By Zaid Roberts

It’s enough that so many people suffer from anxiety under normal circumstances, whether it be in the workplace, dealing with phobias or grievances with family members. To add to our worries, the impact of the coronavirus pandemic & the fact that we’re in economic decline means that there’s an increase in the number of people suffering from stress and anxiety, all over the world. You just have to watch the news to know that the struggle is real. The number of reported job losses, households with financial problems, families losing loved ones, etc. are growing and unfortunately for many, that means having to deal with additional stress and uncertainty of what the future holds. It’s a cocktail of ingredients that has created what experts say is potentially one of the worst recessions the world has seen since the great depression. You don’t need me to tell you that we’re all in it for the long haul. 

I am one of the unfortunate souls to have lost my job as a result of the pandemic and to be honest, it’s not an easy thing to deal with.  No matter how strong you are as a person, it can affect you both on an emotional level and your mental wellbeing. The added stress and worry that there are fewer jobs available, all adds to increased levels of uneasiness. 

However, it doesn’t all have to be bad, the fact you’ve landed here, means that you’re in the right place if you need help. I believe we can all do things to help us cope better with anxiety and stress. Here are a few things I have adopted to help me cope better with it.

• Focus on positive things – Pressure is part of life and we’ll always have hurdles we need to overcome. Yes, I’ve lost my job but it’s given me the opportunity to explore other things. I’ve started writing a blog (link: www.dish-dad.com) to share my experiences and thoughts about family life and parenting. For you it could be something you may have always wanted to do or something new you would like to try. It could be a course, there are many free internet courses being offered online for all sorts of things. 
• Celebrate the little wins – Finding a solution to a big problem means you may need to take small steps to achieving your goal, so try and enjoy the feel good moments you get no matter how small it is. Every cloud…
• Show gratitude – Try and express gratefulness to someone for bringing some kind of joy. It could be something small, like a friend that does a favour for you. You’ll be surprised how much it can help to improve your self esteem.
• Don’t take yourself too seriously – It’s hard not to avoid the issue you might be facing, but if you focus too much on solving that problem it could easily consume you. It’s widely known that laughter can help to lower stress levels, it can also help to lift your mood and again improve your confidence so allow yourself to enjoy some laughs.
• Be around positive people – I can’t stress enough how important it is to surround yourself by people that have a positive influence on your life. Turning to people that can elevate you will help you to see the bigger picture and improve your self-esteem.
• Start every day with a routine – I recognise that having a structure to my day helps me to cope better, so now I have a little routine. This will be different for everyone, but I do things like waking up early, having a good breakfast, doing exercise, meditating and reciting positive affirmations to put you in control of the way you’re thinking.

This approach has helped me to cope better with anxiety and stress when things become a bit challenging, hopefully it can help you to approach things with a more positive outlook to help overcome your challenges.

Zaid Roberts is a father of 2 cheeky little boys and the creator of parent blog: https://www.dish-dad.com/  
He moved to the UK from South Africa in 2002 with his partner and has been working in digital media for many years. Like so many, he lost his job during the Corona Virus Pandemic, but with the abundance of time on his hands, he has been able to write about his experiences and talk about matters that are important to him.