Five Things to Prevent Burnout

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Burnout prevention through rest and recovery in nature

 

Burnout prevention is far easier than burnout recovery. If you recognise the early warning signs and take action, you can protect both your mental and physical health. In this article, I’ll explain what burnout is, what causes it, and share five practical, evidence-based strategies to help prevent burnout before it takes hold.

What Is Burnout?

Burnout is a state of physical, emotional, and mental exhaustion. It develops when you feel constantly overwhelmed for long periods. We all experience busy times. However, when life becomes relentlessly demanding and you never stop to rest or recover, burnout can follow.

Burnout is more than everyday stress. It is often what chronic stress becomes when left unchecked. If you constantly have too much to do and never switch off, your mental and physical health can suffer.

Burnout syndrome became an official diagnosis in 2019. Until then, researchers viewed it mainly as an occupational phenomenon. Although work is a common cause, burnout can also develop in other areas of life. Caring responsibilities, perfectionism, and ongoing personal pressures can all contribute.

For more on burnout, including the latest research, please read my article on Psychology Today.

Common Causes of Burnout

Many factors can contribute to burnout, including:

  • Unmanageable workloads
  • Excessive working hours
  • Poor communication and support, both at work and at home
  • A poor or non-existent work-life balance
  • Extreme deadline pressures
  • Feeling that life is out of control
  • Poor coping strategies
  • Perfectionism
  • A catastrophising mindset
  • An excessive need for control

Burnout Signs and Symptoms

Burnout rarely happens overnight. Instead, it develops gradually. The early warning signs can be subtle, but they often become more severe if ignored.

Common burnout symptoms include:

  • Feeling tired all the time
  • Physical and emotional exhaustion
  • Losing enthusiasm for activities you once enjoyed
  • Reduced effectiveness at work and home
  • Struggling to deal with everyday tasks and problems
  • Feeling detached from people or activities
  • Sleep problems
  • Chronic stress
  • Self-doubt
  • Feelings of helplessness
  • Poor concentration

If you recognise several of these signs, act sooner rather than later. Burnout prevention is always easier than burnout recovery.

Most of us already know the foundations of good health. Eat a balanced diet, exercise regularly, and aim for consistent, restorative sleep. Those habits matter. However, the five strategies below directly target burnout prevention and help build long-term resilience.

 

The first thing for burnout prevention

 

Adjust Your Attitude

Managing your expectations is often just as important as managing your time. In many ways, one supports the other.

Watch out for beliefs such as:

  • I must always perform at my best.
  • I should be able to cope with everything.
  • I can’t let people down.
  • Terrible things will happen if I drop the ball.

Burnout often begins with demanding or perfectionist beliefs like these. When your expectations consistently exceed your capacity, burnout is rarely far behind.

Challenge these beliefs whenever you notice them. Ask yourself three simple questions:

  1. Is this belief true?
  2. Does this belief make sense?
  3. Does this belief help me?

Take the belief, “I must always perform at my best.”

It cannot be completely true. Nobody performs at their best all the time. We all make mistakes, falter, fail, and occasionally miss our own benchmarks.

You may prefer to perform at your best, and who wouldn’t? However, it makes little sense to tell yourself that you must. Life simply doesn’t work that way.

Although this attitude may sound motivating, it usually creates stress and pressure instead. Neither is a healthy long-term motivator.

Try replacing it with:

I like to perform at my best, but I don’t have to.

That statement is both realistic and helpful. You will still aim high because that matters to you. At the same time, you remove the unnecessary pressure that often drives chronic stress and burnout.

Why not reflect on these healthier alternatives?

  • I like to perform at my best, but I don’t have to every time.
  • I prefer to cope well, but I don’t have to cope perfectly.
  • I hope I don’t let people down, but there is no rule that says I never can.
  • Something difficult might happen if I drop the ball, but it won’t be terrible.

Key message: Challenge perfectionist and demanding beliefs before they lead to unsustainable behaviour. They are often the hidden drivers of burnout.

For a deeper exploration of these ideas, see my book The Four Thoughts That F*ck You Up… and How to Fix Them (Vermilion/Penguin Random House).

