the future, you’re not alone.
While the immediacy of “flattening the curve” has overshadowed serious debate about longer term implications of the global shutdown, one area of significant concern is the potential harm to future public health because of anxiety-related illnesses.
When we experience a sudden and stressful event, our sympathetic nervous system kicks into high gear and in an instant our adrenal glands pour adrenaline and cortisol into our system, causing a cascade of immediate physiological responses, increasing breathing, heart rate, blood vessel diameter, and pupil size. Many of us know of this as the “fight or flight” response, but it’s slightly more correct to say the “fight, flight, freeze, or fornicate” response. While it’s not as tidy or marketable, it’s more accurate.
This sympathetic nervous system response is evolved to get us out of a sticky wicket and to do it quickly. It is our brain and body on rocket fuel — giving us a short blast to fight or propel us to safety — and it was never meant to be activated for more than a few minutes at a time.
When we experience ongoing stressful events, like the coronavirus, we risk not being able to turn off our automatic stress response and the long term consequences of this can be dire. After hurricane Katrina, nearly half of the population of New Orleans suffered from an anxiety-mood disorder, worthy of classification in the DSM-IV. Most disturbing, is the link between this level of stress and our physical health.
A 22-year study of women with PTSD, showed they were more than twice as likely to develop Type II diabetes, while chronic stress has been linked to a host of physical ailments, from cardiovascular disease, to chronic inflammation, to obesity, to a weakened immune system, opening the door to various forms of cancer.
While stress is not easy to turn off, particularly in our current global crisis, we can take some comfort in knowing that small measures can make a big difference.
Keep the physical distancing but toss the social. Spending time with family or reaching out to loved ones is one of the most effective ways to reduce stress. Research shows that being socially connected can increase your immunity.
Exercise. Having a daily fitness routine — even in the corner of a room — can have profound effects on lowering those high levels of cortisol and adrenaline while stimulating feel-good endorphins. And, any form of exercise will help.
Get your sleep. It’s an obvious truism that sleep is restorative. Very deep non-rapid eye movement (NREM) sleep tends to stabilize our emotions and lower anxiety and reactivity.
Put down the device. The news is great but give yourself a media makeover by limiting your exposure to 24-7 crisis cable. Or, if you’re of the post-TV generation, then take a break from social media, which tends to crank up our anxiety levels with acerbic political finger-pointing. Make yourself a tea, open a window, and read a book.
Pet a dog. Oxytocin is called the “cuddle hormone” and for good reason. It’s the hormone that floods a woman’s brain when she gives birth, it gives us the feeling of true love in a longterm relationship, and it’s the hormone that is released when we pet or cuddle an adorable pet. It has a powerful effect on the body, tackling cortisol to the ground while improving blood pressure.
Remember that much of stress is based on our reaction to news and events, so it is how we perceive and interpret situations and evaluate life that makes all the difference.