Chronic situational anxiety

Kevin Love, a power forward for the Cleveland Cavaliers, is a five-time All-Star, and he won an NBA championship with the Cavs in 2016. Sound like a formula for cool confidence? Think again. “For 29 years,” wrote Love, “I thought about mental health as someone else’s problem. Sure, I knew on some level that some people benefited from asking for help ... I just never thought it was for me.” An anxiety attack during a game with the Hawks helped convinced him otherwise.

In this era of hyperanxiety related to COVID-19 and economic hardships, it’s important to not let situational or temporary anxiety become chronic. When you encounter a situation that causes you to become anxious (say getting into an elevator with others), you may feel your pulse speed up or experience nausea, difficulty breathing and dizziness. But, say researchers in a new study in Nature Scientific Reports, you want to be able to defuse that response so it doesn’t morph into a pattern of repetitive, self-generated negative thoughts.

If you’re feeling anxiety more frequently these days, try these steps:

— Engage in physical exercise: 300 minutes of aerobics and strength training weekly.

— Consider cognitive behavioral therapy to help tamp down fears.

— Talk to your doctor about getting a diagnosis and medications to help defuse anxiety.

— Practice mindfulness and applied relaxation like deep breathing. Check out the Breathe by Dr. Jud app, a free mind-calming app for iPhone and iPad.

Disclosure: The app’s developer is owned by Sharecare, which assists in the production of this column. Dr. Jud Brewer (www. drjud.com) serves as executive medical director of behavioral health at Sharecare.