Now&Me @nowandme
🌟 Hello Now&Me community! 🌟
We bring to you another, Ask Me Anything session!
This time we have with us, Dyverynce Lambert, to discuss ‘Anxiety and COVID19’ on April 24, 2020
@feelingmoody is a Virginia State Licensed Professional Counselor (LPC) certified in Trauma Focused-CBT and a CSOTP Resident. Over the last eleven years, she has worked in the field with individuals and families who have overcome extreme trauma such as physical abuse, sexual molestation, attempted murder, domestic violence, surviving war, etc.
Apart from counselling, she also enjoys expressing herself through creative outlets such as dance, photography and fashion!
Feel free to take her opinion and advice on anything and everything that has been giving you anxiety lately due to the coronavirus and its effects.
You can post your questions in the comments down below by April 23, 2020 (Thursday)
@feelingmoody will be answering them right here on this thread on April 24, 2020 (Friday)
Asking questions shows strength, not weakness.
🧡 Ask away and stay informed! 🧡
Hello! I am 12 years old and I am very grateful for everything that my dad does to keep us wealthy and happy! But because he works in the hotel industry the coronavirus has had a real big affect on his company. He works for Drury hotels and they were doing very well and he made lots of money but now they are the complete opposite and he is lucky to still have his job. His bonus is taken away for the next two or more years and that was 60% of his paycheck. My parents have been making comments like, “We have to cancel out trip and we can’t reschedule now because of our current financial situation” or “Don’t worry if anything happens he will find a new job” and that just scares me! How can I deal with this stress and even now I’m crying writing this out. Please help I need a way to cope with all of this stress and worry.
Hi There!
I would first like to point out what a mature 12-year-old you are. Your self-awareness at this age is incredible! This is certainly a scary time for many people as there is a lot of uncertainty. For you specifically the uncertainty lays in the financial stability of your home. In order to cope with this kind of stress, you will need to let go of things you can’t control and what may or may not happen in the future. Instead focus on the things you can control as well as the here and now. A great exercise for this is called Grounding. When you start to feel overwhelmed with future things, activate your five senses by focusing on what you can hear, smell, see, taste, and feel. This will bring you back to the here and now.
Hi Dyverynce,
I’m about to go study for my post-grad. It seems like a very uncertain time, and travel and economy seems to just be going against everyone’s favour. It’s making me very uncomfortable about the money I’ll be spending plus not knowing for sure if it’s going to pay off, or if I’m going in the right direction, or for that matter when to reasonably expect things to return to normal…the stress gives me a tummy ache too at times…is this normal? How to make this feeling go away…like, is it anxiety?
Hi,
Congrats on your journey to higher education! To help yourself make this decision, here are some questions: If this is what you love and its fulling purpose, why wouldn’t it pay off? Is this a good investment of your finances and how long would it be before you got a return on investment? Tummy aches can be a side effect of stress or anxiety. To determine which you are facing, ask yourself if you are under the pressure of present-day issues or are you worried about future events. Feelings of pressure is an indicator of stress. Worry about future things or “what if” scenarios are indicators of anxiety. Either way, listen to your body! When you feel tummy aches, stop and take a moment to breath!
Hello,
I am 21 year old female student.
I faced sexual abuse when I was 5, and then again when I was 11.
Most recently I was molested by a close family friend, when I was 18. Today, (23april’20), I texted him asking why, I want to confront him. I’m little afraid as I’m not sure what lies before me. How he’s gonna respond. But I was wronged and I want him to feel guilty.
I get nightmares and I am usually not at ease with itimacy. I don’t trust boys/men easily. My mind often wanders back, to my childhood and all other experiences I’ve had. It deeply troubles me. I feel hurt. I don’t want to end up resenting my parents (for not being able to protect me). I also sometimes feel needy for affection and warmth. I have finally accepted that, yes this happened to me and it’s okay.
But, I don’t know what to do now. I don’t want this to affect my relationship too.
I want to heal. I want to confront my fears. I feel angry and uncomfortable.
Ma’am, please help me to find a way out, where and how to start.
Hello Survivor!
I’m sorry to hear that this has happened to you! While I and I’m sure others empathize with you, realize that your perpetrator may never feel remorse or guilt for what happened. You can’t control his feelings, but you can control your response. Nightmares are often a sign of the brain trying to reprocess emotions and thoughts. They can also be symptoms of anxiety or PTSD depending on the duration of symptoms. It is normal to have feelings of distrust and resentment to those you felt should have protected you. In order to avoid this affecting your relationships long term, you must find out what irrational beliefs you took away from your abuse. These are normally negative cognitions as a result of your experience such as “I’m not good enough”, “I should have known better”, “I can’t trust anyone”, etc. I would also recommend getting setup with a therapist as this is a journey you shouldn’t have to walk through by yourself.
Hello! Sometimes I feel really anxious about how everything will be when all of this ends. Like, I have really accepted the way we live right now and to be honest, I don’t really mind it. But the thought of everything actually becoming “normal” is actually terrifying for me. Is that even possible? Being scared of how it’ll all be once everything is normal?
Hello,
Yes, it is normal to wonder about how things will be after all this is done! The reason this is scary is because normal has become being in the home and what was normal will be completely new. The question is what will normal even look like? Do not worry about what is out of your control and what things could be like. You were able to adjust to the way you are currently living. My guess is that you will be resilient and adjust to the new normal when it is time.
I am stress eating a lot these days. And after eating, I feel anxious. And I really want to control myself. How do I do that? Please don’t say that it’s a pandemic and I should give myself a break!
Hi There!
It looks like you are tired of people telling you to take a break, so let me encourage you to do the complete opposite of that and regain control. Most people stress eat because when your digestive symptom is on it reduces anxiety as it shuts off the Sympathetic Nervous System. Your SNS is preparing your body for “Fight, Flight, and Freeze” mode if you were faced with a threat. This system is also on anytime you are stressed or anxious. Recognize when you want to eat that you are actually stressed and do something to bring your stress levels down. The best for this is exercise and meditation. Not only will you kick your cravings, you will be in better physical and mental health at the end of this.