 

 

The second burnout prevention measure

 

Protect Your Recovery Time

We are not designed to be always on.

Every living system eventually breaks down without adequate recovery. High performers, perfectionists, and people pleasers often excel at sustained effort. Unfortunately, many struggle with rest.

Your nervous system needs regular periods of:

  • Rest
  • Reflection
  • Play
  • Connection
  • Sleep

Work-related stress remains one of the leading causes of sickness absence. Ironically, one of its biggest drivers is presenteeism. Many people stay constantly productive, permanently available, and reluctant to switch off.

The “first in, last out” culture often looks admirable. In reality, it increases the risk of burnout. People who never stop are more likely to experience stress-related illness, make costly mistakes, lose productivity, and eventually leave their jobs.

By contrast, people who arrive on time, leave on time, take regular breaks, and avoid checking work emails outside working hours are often healthier and more productive. They also tend to stay with organisations for longer.

Recovery is not the reward for hard work. It is what makes hard work sustainable.

Take proper breaks during the day, including a full lunch break whenever possible. Leave your desk, go outside, or change your environment. Read a book, attend a class, meet friends, or spend time doing whatever replenishes and rejuvenates you.

Remember, self-care is not an indulgence. It is an essential part of burnout prevention. Looking after yourself enables you to perform well, remain productive, and enjoy the things that matter most.

Key message: Self-care isn’t selfish. It is one of the most effective burnout prevention strategies you can practise.

 

The third burnout prevention measure

 

Just Say No

When used appropriately, the word “no” is one of the most powerful, positive, and life-affirming words in your vocabulary. Sadly, many of us struggle to say it.

Burnout is often caused not simply by the demands placed upon you, but by overcommitting to those demands. Many people find it difficult to:

  • Assert themselves appropriately
  • Delegate
  • Decline requests
  • Set healthy boundaries
  • Disappoint other people

Over the years, many of my clients have recognised this pattern in themselves. They often believe, “I mustn’t say no.” However, that belief is neither true, nor sensible, nor helpful.

Some have found themselves repeatedly manoeuvred into working late or helping friends when they desperately needed time alone. On the rare occasions they did say no, they apologised excessively, overexplained themselves, and still ended up agreeing.

Learning to say, “No,” or “No, I’m sorry, I can’t,” without lengthy explanations can make life much easier.

Remember, you have every right to:

  • Assert yourself
  • Delegate to others
  • Decline requests and invites
  • Set healthy boundaries with others
  • Prioritise your own wellbeing

Key message: Every “yes” consumes finite emotional and cognitive resources. Practise saying “no.” You may discover that nothing terrible happens when you do.

 

The fourth burnout prevention measure

Meditate

I’ve worked in mental health and wellbeing for more than 20 years. During that time, work has become more demanding, life has become increasingly busy, and many people feel they have fewer resources to cope. That is a difficult combination.

I’ve said it before, and I’ll say it again: we are not designed to be always on.

Although modern life differs greatly from that of our ancestors, humans evolved with natural rhythms of activity, rest, and connection. Today’s constant connectivity often leaves little room for genuine recovery.

We all need to create moments of peace wherever we can because nobody else is going to create them for us.

For that reason, I believe everyone can benefit from learning meditation, self-hypnosis, or both.

Mindfulness of Breath

Meditation can foster peace, calm, and emotional balance. It benefits both your psychological and physical wellbeing while helping you manage stress more effectively.

One of the simplest forms is mindfulness of breath.

Your breathing is always with you. It provides a constant anchor that you can return to at any time.

Simply:

  • Close your eyes.
  • Focus on your breathing.
  • Give your full attention to each in-breath.
  • Give your full attention to each out-breath.
  • Engage all your senses.
  • Accept that your mind will wander.
  • Gently return your attention to your breath.
  • Repeat daily.

Top Tips

Breathe slowly and deeply. You may prefer to breathe in through your nose and out through your mouth, but there is no single correct way.

Instead, become genuinely curious about your breathing. Notice its rhythm, temperature, sound, and movement through your body. Allow yourself to become completely absorbed in the experience.

