Finding Hope Out Of Fear: Psychiatrist Recommends Focusing On Science During Time Of Coronavirus Uncertainty
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — For some, this has been a day of disappointment.
They may have been expecting a bit more from the governor in terms of when things will open up again.
"It's just so gloomy and it's grim — and it's scary," Breanne Otto said.
And now maybe that fear that Otto expressed to from her Land Park neighborhood has turned to frustration for many. After all, most of us are suffering from a little bit of cabin fever.
So, hearing a lack of a definitive date from the governor's plan to open things back up — that could feel like a gut-punch.
Dr. Helen Christine Kales says it's time to focus on the science, not our situation.
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"Because the more we find out with science, the better. We're going to be able to handle this. That was what the whole flattening the curve idea was about," Dr. Kales said. "And so I think following the science and know that little by little we're getting there."
Kales, the chair of psychiatry at UC Davis, also says we shouldn't be too hard on ourselves.
We're not all going to start a dance group as we stay at home, or learn to play an instrument. Heck, you might not even be able to get your entire family in the same room for longer than five minutes. And that's okay.
"Everybody should be thriving right? We all should be learning new languages and playing new instruments and the reality is there are just some days you know when taking a shower might be the best some people are gonna do," Kales said.
As you stand in that shower, and your mind starts to wander, don't go into the land of negativity. Focus instead on "all the positives that we have because of the mandate and how well people in California have done," Kales said.