Feeling anxious about your state reopening? An expert reveals how to cope
As states continue to reopen following coronavirus-related shutdowns, many are finding they’re not as excited as they expected to be but are instead feeling anxious and conflicted.
Jen Hartstein, Yahoo Life Mental Health Contributor and a practicing psychologist, says these emotions are more common than you might think and may be caused by a concept called negativity dominance.
“We tend to look at the whole more than we look at the parts. Our brain is automatically wired to look at the negative more strongly than the positive,” says Hartstein. “If we’re looking at the whole we see fear, we see anxiety, we see worry instead of breaking it down to the smaller parts of ‘I might be able to see my family’ or ‘I might be able to go to a store,’ or ‘I might be able to sit at a restaurant.”
She continues, “We want to break it down into smaller pieces, smaller bites, find the positives and see if you can wrap yourselves around them and then the positives build on each other and the negatives slowly go down.”
If you’re finding that the people around you are more comfortable with reopening than you are, Hartstein says you should be clear about your hesitations and make your concerns known to them.
“You have to speak your mind. You have to recognize what your boundaries are, what you’re comfortable with, and you have to let the people around you know that,” she says. “No one can read your mind—we aren’t mind readers, we can’t figure it out for you, and we don’t want there to be conflict and resentment to add to all the other emotions that are running around already.”
Recent news of protests across the country has also made many feel more apprehensive about reopening, which Hartstein says is also normal.
“I believe that one of the best ways to handle that is to get educated and to be able to be an activist in whatever way you can be,” she says. “Maybe you aren’t going to protest but you can support your friends who are protesting. Maybe you can donate money, maybe you can create a sign, maybe you can call a senator – it doesn’t matter – but some way to give back helps you feel more in control of the emotions when things feel so out of control.”
Talking to friends and loved ones can be helpful, but speaking with a mental health professional is a great way to learn how to cope with complicated emotions.
“In this time when we’re feeling really unsettled it may be the most important time to reach out for support,” says Hartstein.
“You can look at places like Talkspace. Even clinics that might be closed for in-person visits will be open for telehealth visits, so don’t be afraid to reach out to those either. If you want to look for specific psychologists, psychologytoday.com has great resources of people in your area,” she suggests.
For the latest coronavirus news and updates, follow along at https://news.yahoo.com/coronavirus. According to experts, people over 60 and those who are immunocompromised continue to be the most at risk. If you have questions, please reference the CDC’s and WHO’s resource guides.
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