Most importantly, expect your mind to wander.

That is perfectly normal.

When you notice it has drifted, gently return your attention to your breathing without criticism or frustration.

With regular practice, your concentration will improve, and remaining present becomes much easier.

Aim to practise once or twice each day for five, ten, or twenty minutes, whatever feels manageable.

Self-Hypnosis

Hypnosis is an altered state of consciousness, similar to becoming absorbed in a good book or daydream. During this relaxed state, your mind becomes more receptive to positive suggestions.

Hypnotherapy uses this state therapeutically. It can help people manage anxiety, stress, and burnout, alongside many other difficulties.

Self-hypnosis simply means learning to guide yourself into this relaxed state before offering yourself positive, constructive suggestions.

If you’d like to learn more, my book How to Cope with Almost Anything with Hypnotherapy (Green Tree/Bloomsbury) explores the process in much greater detail.

For now, try the following:

  • Sit somewhere quiet.
  • Focus on a spot on the wall until your eyes begin to tire.
  • Close your eyes.
  • Slowly count backwards from ten to one.
  • Count on each out-breath.
  • Pause quietly when you reach one.
  • Repeat your positive suggestions silently.
  • Count back up from one to ten.
  • Open your eyes.
  • Reorient yourself before continuing your day.

Top Tips

Like meditation, self-hypnosis improves with practice.

As you count down, imagine your inner voice becoming slower and calmer. You might even picture yourself gently drifting deeper into relaxation.

When you reach one, simply trust that you have entered a relaxed state.

Helpful suggestions for burnout prevention include:

  • Every day, I am becoming calmer and more in control.
  • I am learning to relax, even when life feels stressful.
  • My energy is gradually returning.
  • I know when to work hard and when to step back.

Meditation and self-hypnosis are different techniques, but both encourage rest, recovery, and resilience.

Key message: Creating regular moments of peace through meditation or self-hypnosis is one of the most effective ways to manage stress and prevent burnout.

 

The fifth burnout prevention measure

 

Build a Life Bigger Than Work

One of the strongest predictors of burnout is identifying too strongly with a single role, whether that is the model employee, the perfectionist, or the people pleaser.

When your self-worth depends entirely on career success or the approval of others, every setback feels deeply personal.

Protective factors include:

  • Strong relationships
  • Hobbies
  • Spirituality
  • Time in nature
  • Community
  • Creative interests

There is far more to you than your job or your ability to help other people.

If those things matter to you, self-care becomes even more important. Burnout makes it much harder to perform well or support others effectively.

Invest in relationships with people who value and encourage you. Spend time on hobbies, or develop new ones if you’ve neglected them. Life is meant to include enjoyment as well as responsibility.

Creative interests and a sense of community both support long-term wellbeing.

Many people also find spirituality helps counterbalance modern stress. In positive psychology, spirituality is recognised as a character strength that can enhance wellbeing.

Spirituality doesn’t have to involve religion, although it certainly can. It may simply mean feeling connected to something larger than yourself. For many people, nature provides that connection.

Nature benefits both mental and physical health. Even twenty minutes outdoors can help lower stress and restore perspective. The more we connect with the natural world, the better many of us feel.

Key message: The more meaningful roles and interests you have beyond work, the more resilient you are likely to become.

 

Notice the Early Warning Signs

Burnout rarely appears overnight. If you notice any of the following signs, it’s time to put these burnout prevention strategies into practice:

  • Cynicism
  • Irritability
  • Emotional exhaustion
  • Reduced concentration
  • Loss of enthusiasm
  • Feeling trapped

Many people ignore these warning signs because they are still functioning. However, burnout prevention begins with awareness, not endurance.

 

Burnout Prevention Checklist

Before you leave, ask yourself:

  1. Am I expecting too much of myself?
  2. Have I protected enough recovery time this week?
  3. Do I need to say “no” to something?
  4. Have I created time to rest or meditate today?

 

Final Thoughts

Burnout is one of the defining challenges of modern life. It rarely develops simply because you work hard. More often, it results from working too hard for too long without enough recovery, flexibility, healthy boundaries, or balance.

