Pandemic caused Anxiety, highest among Americans 

The Covid-19 caused pandemic has had a serious impact on the daily lives of every American. 

The American Psychiatric Association states that more than 50% of adults in the USA have reported high levels of anxiety since the beginning of March. The disruption of social life, continuing uncertainty, and high levels of consumption of pandemic related news are a few of the main causes of mental stress. 

The survey data published by Medscape reports the following tendency of Covid-19 related anxiety: “More than one-third of survey respondents (36%) said COVID-19 is seriously affecting their mental health, and most (59%) said it’s having a serious impact on their daily life.

Almost half of the respondents said they worry about running out of food, medicine, and/or supplies.

Most survey respondents (57%) said they’re concerned the pandemic will have a serious impact on their personal finances and two thirds (68%) fear it will have a long-lasting impact on the economy”

Medscape further reports that 19% of the survey respondents are suffering from mild insomnia, 8% report consuming alcohol and drugs more than they were before and 12% report arguing/fighting with the people they are cooped up with, at home. 

Effects of Anxiety on Mind and Body 

Living with anxiety, pandemic, or not has a huge impact on our mental as well as physical well being. Contrary to commonly believed opinions, a person experiencing anxiety on a daily basis goes through physiological changes as well. 

Given the current Covid-19 times we are living in, the additional pressure of pandemic has made it all the more difficult for people to manage or cope with their anxiety with regular methods that would’ve ideally worked! 

According to Healthline, “an excessive or persistent state of anxiety can have a devastating effect on your physical and mental health”

Healthline states the following most commonly experienced effects of anxiety on the following systems of our body: 

• The Central Nervous system: Dizziness, headaches, depression, insomnia. 
• The Cardiovascular system: Rapid heart rate, palpitation, chest pain.
• Immune system: Weakens immune-response, increases co-morbidity risk of infections and diseases. 
• Respiratory system: Shallow breathing, worsening of Asthma. 

As a result, anxiety caused by a  worldwide pandemic can have devastating and in a few severe cases, long term and lasting effects. If not treated with the right methods at the right time, an entire generation of humanity could be adversely affected in the coming years! 

Kinds of Anxiety and Treatments 

As research and studies show, there are six kinds of anxiety disorders that can have lasting effects on the above-mentioned systems. 

• GAD (Generalised Anxiety Disorder) is literally known to occur for ‘no logical reason or explanation’ 6.8 Million adult Americans suffer from GAD 
• Social Anxiety Disorder affects 15 million Americans every year. Yup, you read that right! It involves mild to moderate to extreme fear of being judged in social situations. 
• PTSD (Post Traumatic Stress Disorder) is the result of traumas faced. Common causes are listed as war, natural disasters or physical damages and assaults. 
• OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) is dominated by overwhelming desires to do certain things in a repetitive manner. 
• Phobias and fears heighten as a result of prolonged anxiety. For example – claustrophobia, agoraphobia. 
• Panic Disorder form(s) as a direct result of untreated anxiety disorders. 

Anxiety is experienced by one and all during some of the most important milestones and events of our lives. Even so, anxiety is one of the leading causes of fatal diseases in our various systems. Hence, it is extremely important to identify the level and kind of anxiety to get it treated within due time. 

There are two obvious ways of treating anxiety – one is with medication and the other one is by way of natural methods and means available to us within our own bodily mechanisms coupled with rooted human behavioral patterns.  Most effective are: 

• Confiding in a close friend 
• Grounding exercises 
• Decreased caffeine intake 
• Daily exercise
• Therapy (without medication) 
• Meditation 

Lucid Dreaming – An exciting approach to relieve anxiety 

The phenomenon of lucid dreaming has been widely researched for almost a century now. In recent years, a sense of remedial approach has been applied to this very research. The benefits of lucid dreaming though touched upon very scantily, are quite tall and wide! 

There are various anecdotal, personal notes on the benefits of lucid dreaming as an aid to reduce levels of anxiety. Frequent lucid dreamers are known to achieve an increased sense of control over their motor skills and emotional balance. This ability to control is a direct result of lucid dreaming as the dreamer awakens his sense of self in waking life as well. This very occurrence explains a lot as to how lucid dreaming can be extremely beneficial to help reduce the effects of anxiety. The very essence of an anxiety disorder is the overwhelming feeling of not being in ‘control’ of one’s self, surroundings, and certain outcomes. 

We shall let sleep expert Matthew Walker explain how much we know about lucid dreams so far and how far we can go! Watch now: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qH-MGqokk_Y 

Opting for natural remedies and treatments to curb the anxiety disorders currently gripping a pandemic-afflicted world is of utmost importance. Medication is of great help, of course. But techniques like meditation, regular lucid dreaming practices have negligible side effects and are much more in sync with the spirit of humanity. Investing time and energy in sleep-regulating technologies like the iBand Plus shall definitely prove to be beneficial not just during a world-wide crisis, but over the period of a lifetime!