How are you handling the stress?

[SaintsManiac]

Reading, watching TV shows that I love, listening to podcasts and audio books, cleaning.

I do not watch the news except for noon and 6pm, local only. I watch our governor’s press conferences.

I step away when I know I have had enough of the internet.

I am a hermit anyway. I enjoy being home.

I will add that once I got our food and supplies stocked up I felt a lot better. Now I know we can wait this out.

 

[easyas123]

I'm glad to see there are a few others who have answered that they aren't really stressed. I read all this, and I feel bad folks are not handling well, or not feeling well about how they are handling it, or just feeling anxious...but I'm not feeling it.
Yeah, I hope me & mine don't get sick and yeah we are being extra cautious and vigilant with what we do /go/touch. Like everyone else, we are going to work and then home and no where else -
I've got parents in FL in their 70's, they are holding strong.
I've got a preexisting condition I share with my Dad & a nephew - but I can't worry over it 24/7

We are going to work, walking the dogs, working in our yard. Life continues on....at least for us. Maybe that is what makes it easier for us? Our routine really hasn't changed. I'm sorry for all of those that have it differently, and I hope your worry and anxiety is alleviated sooner rather than later.

Admittedly - it I had to stay home with little kids or was stuck in an apartment or condo/townhome and couldn't really go out or leave I'd probably lose my mind!

 

[Minnesota!]

Reading, watching TV shows that I love, listening to podcasts and audio books, cleaning.

I do not watch the news except for noon and 6pm, local only. I watch our governor’s press conferences.

I step away when I know I have had enough of the internet.

I am a hermit anyway. I enjoy being home.

I will add that once I got our food and supplies stocked up I felt a lot better. Now I know we can wait this out.

I had to check to see if I posted this I only watch the governors broadcast. I limit everything else - snoozed most media outlets from my timeline for now. I love being home. I was a bit anxious until we stocked our freezer and discovered Instacart. Other than that, I am just doing my 40+ hours a week from my computer at home and schooling these brats of mine. It's working out thus far.

 

[kdonnel]

No stress yet. I am in a low risk group as is my wife and kids.

 

[dclpluto]

The only stress I had was from the stock market. I feel a lot better this week. I keep telling myself you are in it for the long haul.
next week I might be bad again.
The virus just got in my area. I know it’s going to spread faster than a California wildfire.

 

[dclpluto]

No stress yet. I am in a low risk group as is my wife and kids.

what about your older relatives?

 

[Dole_whip_doll]

I’m not handling it well. I like to be busy with work, community events, etc and those are cancelled, we’ll not work.

As I’ve said in previous threads, work (teacher) is more stressful because here in my small town, we have parents going as far as to show up on our doorstep demanding help with work (even if it isn’t our grade or course).

A vehicle burglary almost happened down our street, but a neighbor chased them off. Cops found the abandoned vehicle but not suspects. So now I’m worried about that.

It’s just all weighing on me and I can’t sit still and relax and just say “this too shall pass” like some people are able.

 

[pryncess527]

Most of my stress stems from being worried about friends. One of my best friends is a single mom in the service industry. Another one of my best friends is also in the service industry, her husband works for an airline and he’s battling cancer so couldn’t afford to get this right now. Their children are my goddaughters and they are on my mind often

Most worrisome is Third best friends husband who is in the hospital with pneumonia and she’s not allowed to visit him, which is just causing her a lot of stress. He has a wide range of health issues and he she’s honestly afraid he could pass away and she won’t able to visit.

These three girls are my best friends from college and the group of us are as close to sisters. No matter how OK I am, I can’t help but stress about them.

 

[kdonnel]

what about your older relatives?

My parents are long since dead.

My wife's parents are in the basement living the isolated life and are thus low risk. They probably have a higher risk of dying from age related causes then Covid-19. Not something I can control so not something I need to worry about.

 

[snappy]

Handling stress ok today. Nice long drive with my husband this afternoon. Our kids and my mom and my siblings are ok. Beautiful warm day here. Now enjoying cocktails on our back patio. Doing a simple baked salmon dinner later. We are good.

 

[texaslover]

I'm actually less stressed than when life is normal though I feel bad saying that. I'm a teacher that works with a specialized population and just started my new position this year. It's been very stressful getting the role up and running and working at 2 schools that are totally new to me. I shine in the areas of curriculum planning and idea creation so I'm enjoying the transition to elearning as well as being able to sleep later, work in my comfy clothes, not worry about getting my whole day organized at 6:00, going to the bathroom when I need to (teacher problems lol) etc.

My husband owns a small business which is affected but we can (barely) make our bills on my salary and since we aren't spending money on anything it's doable. I do worry about his two employees because if the work dries up he will have to let them go find other jobs and they are just wonderful and reliable.

My son's college is all online for the rest of the semester and he is actually sheltered in place at a friend's lake house right now. I'm just sending them money for grocery delivery and he is happy and doing his online work while enjoying time with his friend. The friend is the only person besides my husband and I that he has come in contact with since leaving college so I feel like he is being as safe and responsible as he would be locked up with his parents lol.

My mom is 78 and alone since my dad died last summer so I do worry about her and talk to her every day. She is very social so it's hard for her, especially missing church activities. But she and her friends figured out Zoom and are meeting every day and she is trying several new hobbies and seems to be holding up well.