Fortunately, burnout prevention is possible.

Challenge unhelpful beliefs. Protect your recovery time. Learn to say no when necessary. Create regular moments of peace through meditation or self-hypnosis. Finally, build a life that extends beyond work.

Small changes, practised consistently, can make the difference between surviving and thriving.

It’s Worth a Shot!

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Online Hypnotherapy: Will it Work for You?

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Online Hypnotherapy: Effective and Accessible Across the UK

A few weeks ago now, I wrote an article for Psychology Today on the benefits of online therapy and how studies show that it is as effective as psychotherapy delivered face-to-face. Since that article went live, I’ve had several emails asking if this also applies to hypnotherapy. The short answer is: “yes.”

The Rise of Digital Hypnotherapy

During the pandemic, hypnotherapists had to switch their clinics to an entirely online model, whether clients liked it or not. Since then, like other therapy forms, some therapists have remained fully online, while others offer both face-to-face and web-based sessions.

Although official studies on digitally delivered hypnotherapy are limited (at least as far as I know), some research is promising. One study showed effectiveness in treating migraines, while another suggested it helps children with nocturnal enuresis, or bedwetting.

Anecdotally, a magazine editor wrote positively about her experience with online hypnotherapy, while another described the joys of a FaceTime Hypnotherapy session. Many successful hypnotherapy apps now allow you to benefit from suggestions via smartphone or tablet.

Also, I am listed with the Hypnotherapy Directory and they are firmly in favour of it.

My Experience Delivering Online Hypnotherapy

From my own experience, online hypnotherapy works just as well as in-person sessions. I’ve been delivering digital hypnotherapy for years, long before the Coronavirus pandemic forced the first UK lockdown in March 2020.

Early in my career, about 19 years ago, a client asked to continue sessions while traveling across Europe for work. I conducted sessions in hotel rooms, once by a large empty pool, and another time on a patio overlooking a glorious mountain. Back then it was Skype rather than Zoom, but the variety of backdrops did not hinder our work together.

Choosing Between Online and Face-to-Face Hypnotherapy

Ultimately, the choice between online or in-person hypnotherapy comes down to preference. Some clients opt for digital sessions due to convenience or other constraints, while others prefer seeing their therapist face-to-face.

Reasons to choose online hypnotherapy include convenience, flexible scheduling, work-life balance, access to therapists in London, Bristol, or nationwide, comfort at home, mobility issues, and more.

Benefits of Web-Based Hypnotherapy

Web-based hypnotherapy is effective for many issues, including stress (life, work, burnout syndrome), anxiety disorders, reactive depression, anger management, self-esteem challenges, weight control, and pain management.

Preparing for Your Online Session

If you are considering digital hypnotherapy, keep a few things in mind:

  • Ensure your internet connection is stable so every hypnotic suggestion is delivered clearly.

  • Choose a larger screen; laptops or tablets work best for optimal visibility.

  • Sit in a comfortable chair to support deep relaxation.

  • Keep a blanket nearby if you prefer warmth and coziness.

  • Use high-quality speakers or headphones for precise audio.

  • Select a safe, private, and secure environment to maintain confidentiality.

Also, consider the severity of the problem. For high-risk cases involving suicide or self-harm, one-to-one live therapy with a nearby therapist and a clear care plan is essential. Mild-to-moderate issues, however, are well suited to online hypnotherapy.

Online Hypnotherapy and REBT in London, Bristol, and Beyond

If you would like to see me for online hypnotherapy—or online rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT)—my contact details are at the bottom of this page.

Finally, REBT is an elegant form of cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) that works well for stress management, anxiety, confidence issues, and more. It can be used alone or alongside hypnotherapy.

Everybody is Stressed, but What Can You do About it?

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I’ve been a therapist now since 2004 and, for most of that time, when people asked me what I specialised in, I told them that anxiety disorders and work-related stress management were my forte but, on reflection, and for several years now, I would say that both life and work have made me a stress specialist.

