My Obsessions Increased A Lot With The Corona Virus, What Should I Do?
Specialist Clinical Psychologist Özgenur Taşkın responded to this question from our clients about the Covit 19 virus as follows: "First of all, anxiety and worry about the coronavirus is normal. We have to accept this. There may be some anxiety and some anxiety. It is actually anxiety and worry that is necessary for the person to survive. After that, we need to pay attention to this. Does this anxiety and worry seriously affect our lives, that is, are we unable to perform our daily activities within certain controls due to anxiety and worry? Is our sleep disturbed? Has our appetite changed? Is this idea constantly running through our minds? It is very important to pay attention to this. If we are in this situation, it means that the coronavirus or this infectious disease is seriously affecting us. What should we do at this point? We should definitely get this information and news from reliable sources. Constantly talking about whatsapp groups, constantly chatting with our friends about this issue, staying in touch is actually a situation that will trigger our anxiety and increase our uneasiness. After following safe sources, it would be much more accurate and better to leave the news aside and focus on whatever we are doing at that moment. At this point, of course, it will be very important to be aware and conscious of the measures mentioned by doctors and the Ministry of Health, item by item. Nevertheless, if we cannot cope with our anxiety and if this affects you seriously, if our sleep is disturbed, if our appetite is disturbed, if we cannot fulfill any of our functions, we should definitely seek support from a health center and a psychiatrist, a psychologist. "
I don't know how to calm myself down from fear of Corona.
Specialist Clinical Psychologist Ahmet YILMAZ responded to this question from our clients about the Covit 19 virus as follows: "You may have very intense anxiety and worry recently. However, it is a priority for us to fulfill the practices recommended by scientists, recommended by the Ministry of Health, to take precautions, to apply the rules to the maximum extent. What we will do in the following process is to encourage our children and families to follow these measures and to avoid crowded places as much as possible. If you are still feeling anxious and worried despite doing these things, if you still have a feeling of distress, this may be related to your personal anxiety. Some people may have a thinking structure that we call catastrophizing or thinking the worst in such events, and when people encounter such events or similar anxiety situations, they start to imagine it in their minds in the most disastrous way and feel intense anxiety and worry according to this scenario. Acting anxious in this way actually starts to affect other individuals at home. Our children and other loved ones are also negatively affected by our anxiety. What we need to do is to accept that this is an epidemic. To protect our mental health; to think that the virus does not infect everyone, as explained by the World Health Organization, and when it does, the mortality rates of those infected are low, the number of patients who can be treated is high, and to act accordingly."
Should I Suspect Corona from Everyone Who Sneezes?
Specialist Clinical Psychologist Ömer BAYAR responded to this question from our clients about the Covit 19 virus as follows: "People say that they have recently started to suspect almost everyone around them, especially when they see someone sneezing or coughing, they are immediately worried about it. In fact, the source of fear is that they feel as if they could be infected with the coronavirus at any moment. It is especially important to emphasize this. There are many situations in life that worry us. We experience many things in our daily lives that we can worry about, and in fact, anxiety has a great function at this point. Anxiety prepares us for life and helps us take precautions. At this point, being anxious is not a bad thing. But sometimes, especially when we cannot control anxiety and turn the events we experience into a disaster scenario in our minds, anxiety starts to turn into a panic and everything in life starts to create a serious panic effect on us. The coronavirus actually entered our agenda a bit quickly and started to create a panic effect in lives. What are the things that worry us now? Of course, the risks we experience in our lives. Material risks, moral risks, many examples can be given to the problems we may encounter in daily life, it worries us. But we need to remember this: There are always risks in the nature of life. In other words, this building we are in right now may suddenly collapse in an earthquake and we may be trapped underneath it. This is a risk. Or we could be involved in a car accident while driving on the road today. We may find ourselves in a fight under a conflict. A thief may break into our house at night. These are risks we take every day. But what do we do? We accept these risks at a reasonable level and continue to live life. For example, we don't lock ourselves in the house thinking that a car will hit me today. Because then we cannot live life at that point. Now we need to look at the coronavirus from this perspective. The virus is also present in our country. Different numbers of cases are reflected in the media day by day. Can we be infected? We can be infected. We may not be able to predict from whom, when and how it will be transmitted. We are aware of this risk and we live by accepting this risk. Of course, we take the measures and precautions recommended by experts. Let's take these. Let's pay attention to our distance from people. Let's not enter crowded environments. Let's pay attention to our hand hygiene and personal hygiene. But let's not forget that we can never reduce the existence of risk to zero. Being aware of this, of course, we need to live by taking precautions and not letting it interfere with our lives. At the other point, we are actually harming and risking our lives that we are trying to protect. Therefore, my suggestion to you is; of course, be anxious, but take precautions with this anxiety. However, do not let this anxiety hinder your life. Do not let it reach a point of panic. I wish everyone a healthy and virus-free life."
