Small Stress Busters That Make a Big Difference
Creative, science-backed ways to cope with Covid-19 sadness, fear, a racing heart, and utter exhaustion
Forty-one percent of U.S. adults are concerned about their increasing anxiety, and 68% “feel like everything is out of their control right now,” according to a new Harris Poll survey. And in a Pew Research Center survey done in late March, 18% of adults said they’d “had a physical reaction at least some or a little of the time when thinking about the outbreak.”
The two surveys reveal the mind-body connection in reaction to the Covid-19 crisis. When the brain perceives a sudden threat like an onrushing saber-toothed tiger or an ongoing stressor like an invisible virus, it releases a slew of stress hormones like adrenaline. These hormones trigger heightened activity in the autonomic nervous system, which controls involuntary functions like breathing and heartbeat.
“A wave of dread overcomes you — your chest hurts, your heart flutters, and you can’t catch your breath,” as Harvard researchers put it. “These classic anxiety symptoms are often mistaken for a heart attack — and for good reason. … Stress hormones … act on the same brain areas that regulate cardiovascular functions such as heart rate and blood pressure.”
