Life after Coronavirus: Dealing with Anxiety, Stress, Depression and Uncertainty

By Marcus Freestone

We have evolved to crave predictability. Uncertainty makes us anxious. Uncertainty in your life, or in society at large, can lead to anxiety and depression. The latter can be more of a problem because the ills of your society or the world at large are something over which you have no tangible control. Not knowing what is going to happen next is one of the most primal fears human beings can experience. This comes from our hunter-gatherer ancestors when not being able to predict the weather or animal migration patterns could lead to instant death. If you don't know what's going to happen around you in the imminent future then you'll be in a state of constant hyper-vigilance, and we know how toxic stress chemical are in the long term.
Naturally, the global Coronavirus pandemic has seen levels of anxiety soar in a way not seen since the height of the cold war and nuclear proliferation. Now that the worst seems to be over, that anxiety isn't going to just magically vanish. Our primitive amygdala is still constantly scanning the environment for things to be scared of so that it can activate the emergency problem solving circuits. For most people most of the time there is nothing to be afraid of and so this system has become maladaptive.
So how do we deal with the mental stress of this strange new world? Read the book to find out.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Marcus Freestone
• Release date: Oct 11, 2021
• ISBN: 9781005816926

Marcus Freestone

My main work is the T14 series of thrillers about a futuristic, high tech counter terrorism agency headed by a man with a computer implant in his brain. The first book "The Memory Man" is permanently free in e-book. I also have a series of novellas on the subject of mental health and psychology. My most popular book is "Positive Thinking And The Meaning Of Life" which has had 200,000 downloads. It deals with psychology, philosophy, depression, anxiety, mental health in general and the human condition.I have also released more than 50 albums, ranging from metal and rock to jazz and ambient/electronica. And last but not first I also produce the "Positive Thinking And The Meaning Of Life" podcast and "The Midnight Insomnia Podcast", a comedy show with ambient music and abstract visual images.

Book preview

LIFE AFTER CORONAVIRUS:

DEALING WITH ANXIETY, STRESS, DEPRESSION AND UNCERTAINTY

by

MARCUS FREESTONE

ALL MATERIAL © COPYRIGHT MARCUS FREESTONE 2021.

ISBN 9781005816926

Smashwords Edition, License Notes:

This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

ALSO AVAILABLE BY MARCUS FREESTONE FROM SMASHWORDS:

NOVELS

The Least Resistance

The Memory Man: T14 Book 1

Random Target: T14 Book 2

Just Murder: T14 Book 3

Two Serial Killers, A Wedding And A Funeral: T14 Book 4

Never Kidnap a Serial Killer: T14 Book 5

The Rest Of My Life

SHORT FICTION

Brain In A Jar

Mental Book 1: Brian

Mental Book 2: Gemma

Mental Book 3: Paul

Ethelbert's Sunday Morning (short stories)

What To Do If Trapped In A Lift With A Dentist (poetry)

NON FICTION

Positive Thinking And The Meaning Of Life

The Psychology of Happiness

Tell Depression to #@%! Off

Donald Trump and Brexit: Misguided Rebellion

101 Completely Made Up Untrue Facts

101 Ways To Happiness

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC AND ISOLATION

ARE RATES OF DEPRESSION AND ANXIETY INCREASING?

WHAT IS ANXIETY?

THE EVOLUTION OF HUMAN BRAINS, BODIES AND SOCIETY

IDENTITY CRISIS

SOLUTIONS: TAKING CONTROL OF YOUR MIND

CONCLUSION: STRAIGHTEN YOUR PRIORITIES

THE CORONAVIRUS PANDEMIC AND ISOLATION

When I first heard the word 'Coronavirus' it barely registered. Over the years I have developed a habit of assiduously avoiding the news and current affairs. My reasons for this are manifold: the relentlessly depressing and dispiriting nature of most of it, the endless, vapid celebrity roundabout, the fact that much of it it not really news but actually an opinion ventured by some journalist or public figure that is then reported second hand and assumed to be 'fact'.

I am also an ardent sceptic on all matters, especially anything presented by the media which purports to contain elements of science or empirical data. As human beings we have evolved to pay more attention to negative rather than positive information, because a dangerous wild animal is a more pressing matter than a beautiful sunset, in terms of your immediate survival. Therefore the 'If it bleeds, it leads' attitude is dominant amongst news and media outlets because negative, disastrous, apocalyptic, scaremongering stories grab people's attention more than a positive story. Steven Pinker has also pointed out that disasters happen instantaneously, whereas good news tends to accumulate over many months or even years (such as the improvement in global levels of poverty and starvation).

And so I immediately dismissed all this talk of a scary new virus as just another fleeting Sarz, Bird Flu or Y2K panic that would soon fade into history and insignificance. I texted a friend to ask him if he wanted to come to my place that weekend for drinks. He replied that he was 'self-isolating' and everyone in his I.T. company was working from home. When I read this reply I felt that I was living in a different world – why were people acting in such a drastic manner? My friend has serious chronic health conditions that are vulnerable to Covid but even so I replied that I understood but thought it was all a fuss about nothing and would blow over in a few weeks.

Over the next week or so things began to escalate rapidly and I decided to do some research on the science of this whole Coronavirus thing. My initial thought that this was nothing but another routine flu epidemic began to rapidly evaporate. I started to take it more seriously. A few days later (I was now following the news every day, feeling that something major was about to happen) the UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson appeared on TV and declared that all non-essential shops, pubs, restaurants, gyms etc. were legally obliged to close from midnight that day. Furthermore we were all told to stay at home, not go to work, and only go outside for a small number of limited reasons. In other words, something akin to a police state.

I didn't know what to make of this. I've lived through the 1980s nuclear paranoia and fear, the end of the cold war, the IRA mainland bombings, 9/11, and myriad other psychological terrors, but this felt distinctly new and different. I had never had experience of any form of lockdown or emergency measures. Given the fact that I work form home, have no contact with any family, don't drive and hardly ever travel,