Firstly, coronavirus isn’t new. It’s the cousin of other viruses that are often seen that give us the common cold, but there are a few key differences. This strain is more contagious than normal, and we’re more digitally connected, so the story goes out much faster and the response is much more robust. We’re like 7.5 billion meerkats.
People feel helpless, because beyond cutting down human contact and washing their hands, they don’t know what they can do, and that leads to panic and anxiety. But the single most important thing you can do is manage your emotional response to this challenge. If you become anxious, the biological consequence is an increase in the body’s main stress hormone, cortisol. When you increase your cortisol levels, you are more susceptible to infection, but also if you get the infection it will be more significant, will last longer and give you worse symptoms. Your immune system’s natural ability to fight the virus is diminished, so the virus will replicate more within you, your viral load will be bigger, you’ll be more contagious and therefore more of a risk to everyone else. The most important thing that people can do to stay healthy, therefore, is try to maintain a sense of positivity and optimism, because that pushes up your DHEA level. The hormone DHEA is the body’s antidote to cortisol, so the more you push it up, the less likely you are to be infected, or if you are infected, the milder it will be.