People are obsessing over the swine flu breakout. Captivated by the media's frightening images, they speculate with their friends and colleagues over potential hellish scenarios, and then worse, rehash them in their heads. It is easy to be tricked into thinking that allowing your mind to dwell on the crisis makes you more prepared and therefore safer. In fact, fear is crippling, not empowering.
There is some basic information that you need to know and take action on: the swine flu is spread the same way as any seasonal flu, person to person by coughing or sneezing or by touching secretions from the mouth and nose left by someone else and then touching their own nose and mouth. So, wash your hands frequently, keep your distance from people who are coughing or sneezing, do not share food and drinks, and avoid travel to Mexico until the epidemic is under control. If you develop flu symptoms, go see a doctor. Once you've taken the reasonable and necessary precautions to avoid contracting the swine flu, it's time to manage your fears. There are three possible ways to deal with troublesome fears. Two are typical, unhealthy responses and one is healthy:
1. Worry - You start thinking about the swine flu. The thought arises ?I'm really scared about what's going to happen if this swine flu keeps spreading.? Your response to this thought is to feed on it. Like a cow you chew, swallow, and regurgitate these thoughts only to chew and swallow them again, entertaining various versions of the same thought. You may continue thinking about it for 5 minutes, an hour, or 5 hours. This rumination can negatively impact both your mental and physical health manifesting as anxiety, insomnia, stress-induced illness or pain.
2. Supression - When fearful thoughts about the potential pandemic arise in your mind, you try to suppress them. You might say to yourself, ?Why am I worrying about this? I've got to stop! What's wrong with me? I should be thinking positively!? This kind of suppression doesn't work either, because whenever you try to block something out, you actually give it more power.
3. The healthier alternative is to acknowledge your fears as they arise, then get back to what is happening right now. Witness your scary and worrisome thoughts in a more dispassionate way. Know that the anxious feelings you are having are a reaction to things that do not currently exist. Don't judge or criticize yourself for having fearful thoughts.
Realize that thoughts are just items on a menu; you don't have to make a meal of them. You can choose not to indulge in worry. Center yourself on being present in this moment. Some might tell you to distract yourself from your fearful thoughts, but with a subtle shift of thought you can realize that the fears are the distractions. They are keeping you from your real life. Reality is the here and now. Go for a walk with your spouse, play a game with you children, focus on doing your job at work, and watch the stress melt away.
