The whole world has been gripped by the coronavirus. India has a very high rate of infections and normal, day-to-day life has virtually come to a standstill with people living in constant fear of getting infected by the virus. Some people are so scared that instead of taking proper precautions to avoid infection, they are becoming mentally disturbed and there has been a rise in cases of depression and other mental ailments. 

There is no need of being so fearful, but what is required is that we face the situation with courage, common sense and wisdom. There is no reason then why we can’t defeat and avoid this virus by precautions rather than by treatment. We all know the value of the famous saying that ‘prevention is better than a cure’. 

Worry is the worst enemy of our mind and body and this affects the immunity of the body. Worry is a negative feeling making the person constantly experience only negative thoughts and fear. In such a state, a person can never think positively about anything. Neither can such a person distract himself from negative thoughts and worries that run forever in his mind. If a person is infected by this virus, he must remain positive because though the spread of the virus is wide, the death rate is minimum. Focusing on this positive aspect will help the person make his immunity stronger and get well soon. Usually, it is seen that people who are old, have uncontrolled diabetes, uncontrolled blood pressure, people with organ transplants, cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and radiotherapy or having some other disease for which they are taking steroids for long periods of time have very low immunity, and for these patients, the coronavirus might prove fatal. But a healthy person with good immunity should not be very fearful of the coronavirus and should remain positive. 

Dr Sanjay Teotia

To prevent this virus, follow some standard measures such as social distancing, use of mask, washing hands with soap frequently or by using sanitiser, and developing healthy food habits and taking regular, mild-to-moderate exercise. 

Let’s analyse worry. It is the state of being anxious and troubled over actual or potential problems. It is a feeling of being unhappy and frightened about something, when there is no reason to feel this way. 

Take worries, doubts and anxieties in your stride and consider them a normal part of life. If you let your normal worry become excessive, it becomes persistent and uncontrollable. 

Constant worrying, negative thinking and always expecting the worst can take a toll on your emotional and physical health by eating into your emotional strength. It can leave you feeling restless and jumpy and make it difficult to concentrate at work. When you are in this state, you will snap at people and be irritable in your reactions to others. This will affect the people who are closest to you. 

Worry is not your natural state of mind and neither do you have to feel this way, but it often becomes a sort of voluntary form of suffering. By worrying endlessly and needlessly, you exhaust yourself and deplete yourself of all energy. You feel drained and in that depleted state, you cannot perform at your optimum level. 

Psychologically, worry is part of a collective term for continuous thinking about negative events in the past or in the future. But this chronic worrying is a mental habit and when you recognise it as such, you can break it. You can train your brain to stay calm and look at life from a more balanced, happier perspective. 

Constant worrying eats into your sleep too and makes you tense and edgy during the day. Analyse if you are an excessive worrier. Do you unconsciously think that if you worry enough, you will be able to prevent bad things from happening? But you should know that worrying can affect the body in many adverse ways. 

When worrying becomes excessive, it can lead to constant feelings of anxiety and can cause you to be physically and mentally ill. Worrying is nothing but a feeling of uneasiness and therefore of being overly concerned about a situation or problem. 

Chronic worriers report a sense of impending doom or unrealistic fears that only increase their worries and they may see anything and anyone as a potential threat. But there is a way out. Following a consistent meditation practice improves our ability to regulate emotions. Through meditation, we familiarise ourselves with our pattern of worries, including thoughts and storylines. We observe our thoughts from a distance, see them, then engage with them and finally can let them go. In doing so, we learn two important things: that our thoughts do not define us and that our thoughts are not real. With this new-found perspective, we are able to gradually change our relationship with worry, differentiating between what is irrational and what’s true and real. 

The simplest meaning of meditation refers to learning how to pay attention and to focus. When done systematically, meditation allows us to slow down and observe the world without judgement. 

If you live with worries, it can help you break the pattern of your worrying thoughts and bring about a feeling of balance, calmness and focus. You will also learn to be a witness to your thoughts and feelings as you learn to relax your body and mind. Finally, what you are worrying about will cease to bother you. You will be free. 

Dr Sanjay Teotia is a senior consultant eye surgeon

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