I'm enjoying walking the dog, working out on our elliptical and with weights, catching up on TV/movies, doing a Disney puzzle, trying new recipes, reading books, taking a free online course at Yale, texting/facetiming with friends and family, and doing some cleaning.

I miss my mom, son, and friends but all in all this has kind of been a nice reset. I feel really sad for all of you that have so much stress - I know that there have been many other times in my life when this would have been very very hard for me. Sending good thoughts to you all!!

 

[Farro]

I'm stressing a bit.

I work for a hospital, but the longer they go with no elective surgeries, the less money they will make and cuts will soon follow. Micky (interior painter) had his jobs cancelled almost until end of April so far, so no money on his end. We do okay on just my salary, but definitely can feel the pinch.

I worry because even though we are supposed to be social distancing here, the cases in Chicago keep doubling almost every day.

Our apartment here, which usually feels cavernous, all of a sudden seems small. We have a tiny back yard and now a lot of green space here in Chicago is closed.

Mostly I worry about our cat Walnut who is hopefully recovering from an illness. I worry if he gets sick that it will be hard to get him to be seen or money will be so tight we can't treat him or worse. We love that little guy and honestly I worry about him more than anything/anyone.

Now I don't freak out all day, or even every day, but some days.

To de-stress I just pour some wine, zone out and watch movies. (actually, I do then when I'm not stressed too!)

 

[NFLDERS]

We are following Canadian self isolating. Limiting news viewing. Talking on the phone and emailing loved ones. Facebooking with friends. Reading, and listening to CBC Radio podcasts, and a Comedian station.

This morning I grabbed flour off the lazy susan instead of oatmeal and poured it in my date mixture during breakfast.

 

[EveDallas]

I'm learning that I'm not as much of an introvert as I thought. Days and weeks of no human contact outside my family is really stressing me out. Being officially laid off yesterday is only adding to it.

 

[Jennasis]

I have moments. The last few days have been very stressful. My family is in NY and I'm in NC so I feel a little helpless. I'm also worried how an extended shut down will hurt our business. We've also had a few other stressful things happening with horses here on the farm so I'm pretty on edge. I want to crawl into bed and pull the covers over my head and sleep really hard, but that isn't going to happen it seems.

 

[lifesavacation]

I thought I was handling things OK until yesterday. Our business closed since its non-essential and I had to lay off my staff. I had panic attacks all night. It was miserable. I’ve been exercising and meditating everyday. I think seeing everyone pack their stuff to take home was too much for me

 

[charming23]

I have definitely been feeling the stress. It seems to get worse in the afternoon after all the news comes out from the day. But I am trying to limit myself to only the 6 o’clock news my local station and only for a half hour. I have blocked some people on Facebook for the time being because their posts were getting me really anxious. I just try to stay off social media as much as possible.

I started working from home Tuesday morning so that’s been a big adjustment but actually it makes me feel a lot better knowing that I’m not out there and even though I’m in the low risk category I may not be spreading it to people who aren’t in that category. I actually have a pretty good routine down I mean it’s only been three days but it’s working for me. I still get up in the morning, take a shower, make my bed, and get dressed even if that means sweatpants. It’s kept a sense of routine for me which I greatly appreciate.

I’m fine talking to my friends during the day through text and Snapchat helps a lot. I also talk to my aunt every night and I try to do something for myself every day. So like today after work was over I painted my nails and that helped.

 

[jalapeno_pretzel]

I've taken a few long baths, keeping up exercise, and now that the weather has improved I'll be working in the yard a lot of this weekend.

I'm probably watching too much news, and engaging too much with people who thought this was a hoax, didn't prepare, and now want to blame the entire situation on another country. But, I do want to know what's going on, and I feel like we need to appreciate what others (like medical staff and grocery employees) are going through in order to realize we don't really have it that bad.

 

[disney212]

Working and cooking to feed everyone at home. DH goes to work each day but I work from home except for the trips to the office for mail. I feel like all I do is work, cook and sleep. Now that folks at work are not traveling everyone has a project they decided to do and need my help. It stinks. I'm jealous of those who are reading, watching movies\tv, exercising, I barely have time to shower. Still getting up at the same time and have to get ready for work, video meetings, so hair, make up and work clothes. I only had a 10 minute commute and that time is now used to login 10 minutes early and stay an hour later.

 

[NYCgrrl]

I'm not stressed or anxious but can understand how people could be. Lot of changes going on in the world as we know it.

Working and cooking to feed everyone at home. DH goes to work each day but I work from home except for the trips to the office for mail. I feel like all I do is work, cook and sleep. Now that folks at work are not traveling everyone has a project they decided to do and need my help. It stinks. I'm jealous of those who are reading, watching movies\tv, exercising, I barely have time to shower. Still getting up at the same time and have to get ready for work, video meetings, so hair, make up and work clothes. I only had a 10 minute commute and that time is now used to login 10 minutes early and stay an hour later.

You need to set time limits for yourself at work. It can be hard at first but will let others know you've a life outside of office hours. Many articles suggest that children keep to their regular routine/hours for school; nothing wrong w/ doing the same professionally. I worked at home for many years and most of my clients knew it. At first, I would get evening "emergency" calls but over a short time realised that most of them were really people deciding that if they told me stuff the second they thought about it no need to interupt their work day. Had discussions with them early on and cut that behavior way down.

HTH and stay well.