That term still covers anxiety disorders and work-stress but, it also covers a whole lot more. Stress affects us all and we are becoming more stressed, not less so. In fact, research from the Chartered Institute of Development has found staff absences due to stress are at their highest levels in over a decade, with the pandemic, the high cost of living and other issues all being significant contributing factors, (click here). But what is stress?

According to the World Health Organisation, “stress can be defined as a state of worry or mental tension caused by a difficult situation.”

However, there are two types of stress: good stress (eustress) and bad stress (distress).

Eustress refers to the sort of challenge and pressure that you thrive under or rise to meet with excitement. It could be a work deadline, or a wedding, or a rollercoaster ride. Meanwhile, distress is what we often mean when we are talking about ‘stress.’ It can refer to seemingly insurmountable pressures in any context (life or work), pressures that you feel you can’t cope with, or are not dealing with as well as you’d like. But stress isn’t a diagnosis in and of itself. It’s an umbrella term for a variety of things including:

 

  • Anxiety
  • Reactive depression
  • Anger-management
  • Guilt
  • Shame
  • Procrastination
  • Insomnia (often stress related)
  • Skin conditions such as psoriasis (also often stress related)
  • Irritable Bowel Syndrome, or IBS, (nearly always stress related)

 

You can turn to unhealthy coping strategies when you are stressed, such as alcohol, drugs (both prescription and recreational) and comforting eating. Stress can wear you down, it can affect you physically as well as mentally. You can become distracted, less productive, more forgetful, and more prone to illness (stress affects your immune system). Chronic work stress even has its own diagnosis: Burnout Syndrome. This is a purely occupational phenomenon not official recognised until 2019 and characterised by exhaustion, increased negativity (or cynicism) towards your job, and reduced professional efficacy.

Stress is such as small word for something with so many distressing ramifications.

Stress affects both your mind and your body. A little bit of it is good for you, but too much stress can easily overwhelm you. And we are living in a very stressful world; one that doesn’t seem to be interested in getting any easier. Stress quickly mounts up and it soon takes its toll.

Thankfully, there are things you can do to help mitigate your stress, such as yoga, meditation, taking regular breaks, and going for long walks. And, if those things aren’t enough then therapy and coaching can help.

I practice rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) and clinical hypnotherapy, and both can help you mitigate your stress and build effective coping strategies in the face of it. With REBT and hypnotherapy the seemingly insurmountable obstacles in your daily live become something much easier to deal with.

So, if you think your stress is getting the better of you, feel free to book a call. I work face-to-face and online and can see anyone, anywhere (time zones permitting). And online therapy is just as effective as face-to-face, studies say so (click here).

Where Does the Time Go?

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Can it really be three years and five months since I last blogged on my own website? The answer to that question, going by the dates, is obviously yes. Yes, it has been more than three years.

Okay, in that time, I wrote and published one book (you can find a link to it here) and I’ve been writing a regular column over at Psychology Today (you can click on that here) and I’ve also been writing elsewhere (you can check a selection of those articles out here) but, still. Three years.

It’s been a tad remiss of me and so, to address that imbalance, I am going back to blogging on my own website where, over the coming months, I will hopefully be not only offering words of wisdom, but also helpful tips, exercises, and insights to help you manage your mental health and wellbeing that much better. After all, it’s a stressful world out there. So much so, that I’ve had to slightly redefine what it is that I offer (or, more importantly, what it is I treat).

I offer rational emotive behaviour therapy (REBT) and clinical hypnotherapy (either separately or combined) together with elements of positive psychology and I offer it in both a psychotherapeutic and coaching capacity.

Times past, I said I specialised in the treatment of anxiety disorders and work-related stress management as, at the time, I was receiving more referrals for these things than anything else. So, that is how and where I built my areas of expertise.  I can also help you with pain control, but that’s another story.

Meanwhile, back to stress.

Since the pandemic and everything else that came after it, I’ve just accepted the fact that I am now a stress specialist. This still covers anxiety disorders and work-related stress management but, also a whole host of other things (more of that in another blog, I reckon).

“Stress,” is what people state the most when I ask them what they want help with. “I want you to help me manage my stress more effectively,” they say. And this I can do.

