Member-only story
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.”
Advice on combating stress is everywhere, and the common suggestions are included below, but I wanted to get beyond what you’ve heard a million times.
Silently saying your own name as you reflect on your thoughts and feelings can create distance from them, reducing anxiety and irrational thinking.
I talked to Jason Moser, PhD, an associate professor of psychology and director of the Clinical Psychophysiology Lab at Michigan State University, who offers some fresh research-backed perspective on how to think about stress and how to deal with it, from acknowledging your worldview to talking to yourself.
Start with the symptoms
Recognizing the symptoms of stress that put the brain and the body in a perpetual fight-or-flight state and realizing it’s not all in your head is an…
