"This pandemic has caused many to operate in fight-or-flight response," also known as our physiological response to dangerous or threatening situations, said Langham. "This survival mode type of response puts an added strain on our bodies and, when activated for a prolonged period of time, can impact our daily functioning." Prolonged stress, she said, can and does affect our mental and physical health, and many of us have been feeling that for a year or more. Langham anticipated that the chronic stress would contribute to more people needing mental health treatment. "For individuals who already struggled with anxiety, social anxiety and/or isolation, reentry into normal (or new normal) activity may present a challenge," she added.
What to do: Negative thinking can fuel chronic stress, so try to foster positivity in your every day life, said Ken Yeager, PhD, the director of the Stress, Trauma, and Resilience (STAR) Program at the Ohio State University Wexner Medical Centre. In a previous interview, he recommended identifying three positive things in your life every day and noting the "why, how, and who" associated with those good things.
"Self-care is also important," he added. "Set aside time to disconnect, take a walk, be with yourself, and hear yourself," including daily time without any technology (music included).