Why are we so afraid of COVID-19? It’s “the mix of miscalibrated emotion and limited knowledge” explains psychologist David DeSteno. Fear thrives on uncertainty and, at this point, there is so much we don’t know.

How deadly is it? Estimates range from 0.5% to 4% (the seasonal flu is .1%) and the only way to narrow this down is to count the number of fatalities and divide it by how many have COVID-19. Without widespread testing, it is impossible to know the denominator of this equation.

Other questions we don’t have answers to:

Will the virus peter out during the summer months?

How soon will we have a vaccine?

How many people are asymptomatic?

Why are children less affected?

Unanswerable questions coupled with conflicting information, especially from government officials and experts, further fuels fear. One moment, you’re told it’s no big deal and the next, schools are shutting down. Mixed messages are confusing and amplify uncertainty. It’s no wonder people are panicking.

Here is what we do know. There are actions you can take to help you feel more in control even when the world feels like it is spinning out of control.

1. Check Your Screentime

Are you compulsively checking the CDC website for updates? Did you double your Twitter screen time in the past week? If the answer is yes, it’s highly likely that this behavior is stoking your fears and making you feel even more vulnerable. Think of your attention as a flashlight. What do you want to shine it on?

2. Skip Contagion

This is not the moment to watch movies like Outbreak or Contagion. Choose a movie or a series that will be a catalyst for calm or at least a distraction from the current state of affairs. Better yet, get lost in a book. I just downloaded The Splendid and the Vile: A Saga of Churchill, Family, and Defiance During the Blitz by Erik Larsen, one of my favorite authors. Early reviews describe it as captivating and an engrossing page-turner, an ideal remedy for the relentless negative news.

3. Do You Really Need That Lipstick?

When germs abound, vanity kicks in. A study found that when people worry about catching a disease, they tend to focus more on how they look and spend more money on their physical appearance. It’s the “behavioral immune system” signaling to others, “Hey, I’m healthy.”

4. Talk About Something Else

You might think that the best way to solve a problem is to think it through but when information is lacking and fear is driving emotion, this can backfire. There is no benefit to ruminating about the spread of coronavirus. Nor is it helpful to make it a topic of every conversation you have with others. Discovering your friend bought a year’s supply of toilet paper at Costco might prompt you to do the same but it won’t give you peace of mind.

5. Don’t Eat Your Feelings

People tend to eat more and mindlessly when they’re stressed. Don’t let anxiety dictate your diet. Actively decide to make healthy choices that fortify you during this vulnerable period. Research from Yale University suggests that a protein-based diet might help fight the seasonal flu. Rats who were fed the keto diet (high in fat and protein, low in carbs) were better equipped to combat and overcome the influenza virus than rats who were fed the equivalent of Wonder bread and spaghetti.

6. Get Some Fresh Air

Consider skipping the gym and exercising outdoors instead. Hop off the subway before your stop to minimize potential exposure and to put a spring in your step. Spending time outdoors is good for your immunity and your mood. People who report more positive emotions are less likely to catch a cold. Even when they do catch a cold, they don’t feel as bad as the “Debbie Downers.”

7. Snooze

This is not the time to stay up late binge-watching Netflix. People who don’t sleep enough are more likely to get sick after being exposed to an infection. During sleep, the immune system releases proteins called cytokines which protect us against bacteria and viruses. You’ll also feel less stressed when you’re well-rested.

8. The Basics To Keep Yourself and Others Healthy:

• Wash your hands often with soap and water for at least 20 seconds, especially after blowing your nose, coughing, or sneezing; going to the bathroom; before eating or preparing food; upon arrival anywhere.
• Avoid touching your eyes, nose, and mouth.
• Stay home when you are sick.
• Cover your cough or sneeze with a tissue, then throw the tissue in the trash.

I appreciated Dr. Abdu Sharkawy’s take on how to navigate this challenge:

I implore you all. Temper fear with reason, panic with patience and uncertainty with education. We have an opportunity to learn a great deal about health hygiene and limiting the spread of innumerable transmissible diseases in our society. Let’s meet this challenge together in the best spirit of compassion for others, patience, and above all, an unfailing effort to seek truth, facts and knowledge as opposed to conjecture, speculation and catastrophizing. Facts not fear. Clean hands. Open hearts. Our children will thank us for it.

People who refer to themselves in the third person are often considered weirdos. If I were to say aloud, “Go Samantha. You can do it!” before lifting a large weight at the gym, fellow gym-goers may justifiably cringe and slowly move away.

While talking to oneself aloud may raise some eyebrows and conjure up cheesy self-help advice (“I’m good enough. I’m strong enough…”) new research highlights how self-talk can be harnessed to bring out the best. People naturally talk to themselves and most research has focused on the negative voice in our head, the one saying, “I am such an idiot,” whenever we lose our keys.

Psychologist Ethan Kross studies how self-talk can be deployed strategically to boost confidence and make better decisions.

How people conduct their inner monologues has an enormous effect on their success in life. Talk to yourself with the pronoun I, for instance and you’re likely to fluster and perform poorly in stressful circumstances. Address yourself by your name and your chances of acing a host of tasks from speech making to self-advocacy, suddenly soar.

In other words, speaking to yourself in the third person, albeit quietly, has important advantages.

By toggling the way we address the self—first person or third—we flip a switch in the cerebral cortex, the center of thought, and another in the amygdala, the seat of fear, moving closer to or further from our sense of self and all its motional intensity. Gaining psychological distance enables self-control, allowing us to think clearly, perform competently. The language switch also minimizes rumination, a handmaiden of anxiety, after we complete a task. Released from negative thoughts, we gain perspective, focus deeply, plan for the future.

When used strategically, self-talk is a powerful instrument. Related research shows it can help us face disappointment, handle negative feedback and deal with challenges.

On that note, “Samantha needs to work on her book.”

Why do some people get the flu while others get through the entire winter without ever needing a Kleenex? General health, genetics, and environment influence immunity but what else is involved? According to researchers at Carnegie Mellon, mood and emotional style play a role too.

In one experiment I am grateful not to have been a part of, the researchers infected participants with the rhinovirus, the virus that causes the common cold. They were then placed in quarantine and closely observed for the next five days. Researchers monitored symptoms including cough, sore throat along with a battery of blood tests and other measurements. Tissues were weighed to assess mucus production.

Results showed that those who reported more positive emotions were less likely to catch a cold. Even when they did, they didn’t report feeling as bad as the “Debbie Downers.” As the lead researcher said:

We need to take more seriously the possibility that positive emotional style is a major player in disease risk.

Related studies reveal that people who are stressed out are more susceptible to the common cold and other diseases. Perhaps one of the best strategies to boost your immune system is to do something that puts you in a good mood.