Finger tapping "can reduce Covid-19 anxiety in the elderly"

BEDFORD, U.K. - May 21, 2020 - PRLog -- A simple technique known as 'tapping' could help elderly people struggling with anxiety caused by Coronavirus. There is growing concern about the mental health of older people who may be continuing to self-isolate despite the easing of lockdown.The charity Emotional Freedom Techniques International, based in the UK, is keen to promote the benefits of tapping, or EFT, to help older residents manage COVID-19 anxiety. Their concerns come as The Mental Health Foundation hosts Mental Health Awareness Week from 18^th – 24^th May.

EFT uses fingertip tapping on acupuncture points, particularly on the face and upper body to help restore emotional and physical balance.

Eighty-eight-year-old Joyce Munden, from Bedford, has been using tapping to reduce her anxiety. She lives alone and has been self-isolating since lockdown started.

"It is a difficult time and I am worried. My biggest concern is not knowing when this will end and things will return to normal. Whether it will be weeks or months. I am worried to go out, because I was recently in hospital with respiratory problems, so I am more at risk from the virus. I miss human contact, my friends, and hugs from my family. But I have found one of the things that is helping is doing EFT with my daughter Kate over the phone.  We spend about half an hour tapping, several times a week, and this makes me feel more positive."

Kate Munden is an EFT Mentor and Executive Board member of EFTi. She has taught her mother how to use EFT and thinks it is helping.

"My mother has had no face to face contact with anyone for two and a half months now. She is among the generation that are not comfortable using mobile phones and social media, so she only has the telephone as a means of keeping in touch with friends and family."

Concerns about loneliness due to Coronavirus were highlighted by recent research on the effects of the pandemic led by The Mental Health Foundation. Their UK-wide ongoing study - Coronavirus: Mental Health and the Pandemic - showed a significant rise in people worried about loneliness since the start of lockdown.

Anyone wanting to learn how to do EFT can visit http://www.eftinternational.org

Editors' notes

1.       More information from Kate Munden 07710 261921

2.       More details about Mental Health Awareness Week at www.mentalhealth.org.uk

3.       Coronavirus: Mental Health and the Pandemic is a UK study led by The Mental Health Foundation, in partnership with University of Cambridge, Swansea University, University of Strathclyde and Queen's University, Belfast.

4.       EFT International is a UK-registered Charitable Incorporated Organisation (CIO), charity number 1176538.