Nikita Young
Before this COVID era, most people generally lived their lives without fear that going out into the world would cause them to get severely ill.
We shared drinks at parties, we swam in pools together, and in a sense, we lived fearlessly compared to the lifestyle we have now all been forced to accept. With all the different opinions on what the severity is of COVID really is, we get many different personalities from the people with full on COVID phobia to people that don’t even think the virus really exists.
On one side, people are afraid of catching the virus and on the other side people are afraid of losing their rights and freedoms. Though both sides have very different concerns it shows that we have all in some way given our lives to the fear of this pandemic spectacle.
According to the American Journal of Biomedical Science & Research there are many studies that show that stress causes inflammation in your body that can lead to health problems like: the flu, anxiety, restlessness, strokes and cancer to name a few. When you are fearful for long periods of time your metabolic and organ functions begin to change and affect your body’s ability to heal. Your body triggers an inflammatory response to the fear as a defence so that it can begin to regulate your body’s functions in the stressful situation.
In 2012, Sheldon Cohen did a clinical study that showed the effects stressful life events have on the body. 276 healthy adults participated in the study. The volunteers were exposed to a rhinovirus. The results showed the control group that was exposed to long-term stressful situations were at higher risk of developing a cold.
COVID-19 has been around for about a year now and tensions continue to rise between those who want to be governed and those who want the freedom to make their own health decisions. The effects of this prolonged stress are apparent just in the way people interact now. I see less people talking with one another, neighbours don’t say hi anymore and people just seem generally on edge and eager to not be around one another. Could this be a contributing factor in the rise of the “cases” mainstream media keeps talking about?
We may never get the data to show what the contributing factors are to the pandemic, but what we can do is be more observant of our own health and make sure that we aren’t ignoring the signs our bodies give us. If you find yourself overly worried about things like catching the virus or what rights the government wants to take from you, it may be time to take a step back and go into self-care mode. Find your favourite ways to de-stress and make sure you give yourself the time to do those things.
Fear can be conquered with the right information and understanding of certain situations, so don’t let it consume you to the point of which it starts affecting your health. Getting through a fearful situation can give you strength and can make it easier to handle stressful things that may arise the future. Becoming aware of your moods and feelings then working through them in a positive way can help even the most fearful become more fearless, even while in a fear state.