People also ask me to provide them with coping strategies (again, this I can do) but, when I used to ask them what they wanted those coping strategies for, they used to mention specific things, such as “my job,” or “my boss” or “my relationship” or “my challenging friend.” Nowadays, however, when I ask people what they want those coping strategies for, the most common response is, “everything.”

Despite all the strides made in mental health and wellbeing, despite the mine of information and the wealth of support that is out there, life has become even more stressful, not less so. And people need help in dealing with that.

To that end, my next book (out Spring 2024) is called How to Cope with Almost Anything with Hypnotherapy. And it will do just what the title suggests, using not only hypnotherapy, but also elements of REBT and positive psychology to help you increase your resilience, improve your wellbeing, and handle whatever life throws at you next more effectively.

In the meantime, I can personally help you cope with almost anything either face-to-face or online. And a recent study (click here) has found that online therapy is just as effective as face-to-face therapy.

People also value the convenience of it and the ability to engage with a therapist from the comfort of their own homes. So too do many of the therapists that offer online therapy.

So, face-to-face, or online, if there is stress in your life, if there is something you would like help in coping with, now is a good time to start. Because life always has that something to throw at you.

Swearing at the Coronavirus Might Just Do You the Power of Good

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Sometimes, you’ve just got to call a spade a spade and, sometimes, you’ve got to look at something that’s a bit shit and just say, “fuck it.” Believe me, it will help you, as swearing at things can be a very empowering and life-affirming thing to do.

 

Many studies have backed up the usefulness of swearing in a variety of settings. Swearing can help you cope with adversity, get on with people more quickly, cope with difficult and demanding situations and, even, bolster the persuasiveness of your arguments, speeches and conversations.

 

One such experiment, from researchers at Northern Illinois University, examined the effects of swearing on the persuasiveness of a speaker. Participants were invited to listen to three versions of a speech. One where the word ‘damn’ appeared at the beginning, one where it appeared at the end and one where it didn’t appear at all. The results showed that swearing at the beginning or the end of the speech significantly increased not only the persuasiveness of the speech but also the perceived intensity of the speaker. 1

 

Meanwhile, Professor Richard Stephens, over at Keele University in Newcastle, has tested swearing in a wide variety of ways over the years. He and his team have discovered that people who do swear can hold their hands in freezing cold water for longer than those who don’t swear and that, in a test of anaerobic strength, people who swore produced more power wattage and a stronger handgrip on a stationary exercise bike than those who did not.

 

Elsewhere, other studies have shown that people who swear, as long as swearing is part of their overall and otherwise extensive vocabulary, tend to be healthier, happier and a whole lot more honest too.

 

 

Swearing then, is not only good for your physical and mental health, but it is also a great way to gain control over your pain, your stress and your emotions.

 

There’s a lot going on at the moment; a lot of things are currently out of our control and it’s easy to feel powerless and lost. However, if you want to lift your spirits and feel more resilient in the face of the current adversity, don’t be afraid to drop the F-bomb.

 

It’s not for nothing my therapy book is called The Four Thoughts That F*ck You Up (and how to fix them). In fact, it when it comes to self-help books with swearwords in the title, it’s not alone.

 

We have The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck by Mark Manson (as well as his follow-up, Everything Is F*cked) and The Life-Changing Magic of Not Giving a F**k by Sarah Knight, as well as Healthy as F*ck (Oonagh Duncan), Wake the F#ck Up (Brett Moran) and, my favourite, Fuck Off (a mindfulness swearword colouring book for adults). Finally, there’s the daddy of them all, F**k It Therapy by John C Parkin (plus his two f*ck-related follow ups). In a similar, but also slightly different refrain, we have Get your Sh*t Together by Sarah Knight and (proving that even Knights of the Realm thing swearing is good for you) How to Fix Your Sh*t by Sháá Wasmund MBE.

 

Swearing crops up very frequently in my therapy room.

