How can CBT help with COVID-19 concerns?
Coronavirus, COVID-19, working from home, new normals, covid concerns in the workplace. Whoever thought those words would summarise 2020? The truth is, no one saw this coming. This means no one knew how to deal with the host of uncertainties it brought along, but we can help you find your way through this mess.
When the coronavirus became a global pandemic back in March 2020, the world essentially stopped. Apart from key workers who continued to graft endlessly, life as we knew it just stopped. We were urged to stay home, to protect the NHS, and to save lives. Businesses closed their doors and supermarkets had a one in one out policy. Toilet roll became blocks of gold, and hand sanitiser grew five times more expensive. This was now 2020.
It goes without saying that as humans, we struggle when faced with uncertainty. Some can accept uncertainty in life without it affecting them too much, whilst others get bogged down by not knowing what the future looks like in some way. But we have never known, with 100% certainty what the future looks like anyway. So when something like COVID-19 takes over, the lack of certainty and not knowing when things will get better hits twice as hard.
We have never dealt with something like this in our lifetime. In one way or another it’s been a huge shock to everyone that three months into the new exciting decade the world was faced with indescribable changes.
How can I spot COVID anxiety in the workplace?
Employees may be asking for advice or talking about topics on the following questions:
Can I go to work if there’s a deadly virus around?
How do I cope with losing my job?
Do I have support in place to navigate financial stress?
What do my children need to help them through this?
Can my relationships survive working at home?
How can I work when I am anxious?
Am I able to make big, rational decisions right now?
How do I see the opportunities in a crisis?
All these questions are likely thoughts that have been milling around in your head for some time now, amongst many others no doubt. Even the optimists among us will have these concerns and doubts. It’s normal to be worried during a global pandemic. It’s normal to have these questions. But what you may find particularly difficult is coming up with the answers to them.
All these thoughts affect how you feel, which in turn affects your behaviour, so it’s like one big cycle. This cycle and the relationship between them all is fundamental to our practice at Onebright. It’s the foundation of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
CBT addresses the types of thoughts you’re having, so you can alter your response and how you feel, which then changes the behaviour.
We’re not saying CBT will solve all your financial stresses surrounding COVID-19, but it can certainly adjust how you think about this concern. It can stop it from growing to become a serious problem which can affect your mental health. Not to mention you can utilise all coping strategies learned in CBT throughout the rest of your life, whatever issues may arise.
You don’t need to have Covid anxiety to benefit from CBT therapy.
But, if you do struggle with an existing mental health issue, it’s paramount you seek the help you need to avoid a relapse and continue moving forward.
According to an ONS survey, 1 in 5 people now suffers from depression compared to 1 in 10 last year. We cannot ignore these figures, the effect that Coronavirus has on mental health is staggering and is likely to have a prolonged effect. But if you seek the right help, you can face your concerns head-on, work through therapy tailored to your needs and come out the other side.
Yes, we can all do things to help keep this virus from spreading, but we can’t make the virus less aggressive. But you can seek help to make your mental health a priority and to address any concerns before they grow and manifest.
CBT therapy is evidence-based and is the psychological treatment of choice for anxiety and covid concerns in the workplace, as well as a range of other emotional and psychological disorders. Our CBT therapists are all accredited with the BABCP, meaning you get the highest possible standard of therapy. It’s the single point that raises us above any other CBT service in the UK.
