COVID-19: The Stress Bell Curve

Hello, everyone,

It’s been a bit since I have interacted on this blog, but now seems like a good time.

I am here in Austin, Texas. I am still in private practice part-time and I work for a large agency part-time. My agency has closed it’s services and we are going to tele-health as of today. With schools and large businesses closing, I imagine many of you are navigating this new landscape, too. I thought I would try to post something each day about mental health that could be relevant to managing anxiety, utilizing yogic practices, or staying connected during “social distancing.”

First up, is an oldie but a goodie: the stress/anxiety bell curve. I have drawn this a bunch of times on my purple dry erase board and will link to picture of the graph here: https://hbr.org/2016/04/are-you-too-stressed-to-be-productive-or-not-stressed-enough

Basically, the idea is that we are SUPPOSED to respond to stressors. If someone throws an object at your face, you should duck or block your face with your hands. If your boss asks for a project by a certain deadline, you will be more successful if you pay attention to that deadline, and make a plan to get the project done. If you a tiger comes into your home, you should run!!! So responding in an appropriate manner that meets the stress effectively is what we are designed to do and that is why we are most productive in the middle of the bell curve. If we have zero stress, we can get hit, fired or eaten. And if our stress rises to be too high, our thoughts and tensions get in the way of us being able to act. We may ruminate about all of the possibilities, try to take control over a situation that we can’t possibly have, we might not eat or sleep because we are so activated.

Same with the COVID-19 pandemic. If you do not have COVID-19, you can assess your situation and decide what is an effective response based on your needs. Ruminating on the what-ifs or scrolling through every story on social media or cable news may increase your anxiety and keep from responding to your household and community’s immediate needs. Rolling your eyes and declaring that you are healthy and not a “germaphobe” may leave you underprepared.

So, today, maybe notice where you are on the curve and see if you can make adjustments. Maybe you need to respond more to the impacts of COVID-19 by making sure that elderly folks in your life are okay or that you have all of the prescription meds you need. Maybe you need to go to the cdc site and read over their recommendations and see if your household or business needs to adjust. Maybe you will keep working from home but will need to notice if you are rushing or your breath is tight from stress. Maybe planning things that you GET to do from home or connecting with friend by phone or Internet means will be helpful. Maybe you limit how much you are watching news or social media because it is a bit overwhelming and you can only take it in limited doses.

Later, Jamie