Does Covid-19 Still have you Feeling anxious? Lonely? I

Anxiety is both a mental and physical state of negative  expectation. Mentally it is characterized by increased arousal and  apprehension tortured into distressing worry, and physically by  unpleasant activation of multiple body systems—all to facilitate  response to an unknown danger, whether real or imagined. 

The cognitive feelings of dread in anticipation of some  bad outcome, and physical sensations such as jitteriness and a racing  heart are designed for discomfort. Anxiety is meant to capture attention and stimulate you to make necessary changes to protect what you care  about. Occasional bouts of anxiety are natural and can even be  productive. Anxiety can be considered the price we humans pay for having  the ability to imagine the future.

Depression is a complex condition, involving many systems of the  body, including the immune system, either as cause or effect. It  disrupts sleep and it interferes with appetite; in some cases, it causes weight loss; in others, it contributes to weight gain. Depression is also often accompanied by anxiety. Research indicates that not only do the two conditions co-occur but that they overlap in vulnerability patterns.

Because of its complexity, a full understanding of depression has  been elusive. There is mounting evidence that depression may actually be  a necessary defense strategy of the body, a kind of shutdown or immobilization in response to danger or defeat, that is actually meant to preserve your energy and help you survive.

Most people don't believe in magic,  but they may still wish for a good outcome by knocking on wood. Magical  thinking—the need to believe that one’s hopes and desires can have an  effect on how the world turns—is everywhere. Spirits, ghosts, patterns,  and signs seem to be everywhere, especially if you look for them. People  tend to make connections between mystical thinking and real-life  events, even when it’s not rational. Of course, some of this is  animistic thinking, with the belief that the supernatural is everywhere  and has some power over what happens in people's lives. There is some  comfort in thinking that someone or something is pulling all the cosmic  strings. It gives us the permission to relax a little.

F. ALSE

         E. VIDENCE

             A. PPEARING 

R. EAL

If people didn’t feel fear,  they wouldn’t be able to protect themselves from legitimate threats.  Fear is a vital response to physical and emotional danger that has been  pivotal throughout human evolution, but especially in ancient times when  men and women regularly faced life-or-death situations. 

Today, the stakes are lower, but while public speaking,  elevators, and spiders don’t present the same type of immediately dire  consequences that faced early man, some individuals still develop  extreme fight-flight-or-freeze responses to specific objects or  scenarios.

Many people experience occasional bouts of fear or  “nerves” before a flight, first date, or big game. But when someone’s  fear is persistent and specific to certain threat, and impairs his or  her everyday life, that person might have what’s known as a specific  phobia.

Panic attacks are dramatically abrupt bursts of acute anxiety that feel life-threatening but are not. They build into a crescendo of fear within minutes,  but what they lack in duration they make up in distress. The body  sensations of anxiety become extremely intense—pounding heart, racing  pulse, the feeling of difficulty getting enough air—making it feel as if  you are about to die. That interpretation is mistaken, but it  nevertheless triggers even more anxiety, intensifying the panic.

Panic attacks can occur out of the blue, even during sleep, and the  feeling of loss of control magnifies the terror. One attack is  disturbing enough, but it often generates worry about having another,  which can lead people to change their everyday behavior, avoiding any  place that could make them feel “unsafe” or difficult to escape from,  and seriously restricting their range of activity. It’s not clear what  triggers panic attacks or exactly how nerve signals get miscommunicated  and misinterpreted. As dire and overwhelming as such attacks feel, they  nevertheless can be controlled—even while they’re happening.

Obsessions are recurrent, unwanted thoughts. Research has shown that  intrusive thoughts are also extremely common in people who have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

The most common intrusive thoughts in people who have  OCD tend to be fears about: illness, germs, forgetting (e.g, to turn  the stove off, lock the door), losing control or going crazy (e.g.,  causing a scene by taking one's clothes off in public, committing a crime, driving off the road, purposefully self-harming, hurting someone else, kissing someone inappropriately, having kinky sex or cheating).

The five most common types of obsessions are 

1. Fear of contamination (e.g., germs, viruses). (37.8%)
2. Fear of harm (e.g., fear that doors are not locked, or that electrical outlets will cause a fire). (23.6%)
3. Excessive concern with order or symmetry. (10%)
4. Obsessions with the body or physical symptoms. (7.2%)
5. Unwanted thoughts related to religious beliefs (e.g. thoughts that  the person regards as sacrilegious or blasphemous, or fears of going to  hell). (5.9%)