About this Course

Never in the history of humanity have so many people been feeling intense anxiety related to COVID-19 and the world it will leave in its wake. The intent of this course is to give you a deeper understanding of the anxiety reaction as it relates to various aspects of our current life, ranging from our consumption of news to the way we talk to our children about this. I will also give you clear strategies for managing and, in fact, turning off the anxiety response at least for short periods. My sincere hope is that you will leave this course with a better understanding of how your brain reacts to crises, along with some powerful tools for managing it before it manages you. In this course we will cover: 1.1 Introduction and Overview 1.2 Understanding the Anxiety Response 1.3 The Necessity of Strategies to Manage Anxiety 1.4 Achieving Relaxation: A Skill We All Need to Learn Now 2.1 Why Watching the News is Addicting and How to Manage Your Consumption 2.2 The Critical Art of Mental Distraction to Crowd Out Stressors 2.3 How We Think About Physical Distancing and Explaining it to Our Children 3.1 The Effects of Isolation 3.2 Some Strategies to Make Isolation More Tolerable 3.3 The Importance of Social Connection in a Physical Distancing World 4.1 The Need to Guard Against Depression: The Importance of Control 4.2 Bring it Together: Practice Makes Proficient 4.3 Invitation to Suggest Additional Videos

Created by: University of Toronto