Since Covid-19 has got everyone cooped up and working from home, it’s no surprise the surge of social media activity. Every day your feed seems to get longer and longer, and it’s mostly of the latest Tik Tok videos of people making remakes of “Bored in the House, in the House Bored”.
Mental health organizations and psychologists are experiencing a surge too: anxiety patients.
The Center for Disease Control wrote on their website about the pandemic, “Fear and anxiety about a new disease and what could happen can be overwhelming and cause strong emotions in adults and children. Public health actions, such as social distancing, can make people feel isolated and lonely and can increase stress and anxiety. However, these actions are necessary to reduce the spread of COVID-19.”
The social distancing orders seem to have us glued to Facebook, assessing what’s what, who’s who and what the next best thing to do during quarantine. I was there, and it’s like climbing a never-ending ladder.
As the CDC reports, you start having difficulty concentrating and there’s worry about your own health, the health of loved ones, finances, your job, the loss of one, etc. This is the never-ending ladder that climbs beyond the heavens and into the abyss of more fear and anxiety.
The CDC, the American Psychiatric Association, mayoclinic.org and many other health organizations stress that anxiety can impair our mental health and needs to be addressed.
The Honorable Minister Louis Farrakhan’s words help in doing so.
In his July 4th message “The Criterion” (part II), he said God “will not punish you if you’re in the middle of repentance”. When you are guilty of something and have not repented for it, one of the main side effects is fear and anxiety.
So, why does Facebook, Twitter and Instagram make you more anxious? Why are people so quick to flaunt their restlessness and insecurity of the future? What is there to worry about?
The Covid-19 pandemic is a great time for self-reflection, or as Minister Farrakhan put it, “solitary confinement”. This is the perfect time to sit back and reflect on his words and take a step back from social media.
If other people’s posts on Facebook, Twitter and Snapchat about their fear of the future make you more afraid, ask yourself: If I’m in the middle of making peace with the God, why am I fearful?
Listen to the “Criterion” on noi.org or YouTube to answer that question.
