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Remaining cool and collected will help you make it through pandemic

Editor: News about the COVID-19 pandemic spans every social media platform and official news outlet. It’s hard to escape. The viral infection is rapidly spreading across nations and headlines.

Editor:

News about the COVID-19 pandemic spans every social media platform and official news outlet. It’s hard to escape. The viral infection is rapidly spreading across nations and headlines.

As we lose trust in our institutions, our economy suffers and educational institutions shut down, many questions arise: How long will this particular viral infection limit the normal functionality of society? When will our children return to school? When will I be able to return to my office? When can I go downtown to grab a quick drink at a bar?

These are the questions that circle anxious minds across B.C. as closure after closure is announced amid this outbreak.

For some it goes beyond simply feeling anxious, these messages circulating the Internet are leaving us feeling hopeless, defeated and scared. In our efforts to maintain calm, worry is inevitable as we ponder the reality and direction this disease is headed.

Can we trust local government bodies to implement formal sanctions in efforts to socially control not only the spread of the disease, but our mental health? The answer: yes. If you want help, it can almost always be found.

The coronavirus may be attacking our respiratory systems, but let’s not let it threaten our mental health. We can do this through many ways. Try not to be absorbed in numbers, and statistical analysis updated daily. Relax yourself and go take your dog for a walk, or play with your children. Simple breathing exercises or watching a movie with a friend can help us maintain our mental health through this rapidly evolving situation.

The average layman may not be able to predict the specificities of disease transmission but we can learn how to manage our stress. Therefore, we can be calm figures for our children and model behaviour balanced between fear and optimism.

“Yes, the disease is spreading quickly but we can lower the risk of transmission if you properly wash our hands,” one might say to a child. Let us all remain cool and collected and respect the needs of the vulnerable in our communities during this outbreak of bad news. 

Bal Gill