This is a global original podcast.

Paul McKenna's positivity podcast.

Welcome to Unlocking the Lockdown.

In this podcast, we're going to look at how you can overcome fear and anxiety about going back out into the world.

A recent study found that 54% of British people were worried about returning to their job.

Today, I'm going to share with you techniques to unlock lockdown

and navigate our new normality without being consumed by anxiety, panic or fear.

Coronophobia is really a fear of the unknown and loss of control,

as the fear of the unknown is one of our biggest fears.

Some people have sat at home for months,

and they're terrified that germs and disease are everywhere, and they've become paralyzed by it.

A phobia is an irrational fear. For example, an overwhelming fear of all dogs, dentists, or

elevators. Whilst it's rational to have some fear of getting the COVID-19 virus, it becomes

irrational when you can no longer function in your daily life or get back to work. The way that people

have made themselves feel afraid to go out or return to work is by imagining something bad over and

over again. They might not even be consciously aware that they're doing it. As the only

way that we can make ourselves feel anxious and frightened is to remember something bad that

happened or imagine something bad that could happen, common concerns that people have are that

germs are everywhere, or how am I going to be able to connect with people since we've been apart

for a while? So if you're catastrophizing and seeing threats everywhere, you're not going to be able to connect with people since we've been apart for a while? So if you're

catastrophizing and seeing threats everywhere, you're not going to be able to function properly.

It can also take the form of feeling awkward about the new norms. So there's a balance to be

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