Tips to ease stress, anxiety

Being active and trying to stay positive can help ease worries about the coronavirus outbreak, mental health experts say

Local mental health professionals, as well as the New York State Office of Mental Health, are weighing in on how to manage stress, anxiety and depression that may be caused by, or worsened by, the COVID-19 pandemic.

What causes anxiety is the feeling of being powerless, said Kingston therapist Rosalyn Marcus, a licensed mental health counselor. Her solution is to be active, doing things you can control.

“Concentrate on your own health,” she said. “Be diligent about taking care of yourself and your family.”

Eat well, stay warm, wash hands often. Do whatever it takes to keep life as normal as possible at home, she advises.

And, added Marcus, keep yourself occupied. “Listen to the music you love; read; make phone

calls; do things you enjoy at home.” Other self-empowering activities might be gardening, house or yard-based projects.

Elizabeth Jane Mintzer, a Kingston-based licensed clinical social worker, has been a therapist as well as an American Red Cross mental health counselor in disaster situations for more than 30 years. “I’ve traveled the world and the United States; flooding, fires. We try to catch people before they become very depressed or anxious,” she said.

Mintzer, who continues to see clients via video calls or phone amid the current crisis, said one of the most important factors contributing to anxiety and depression is what she calls “anticipatory fear.” Mintzer says people can create negative, even catastrophic, stories about the future, adding to their anxiety.

“Those stories about the future will organize the way you feel today,” she said. “Helpless. Out of control.

“People are actually very resilient,” Mintzer said. What makes them vulnerable, she explained, is what they imagine might happen.

Mintzer says she helps people change the storyline. “First, drop that storyline. Find another, more positive one.” She gets people to challenge their own thinking.

Creating a new storyline might go like this, for example: Instead of thinking, “I’m going to die of coronavirus and my children will be all alone,” think: “We are all healthy, we’re going to have fun together and get through this.”

To start, said Mintzer, it’s important to notice whenever your thinking gets “catastrophic.”

That’s the time to point yourself in a positive direction. “Notice the small gifts you have. Nature, the way the sun lights up a tree.” Create a positive story about the future to wipe out the negative one, she advises.

“And then walk — walk outside in nature; find a new routine at home; start smart and healthy eating;

try to be present in the here and now.” And, more than ever, she said, “Reach out to family and friends.”

Mintzer said that being bombarded by the media can trigger deep-seated and powerful anxiety. She talked about smiling. “I studied with Patch Adams … you can go into the most disastrous situation and with a funny face, a balloon. … A kid with a burn will smile, and smiles are healing.”

On the roster of advice

from the New York State Office of Mental Health are tips for the general public as well as specific advice for people receiving mental health services, mental health providers and caregivers.

Guidelines include tips like talking to children openly and honestly about coronavirus, and creating structured routines for children that include regular outdoor activities, exercise, mealtimes and bedtimes to help reduce anxiety.