If you’re feeling fearful or anxious about the coronavirus pandemic, that’s natural.
It’s how we’re hard-wired, said Sanford Health licensed psychologist Jon Ulven, Ph.D.
“We’re fundamentally animals and mammals,” he said.
Part of our brain constantly looks for danger. And if we perceive a potential threat to a community, we naturally experience fear, anxiety and nervousness.
A situation such as the pandemic that’s “novel, uncertain and potentially threatening … gives us a heightened amount of focus,” Dr. Ulven said.