Tag: measles

7 tips to calm anxiety and worry

In 2025, with new health and economic challenges arising, such as measles outbreaks and trade wars, I revisit advice from the COVID-19 era to manage anxiety. Key strategies include limiting news consumption, naming fears, helping others, seeking support wisely, and prioritizing self-care to maintain mental well-being amidst ongoing concerns.

updated April 21, 2025

I originally wrote this post during the COVID-19 pandemic. Now in 2025 we have new but not necessarily less significant concerns.

Healthwise, measles has made a resurgence in humans. Bird flu, H5N1 flu virus, is rampant throughout animals and threatens to jump into humans.

The world is in an economic crisis due to tariffs and a trade war. And wars in the Middle East, Eastern Europe, and many other places threaten the safety and lives of millions.

So use this advice originally offered to manage pandemic anxiety to manage concerns about the world situation today. Because let’s face it, there will always be something to worry about.

The original 2020 post

Even physicians feel stressed and uneasy about the COVID-19 pandemic, maybe more so than others. We’re supposed to be the ones with the answers to our patients’ questions and have the means to help them.

One of my collagues read an article about dealing with this stress, and to decrease our stress from he shared it in an email, with some edits.

So I am sharing it here. I have added a few of my thoughts and some references, as well as a link to the original article from CNNhealth.

Limit the frequency of your updates, including social media  

With one of my patients, I suggested allowing herself one news check-in for 30 minutes each morning. 

Choose a frequency and a time that works for you.  But why stop there? 

Consider a social media sabbatical.   Give it a week and see how you feel. Taking the apps off your phone or tablet helps keep you accountable. 

diagram of the human brain.
The major parts of the brain, including the pineal gland, cerebellum, spinal cord, brain stem, pituitary gland, and cerebrum are labeled. photo courtesy of Source: National Cancer Institute Creator: Alan Hoofring (Illustrator)

Name your fears

Recognize that we all have a negativity bias hard-wired into our brains.  It’s a leftover evolutionary tool that helped keep our caveman and hunter-gatherer ancestors alive. 

Unfortunately, it overestimates the likelihood that something tragic will befall us, and underestimates our capacity and resources to cope. 

Conversely, if you minimize or ignore the threat of the pandemic, ask yourself if you should take it more seriously. If your reactions don’t match those of others in your community, your fear may have driven you to denial.

diverse people standing arm in arm

Think outside yourself: 

If/when you are feeling overly worried and anxious, and your thinking feels contracted and hopeless, turn your thoughts to how you can help someone else.

This may be a child or other family member, a group of society that is at risk or marginalized at this time, or some of the groups at higher risk due to their occupations, age, or medical conditions. 

When our thoughts turn to serving others, symptoms of worry, anxiety and depression lessen, and we feel better about ourselves. 

And this does not have to be anything big, simply shifting to focus off of ourselves and onto someone else helps.

a smiling woman working on a laptop computer
Physicians and counselors are available virtually, by phone or video visits.

Seek support, but do it wisely 

Don’t hesitate to ask for help if you need it.  And that goes for us caregivers too. 

We are not, and should not think of ourselves, as impervious to the various stressors, the disrupted routines and all of the uncertainty that is prevalent in the world right now.

Ask someone you can trust to be objective and rational, and not feed your worries or concerns. 

a basket filled with fruits and vegetables
a girl sitting in grass reading a book.
a simple bed, window shade down, small lamp on a side table
close up of walking down a road in sports shoes

Pay attention to your basic needs

Don’t get so wrapped up in thinking about the threats that you forget the essential, healthy practices that keep you physically well. 

  • Getting adequate sleep
  • Keeping up with proper nutrition
  • Getting outside as much as possible
  • Engaging in regular physical activity

Practicing mindfulness, meditation, yoga, and spiritual disciplines will  help center you in routines and awareness, and keep your mind from wandering into the dark and sometimes irrational unknown.

a women with hands clasped in prayer with a Bible

Don’t chastise yourself for worrying. 

Again, this is part of our normal programming.  And to help kids when they are scared, don’t just tell them everything is going to be alright. 

a man reading to two young girls, sitting in a woman's lap

Let them know you hear their concerns and that you understand where they are coming from.  And THEN give them evidence and reasoning for the opposite side of the worry equation.  

Acknowledge their fears, and validate them…  And then do the same for yourself.

This post was adapted from this article on CNNhealth

How to keep coronavirus fears from affecting your mental health

Thanks to my guest writer-Dane Treat, M.D.

Dr. Treat graduated from the University of Oklahoma medical school, although a couple of decades later than I did. He completed residency at Good Samaritan Family Practice in Phoenix, where he lives and practices now. He also completed a Sports Medicine fellowship. He is a student of Mindfulness-based Stress Reduction. He wisely married a Mayo Clinic trained gastroenterologist, and they are the proud parents of a daughter.

near Phoenix, at Scottsdale Arizona, The Boulders Resort; photo by Dr. Aletha

If you are depressed and thinking about or planning suicide, please stop and call this number now-988

988lifeline.org

SUICIDE AND CRISIS LIFELINE. CALL.TEXT.CHAT

Exploring the HEART of Health

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Dr. Aletha

Pandemic: Tracking Contagions, from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond-a book review

Author Sonia Shah’s book “Pandemic” explores infection spread and urges awareness of infectious diseases, emphasizing the importance of vaccinations amidst rising global health threats. This post reviews this informative book.

Influenza has arrived in the United States with some areas already experiencing epidemics. We pretty much expect this to happen in the winter despite wide availability of influenza vaccine.

But other diseases that haven’t been seen much in the past 20 years are making a comeback all over the world. The number of measles cases continues to climb, with 5 countries accounting for half of the world’s victims- Congo, Liberia, Madagascar, Somalia and Ukraine.

