A large part of the appeal of art is emotional - some artists want to evoke strong reactions such as awe, anger, disgust, etc.

Knowing that an artist may deliberately evoke an emotional response, take a moment and question your immediate reaction. If a work angers you, ask yourself why it upsets you. If your feelings are happy, ask why the painting makes you feel happy.

Rather than attending to the conversation at hand, socially anxious people are focused on themselves and continually monitor how they're coming across. They assume the worst about themselves.

When chatting to someone online, try to focus on the other person. Actively listen rather than thinking about how you look or sound. Actively enjoy what is out there. When on a video call, minimise your own image to help you focus more on the conversation.

Homer's Iliad opens with a plague visited upon the Greek camp at Troy. The Decameron (1353) by Giovanni Boccaccio is set during the Black Death.

The stories offer the listeners ways to consider how similar crises have been managed previously, and how to reorganize their daily lives, which have been suspended due to the epidemic.