These 4 Steps Can Help You Manage Your Anxiety During The Pandemic
How the mindfulness practice of RAIN can protect your mental health during the coronavirus crisis
In beforetimes, the screentime bar graph on my iPhone, which shows how much time I spend on the device, was a neat collection of short rectangles. I took pride in my self-control. I enjoyed putting my energy elsewhere.
And after the coronavirus?
Well, on a typical June morning, I hit the Time Limit warning I programmed on Twitter before I finished my coffee, and, as I sipped, I thumbed right past the OK button and mashed hard on “Ignore Limit For Today.”
There are stories I could tell about why my phone use shot up so dramatically. I was reading the news! I was learning about important things! The more I knew, I reasoned, the safer my family would be from this terrible virus.
Even as I told myself those stories, I knew I was a liar. Those stories were, at best, only partly true. The truest story was that staying so connected to my phone kept me disconnected from my feelings. I was numbing out.
One month in, 56% of Americans said the coronavirus negatively impacted their mental health.