In 2019 the United States almost lost its measles elimination status because of a nearly year-long measles outbreak in New York, with the greatest number of measles cases since 1992. The New York State Department of Health declared the outbreak over in October, and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention announced it would maintain the country’s elimination status.

And in a part of the world that conjures up images of a tropical island with sunny skies and pristine beaches, Samoan children are dying of measles due to increasingly low vaccination levels, currently only 31%. Over 5,100 measles cases have been reported since the outbreak, with 74 recorded in a recent 24-hour period alone, according to Samoa’s government. 

The low vaccination rate this year was caused in part by distrust of vaccinations that spread last year after two infants died after a vaccine error- nurses incorrectly mixed vaccines with another medicine. The accident compounded the worldwide spread of misinformation about vaccines. 

The anti-vaccination movement made the list of the World Health Organization’s top threats to global health in 2019. 

CBS NEWS

I don’t know if anyone has suggested it , but it seems we may be entering a pandemic of measles. Here is a review of a book explaining what that means.

Pandemic by Sonia Shah

Sonia Shah , a science journalist, has built a career  writing about medical science. She explains the “what”  of her book in the subtitle-

Tracking contagions from cholera, to Ebola, and beyond

And she answers the “why” in the introduction-

“By telling the stories of new pathogens through the lens of a historical pandemic, I could show both how new pathogens emerge and spread, and how a pathogen that had used the same pathways had already caused a pandemic.”

Let me back up and define some terms.

Pathogen– any disease producing agent, but especially referring to a living  microscopic organism, such as a virus, bacteria, or  parasite; this includes the organisms that cause Lyme disease, Ebola, West Nile, HIV, bird flu, even the common cold

Epidemic– the rapid spread of infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time, usually two weeks or less.

Pandemic– a disease outbreak that spreads throughout a country, continent, or the world, as opposed to an epidemic, which is localized.

map of the world
In a pandemic, an infectious disease may spread all around the world.

Why infectious disease still matters

With healthcare focus on chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, cancer, and dementia, even physicians can get lulled into thinking that infectious disease has been conquered and no long a serious medical threat. This book reminded me that is not the case.

Ms. Shah recounts the history of cholera, which has caused epidemics on every continent except Antarctica, focussing on the epidemics which devastated London, New York City, and more recently Haiti.

Cholera is rare in the United States now, but in the past it has been deadly here and throughout the world. Cholera, an infection due to a bacteria Vibrio cholerae causes severe uncontrollable diarrhea which quickly renders its victims helpless, dehydrated and critically ill. The bacteria lives in and is spread by contaminated water, but for many years physicians did not know this; and even when some doctors recognized this, others refused to believe it. Thus the opportunity to control it and prevent thousands of deaths was delayed .

bacteria under the microscope
photo of the Vibrio cholera bacteria under a microscope; used courtesy of CDC/ Dr. William A. Clark

how disease spreads

The author explains how cholera and other infectious diseases cause so much human suffering by detailing “How disease spreads” in these  chapter titles.

Locomotion– Humans and pathogens travelling from place to place spreads disease.

Filth-Waste management and in some cases mis-management, leads to contamination of drinking water by human waste.

Crowds-People living in crowded slums creates perfect conditions to spread disease person to person.

Corruption– Public officials and business people who place profit and power above public health.

Blame No one willing to take responsibility for making hard choices, and too willing to blame someone else.

Ms. Shah uses examples from her personal life, like her annual family trips to India to visit relatives who lived in less than clean and sanitary neighborhoods. She also shares her and her sons’ battle with skin infections due to  MRSA, a form of staph (staphylococcal) that is resistant to many antibiotics and can be difficult to eradicate.

Pandemic includes extensive footnotes and a glossary of terms used in the book.

If you like history, current events, medical science, or just want to be more knowledgeable about why we should be concerned about infections , antibiotic resistance and vaccine phobia, you should read this book.

Here are other resources about how infections spread and how they can be stopped

For a visual lesson on how pandemics occur, watch this video.Warning: it is rather graphic. 

“How Pandemics Spread”

created by Mark Honigsbaum and animated by Patrick Blower 

 

When Germs Travel: Six major epidemics that have invaded America since 1900 and the fears they have unleashed

by Howard Markel

“Medical historian and pediatrician Howard Markel, author of Quarantine! tells the story of six epidemics that broke out during the two great waves of immigration to the United States—from 1880 through 1924, and from 1965 to the present—and shows how federal legislation closed the gates to newcomers for almost forty-one years out of fear that these new people would alter the social, political, economic, and even genetic face of the nation.”  (quote from Goodreads)

 At this link read how Dr. Gretchen LaSalle

blows the whistle on anti-vax false claims

an excerpt-

“Vaccines are recommended for personal health and required for the greater good. To protect those who can’t be vaccinated and to preserve the health of our communities, many vaccines are required for school entry. If you choose to participate in the community (ie, attend school), you have a duty not to harm those you come into contact with. And if you can’t make that decision for yourself, sometimes the states have to step in and make that decision for you. But still, you always have the choice to keep your kids out of school. The consequence for you is that you are now in charge of educating your own children. The consequence for your child is that their health is at risk and they are deprived of socialization and interaction with their peers. But, hey. You always have a choice! “

exploring the HEART of preventing disease

I’d love for you to follow this blog. I share information and inspiration to help you turn health challenges into health opportunities.

Add your name to the subscribe box to be notified of new posts by email. Click the link to read the post and browse other content. It’s that simple. No spam.

I enjoy seeing who is new to Watercress Words. When you subscribe, I will visit your blog or website. Thanks and see you next time.

Dr. Aletha