These may include insomnia, stress, anxiety, depression, anger, low mood, irritability, post-traumatic exhaustion, etc. What does lockdown or isolation do to people? Why do people experience different kinds of stress during these periods? There can be a large number of reasons for this state of fear and panic –apart from the great risk of infection, a great many fears like fear of becoming sick, fear of losing loved ones, or maybe losing someone you love, or the financial hardships one is undergoing currently or would have to face once the lockdown comes to an end, etc. Irrespective of their nature or duration, lockdown periods usually create stressful situations which at times might trigger overwhelming feelings of anxiety and fear. What the people of the world are experiencing today is a typical condition of chronic stress. We have been under quarantine for about four weeks now and the lockdown has been extended, creating chronic stress conditions as we do not know exactly when it is going to come to an end, and what is likely to happen in future. These are typical
conditions where we know that the challenges are going to end but do not know exactly when. Research shows that chronic stress conditions may have two kinds of outcomes
a. Disease outcomes associated with immunodeficiency or immunosuppression
b. Disease outcomes associated with excessive immunity leading to autoimmunity- a condition where one’s own immunity attacks him In a healthy host human immune system is remarkably flexible. It is capable of substantial changes. However, this flexibility may get compromised with age and disease. Under stress conditions susceptibility to infections gets increased as the immune system’s ability to fight antigens gets decreased. Stress hormones released during these periods Many times stressful conditions may lead to very unhealthy coping strategies. For Example a smoker may increase smoking and an alcoholic may consume exceedingly high amounts of alcohol which may prove to be detrimental to their health. Stress can be linked to headaches, increased heartbeats, nausea muscular pains etc. Continuous exposure to stressful conditions is known to either cause or aggravate certain diseases like Asthma, Gastric ulcers, Diabetes, Influenza, etc. During these periods of isolation and lock down all of us have to be careful and safeguard ourselves not only from the coronavirus but also from various kinds of stress-related diseases.
SAFE DISTANCING WILL HELP DEFEATING CORONA
FEAR DISTANCING WILL DEFEAT STRESS… SO LETS STAY COOL – STAY HEALTHY
