My Travel Journey With COVID - 19 Anxiety

In India, lockdown was imposed due to the growing COVID - 19 cases. Only a meager number of forces were permitted to work. The day arrived when I was asked to rejoin. However, I was not sure if it was a good idea to travel during the COVID - 19 pandemic. Anyhow, I made the choice and planned to travel to Bareilly from Patiala (hometown).

I must admit that I was unable to sleep the night before my journey. Anxiety overtook me. I could not help but read about COVID - 19 on the internet. After a few hours of sleep, I woke up and did my final packing. In the evening, I boarded the cab with a sense of mixed feelings. I was very scared and nervous about being travelling in this situation. As I was an old patient of Anxiety my heartbeat increased and numerous negative thoughts started to struck my mind. I knew what was happening with me. This is when I used the STOP technique learnt in my therapy sessions. I asked myself ”Yeh kya ho raha hai?” (What is happening?) and progressed rationalizing my thoughts with questions. As I became a bit calmer, I started a conversation with the cab driver about the prevailing pandemic. After talking with him I was feeling light and relaxed.

The cab driver took me to Ludhiana station where I was to board my train to New Delhi. Now after reaching the station, I again started to feel anxious and scared because nobody bothered about social distancing! At 0015 hrs I boarded my train. I couldn't help but think only about COVID - 19 anxiously. I had almost finished my full bottle of hand sanitizer in the train itself! Around 0500 hrs, I reached New Delhi railway station. From there, I boarded my office bus and headed to Bareilly. I felt fine while on the bus journey. In the evening at 1700 hrs, I finally reached Bareilly. As per the protocol, I was quarantined for 14 days. During quarantine, I would get paranoid thoughts such as - ”Kya mujhe Coronavirus toh nahi ho gaya?!” (Have I been infected by Coronavirus?!). After 14 days of quarantine, I felt relieved. Nothing had happened to me. I was completely fit to resume work.

Through this journey I have only realized that - " We can't ignore the truth of COVID - 19 pandemic. We all need to take precautions not only for our body but also for our mind. We have to rationalize our thoughts and prepare ourselves to be strong mentally. Only then can we survive anything in life. "

By a client who is on a mission to successfully fight off his relationship with Anxiety.