 

I once had a client who had an anger management issue and a very short fuse. “You must respect me,” he believed. “It’s intolerable to not be respected and people who don’t show respect me are arseholes.” This belief allowed him to kick off whenever he felt disrespected by anyone and, even, anything. He once ripped an IKEA cabinet to little bits and pieces just because ‘Thing A’ disrespected him by not fitting into ‘Groove B.’

 

The healthy alternative to all this was, “I like to be respected but I don’t have to be respected; I find it difficult to deal with when I’m not, but I know I can stand it; people who don’t respect me are not arseholes, they are worthwhile fallible human beings.”

 

With a little vim and vigour, his healthy beliefs became “I like to be respected but I don’t fucking have to be respected; I won’t like it when I’m not but it won’t fucking kill me and people who don’t aren’t fucking arseholes, they’re all-fucking-right really.” Eventually, over time, he whittled all this down to just, “fuck it.” And that was enough for him to gain control over his anger and keep calm, even when other people were being less than his ideal.

 

Profanity can be quite profound, you see; and this Coronavirus well, it can just fucking do one, can’t it?

 

 

1:Cory R. Scherer & Brad J. Sagarin (2006) Indecent influence: The positive effects of obscenity on persuasion, Social Influence, 1:2, 138-146, DOI: 10.1080/15534510600747597

 

 

There’s No Need to Panic About this Pandemic

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Rational Emotive Behaviour Therapy (REBT) makes a distinction between unhealthy anxiety and healthy concern. Both share the same theme, or inference, as both are about the threats and dangers of everyday life. It doesn’t matter if the threat is real (something that is happening or is about to happen) or imaginary (something that hasn’t happened yet and probably won’t happen at all); anxiety and concern are all about threat and danger.

 

Unhealthy anxiety is the result of irrational (or unhelpful) beliefs about a given event or situation; whilst healthy concern arises when you hold rational (or helpful) beliefs about the exact same event or situation.

 

When you are unhealthily anxious you overestimate the probability of that threat occurring and underestimate your ability to deal with it, you can create an even more negative threat in your mind and might find it difficult to concentrate on other matters. Typically, the anxious will avoid the threat (physically or mentally), ward off the threat, tranquilise their feelings and seek reassurance about it.

 

When you are healthily concerned, however, you are more realistic about the probability of the threat occurring and are equally realistic about your ability to cope with it. You do not create even more negative scenarios in your mind, and you are able to concentrate on other tasks and matters. As a result, the concerned are more able to face up to the threat (if it even occurs) and are more able to take constructive action to minimise said risk or danger.

 

This also applies to health anxieties. A health anxiety is an obsessive and irrational worry that you have caught or are about to come down with a severe medical condition.

 

And, right now, as a health anxiety, as a public and medical concern and as a severe medical condition Coronavirus, or COVID-19, is right up there and scaring us all.

 

But, are our news outlets and our governments overdoing it or not; are we all literally making a drama out of a crisis; are our fears rational or irrational; founded or unfounded? In short, are we experiencing collective Coronavirus anxiety or COVID-19 concern?

 

Considering the statistics (at the time of writing of the 107,828 cases so far, 86 percent have been of a mild condition and a massive 94 percent have so far recovered and/or been discharged.) it would seem to be the former. And so, asset stripping the shelves in supermarkets and chemists of bog roll, antibacterial hand gels and facemasks does seem like reassurance seeking writ large, whilst completely shunning people, public places and public transport could count as avoidance.

 

Beating people up based on their ethnicity or holiday choices, meanwhile, is definitely overkill.

 

Yes, people have sadly died but there have been other factors involved (such as age and other underlying health conditions).

 

Caution is advised, certainly, but the current advice is to wash your hands regularly and thoroughly (for at least 20 seconds) and that’s about it. That is considered effective protection, not just against COVID-19, but all other cough and cold-related germs and viruses.

 

Whilst the Coronavirus is something to be concerned with, and something to take reasonable precautions against, it is nothing to get anxious about.

 

For more on the current global pandemic panic, please feel free to read my post over at Psychology Today (click here).

 

If you want to know more about REBT, the thoughts that can freak you out and, more importantly, how to deal with them, please feel free to purchase a copy of this book that I wrote (click here).