How should those who stay at home with their families spend this period?
Serkan Elçi, Specialist Clinical Psychologist at Üsküdar University NP Etiler Medical Center, responded to this question from our clients about the Covit 19 virus as follows: "Today, I would like to give you a little answer to one of the frequently asked questions after the corona virus, 'we are at home with children, we are constantly fighting with each other, what can you do about it? Especially in times of high uncertainty, plus when the routines in people's lives are disrupted, people may experience panic. But this panic is a feeling that spreads much faster than a virus. Therefore, actually experiencing anxiety instead of panic, sharing anxiety with our families will reduce this feeling of panic considerably. It is quite normal and quite natural to be anxious during this process. However, when we do not share this anxiety with each other, we see that we can have serious problems within the family. One of the most important points in this process is, of course, the disruption of people's routines. On the other hand, not knowing how life will progress, what path it will take, and having uncertainties becomes a serious problem. People who complain about not being able to spare much time for each other in the family and the busy work schedule may also see this period as an opportunity to spend time with their children and spouses. Sometimes crises can transform a person's life as a positive opportunity. For example, they can spend time on activities that can be done together with the family. For example, board games can be played within the family. Or if there are TV series that they have been postponing for a long time that they can watch and enjoy, they can watch them. Or at work, it is very important that they only get information from reliable sources and then spend time with their families, rather than being constantly exposed to this issue on television. As I said, experiencing anxiety rather than panic and sharing this anxiety together will help reduce arguments. "
How can I keep my psychology intact in such a challenging process?
Expert Clinical Psychologist Merve Umay Candaş Demir responded to this question from our clients about the Covit 19 virus as follows: "The things we will actually do in this regard are actually very simple and short. Keeping our immune system strong. This is already the most important point of fighting this virus. Negative emotions such as stress, anxiety and fear weaken our immune system. So, if we take these under control, we will be helping our body to fight this virus to some extent. So, how should we control our stress, anxiety and fear? Everyone spends a lot of time on the news lately. They follow social media about this issue. But all of these are actually things that increase our anxiety in a way. My advice to you is this: Choose a few sources that you can trust and only accept the information from them as true and read the information from them. Apart from that, there is information pollution on social media. This is something that increases our stress and anxiety. You should not expose yourself to such news and you should not expose yourself to images. Because images can also be traumatizing elements. This is the first factor. The other is that we need to continue our routine. Try not to leave our routine no matter what. Of course, take precautions. Wear the mask. Take care to wash your hands. Use various sterilization materials. Let's take our precautions. But let's continue our lives in a routine way. This will be something that increases our psychological health and to some extent, in fact, until this process passes, you can reduce social activities and activities that you can do more individually at home will be good for you. In fact, you can spend time on activities that you are interested in and that you can't find time to do. When you apply these 3 points, you will see that you actually feel better. Do not expose yourself to too much negative traumatizing material, protect your mental health."