Coping with PTSD & coronavirus, why you shouldn't panic

So will you comment on the coronavirus and the panic it's causing? I've been healing really well, but this is causing me a lot of fear at the moment. So there's, you know, a lot going on in the world always, and the most important thing when it comes to global events and, and things that cause fear and cause panic is to remember that for as many negative things that are going on in the world, there's just as many, if not more, positive things that are going on in the world. Now, that doesn't take away that it can be a stressful time, that there's a lot going on. But when it comes to especially media, right, media today is primarily negative. And we talked about this a lot. And because it's there to grab your attention, it's there to suck you in, it's there to catch your primitive brain. And the primitive brain, that part of you that is fight or flight. Right? And that part of you that says like, wait a minute, is that a lion? Right? And so like the part of you that just focuses in on that negativity, that's just an innate part that we've developed. We've kind of evolved to really focus in on negativity because, you know, when we were cave people, it was life or death. It was a really big deal. And we've kept that, that primitive part of our brain has kept that, whether that's negative news or an actual negative event. Right? So— actual life-threatening event. And so you'll see that with PTSD, right? So you have a trigger that comes up and your brain is in fear as if it's a negative event. And so it reacts what we would consider inappropriately. It doesn't serve you well, and it's in an attempt to protect you. So when it comes to anything that's going on in the world, you know, you want to, you want to educate yourself is really important, but you want to stick to the positive. It's so important that now more than ever, You, you know, you feed that good wolf and you say, what's the best case scenario? What are the good things that are happening? What can I do? What are the opportunities here? What's the beautiful thing here? And so specifically with what's going on now, right, with, with this coronavirus, you want to say, okay, like, great, I'll wash my hands. I'll be a little bit more diligent about not maybe touching my face, right? I touch my face all the time. And maybe I'll just, I'll just go shopping once a week and try to keep myself away from other people. So what you really want to do is then focus. So you say, okay, here's, here's the education on it. I want to make sure I, you know, stay away from crowds and wash diligently. So that's what you want to do first and educate yourself on it. And then what you want to do is say, okay, what, what's, what's amazing that's happening in the world? So what's amazing to me is that the world— this is a global issue— that the world is kind of banding together and saying, okay, here are the precautions that we're taking. Okay, we're gonna, we're We're going to shut this down and shut this down. And, you know, try not to picture that as a thing of fear. Instead of— and rather, instead of like, oh my gosh, it's so scary that they're shutting these things down. Like, wow, it's really amazing that they have the know-how and the resources and the opportunity to protect us at this level. So it's really cool that there are people out there that are working day and night to protect us, to solve this issue. all around the world, right? So you want to always be looking for the positive, especially in times of hardship and times of fear. And you want to think, what's the best case scenario? So you don't want to be thinking— a lot of times when this happens, it's like, okay, what if this person gets it? What if I get it? What if they get it? What am I going to do? How am I going to work? How am I going to live? You know, like you think about like all your family members and like, what if they all get it, right? Don't, don't do that worst case scenario thinking. It's easy to go down that route. And a lot of people do, PTSD or not, a lot of people do. In these times, you have to, have to, have to be in control of your thoughts and ask yourself, what is the best case scenario? And think about it. What's the best case scenario? And I— this is something I personally thought about, right? And it's, again, it's easy to go down that negative route and you say, okay, well, the best case scenario is, you know, they solve this issue and in a month this is, this is behind us like everything else that's ever been behind us. So it's really, really important, like Educate yourself, say, okay, I need to be better at washing my hands. I was definitely not a, you know, they say, I think like, wash your hands to Happy Birthday twice. I don't think I've ever done that. It's actually a really long time to wash your hands. So educate yourself and say like, what are the things I can do to be healthier day in and day out? You know, keep exercising, keep washing your hands, get outside, make sure you're feeding your body with the things you need to, wash your hands a little bit more diligently, try not to put your fingers in your mouth, you know, and then again, so like educate yourself and then think about the positives and think about the opportunities and think about all the great, great things that can come from this and the world as a whole. Again, it's really easy to go down the negative path. Make yourself go down the positive path so it serves you. If you find yourself like worst-case scenario thinking and thinking about like this person's sick and this, and what if this person gets sick, you have to stop yourself, bring yourself back to what's the best-case scenario. And that is going to serve you at the highest level every day. Just think about what's the best that this can go. What's the best-case scenario? Even if you were affected, right, or you had a family member affected, what's the best-case scenario, right? Best-case scenario is they get better. Best-case scenario is you spend an amazing 2 weeks in quarantine and you get better, right? So always be thinking about the best-case scenario and trust that your body is so powerful. And if you keep that positivity and you keep that strong mindset, your body's gonna be strong, right? The power of our beliefs is astounding. You can make yourself sick. I used to do this all the time. times do this. I make myself sick. I say, oh my gosh, I didn't get enough sleep. I'm going to get run down. I'm going to get sick. I'm, I'm going to get a sore throat. I'm going to get a cold. And then I do, right? Because I think myself into it. I think that I'm going to get sick and I do get sick. But on the contrary, just if you know you're doing the things you can do to be healthy and you keep your mind healthy, you keep your body healthy, you can have the confidence that you're healthy and that is going to feed your belief that you are healthy. And so you're much less likely to get sick. So it's really, really, really important that you feed your mind, you feed your body with the things that make you feel good and trust that your body can handle it and your mind can handle it. Think about the best case scenario and think about how well things can go, 'cause that will dramatically affect your immune system. So it's a great topic to talk about.