The current Coronavirus (COVID 19) epidemic has evoked many feelings. Some of us are enjoying the added time with our loved ones, while others are experiencing anxiety over their safety.
● We might feel grief or relief, sadness, nervousness, or optimism. For many of us, if not all, the uncertainty could leave us feeling that we have little control.
● While life is always uncertain, unpredictable, and uncontrollable, we often ignore this reality as feelings of certainty and predictability make us feel safe in this world.
Some might feel fine during these uncertain times and might even be grateful for the slow pace of life; you might feel this time is a great opportunity to relax and reconnect with loved ones.
Or you might be someone who is having a difficult time. These moments can re-trigger past traumas and attack our psychological vulnerabilities. The sense of isolation can make time difficult to manage. Instead of having fun with your family, navigating relationships might become complicated.
Some Common Psychological Reactions:
⇒ Poor sleep, difficulty in focusing, difficulty managing emotions, low mood, numbness, irritability, frustration, confusion, paranoia, and nervousness about the future.
⇒ It is important to remember that everyone experiences and copes with stress differently.
⇒ When faced with difficulties, we are often taught to find solutions outside ourselves, for example, going out to meet friends, going for a run, etc. While these are great ways to deal with difficult circumstances, due to the current situation, these strategies are not present.
If you are having a difficult time, these coping skills might help maintain your psychological well-being.
Coping Skills
1) Establish a Routine:
● No matter how much we hate our routine life, it is these everyday rhythms and their predictability that make our body and mind feel safe. COVID-19 and quarantines have disrupted these very rhythms of life. This can leave you feeling directionless in trying to figure out how to fill the hours of the day.
o Plan out your week; you do not have to force your old routine. Remember, these are novel circumstances, and they allow you to create your own new routine which nurtures you.
o Break up the day to stave off monotony. Keep plans short-term. Only plan today and the next few days. Don’t look into the unknown future: it is not in your control like the future never is – that is the most normal thing in these abnormal times.
o Dialogue is key: If you are a student, it’s important to have a dialogue around schedule, rules, and expectations. Many young students feel that their families have difficulty in providing and respecting schedules. Families must decide
schedules as a unit,thereby reducing conflict. As a student and young adult, it’s important to take responsibility that makes you feel competent but that should not compromise with your academic life. Help your family in understanding that balance and forming realistic expectations.
o Short term goals: Instead of trying to finish and pay attention to all your academic tasks at once. Try to start with the easiest and shortest goal and increase the difficulty and duration of the task gradually. This will help in feeling competent, and dealing with feelings of procrastination.
Rituals: Anything that we do every day is a ritual.
o For example, the morning cup of coffee is a ritual, or the thoughts that you have while walking back home are all rituals that create a sense of familiarity and groundedness for us.
o Creating a ritual gives us a sense of safety and predictability. Think of your beloved rituals taken away and bring them back. Let go of unhelpful rituals and create room for new ones. Maybe watch an old movie a day with the family?
o New structures are important too: It is essential to create new structures and habits that give you a sense of agency and efficacy.
2) Sleep Disturbance:
For sleep disturbance, maintain sleep hygiene
a. Making sure you go to bed at a consistent time
b. Avoid caffeine intake after 5.30 pm
c. Following a sleep ritual (reading a book, drinking hot water, anything that can help you follow routine)
d. Avoid using a phone or laptop in bed.
3) Exercise and Dancing:
o Remember, exercise is not only for a size zero figure but has a profound impact on your mental health.
o Even fifteen minutes of exercise a day releases endorphins and serotonin that uplifts your spirits. It’s also a great way to help combat the sense of boredom that can come from being stuck inside day after day.
o Start with ten minutes a day and increase gradually. Don’t have harsh expectations. Start slow.
o If you hate exercising alone, plan to have video exercise or dance sessions with friends.
4) Reducing Screen time:
● Constant online engagement can increase feelings of disembodiment and disconnection.
● It’s important that we take regular breaks, walk after forty-five minutes
● Engage in activities that allow us to remain connected with the outside world. For example, standing on your balcony.
● If working from home or taking online classes, prefer to work on your laptop instead of a mobile phone. Reduce your mobile screen time.
5) Stay Informed, but Not Overwhelmed:
● Rather than spend your time watching cable news, focus on getting helpful information from trusted sources such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), World Health Organization(WHO), state and local health departments, and your doctor.
● Limit your TV time and disengage with things that put you in a state of threat. The situation is not under our control, so the best rule is to access information that makes us feel safe. For example, News regarding research trial vaccines.
● Keep distance from friends or family members who are prone to sharing panic-inducing posts.
6) Breathing Exercises:
● The thought of sitting with our mental commentary can feel overwhelming. It is important to not push our minds to be silent; treat your thoughts as clouds that come and go.
● Not getting attached or overwhelmed by them but letting them pass will help you have a friendly relationship with them, and they will appear less threatening.
● Even five minutes of conscious breathing exercise can allow us to relax.
● When you breathe out,you release all of the tensions inside, and when you breathe in, you inhale the nurturance from outside.
● Remember, breathing is about expansion and contraction, so we can allow this activity to help us get in expanding our inner selves: kindness, peace, love, faith, healing.
● Helpful resources: Alan Wallace, Thich Nhat Hanh, Dr. Russ Harris
7) Finding a New Hobby:
● Following a creative pursuit gives you something to work towards each day.
● It can even induce feelings of competence, mastery, agency, and a sense of purpose in the face of lack of control.
For example: Cookingis not just an ordeal, but a means to nurture ourselves.
● Cooking engages multiple senses, it can be a form of mindfulness. The focus and rhythm of chopping or stirring can help soothe anxiety.
⇒ You can even use cooking as a pro-social endeavor. If the state of our nation’s struggling poor disheartens you, you can cook extra to feed the essential workers around you (for example: guards, milkmen). Helping is another way to regain a sense of control and competence.
8) Expressing Emotions:
● We are often taught to block emotions, or they are considered abnormal.
● Our society has a tendency to pathologize normal feelings such as sadness and worry. Remember when you block pain, you also block joy and the capacity to experience all feelings. It’s healthier to acknowledge our complicated feelings. complicated feelings allow us to feel the pain of self and others, and it is only when we can handle both that we can be compassionate to the suffering of the world.
● Again, you might feel nothing or joy or boredom or just simply frustrated – remember YOU DON’T HAVE TO FEEL GOOD OR BAD ABOUT THIS.
● For others, the rise of the death toll might lead to grief. We might also feel grief for the planned future. Grief is a normal emotion at this time, and it is Okay to grieve!
● Open yourselves to trusted others and allow yourself and others to be vulnerable. Reassure each other that you are supported. Be empathetic to each other: This is new for all of us, so it’s important to be kind to each other.
● Remember, when we are hoarding our groceries, hoarding our emotions, hoarding our resources, we are continuing the old ways that brought us here.
9) Finding new ways to connect with family:
● In our families, intimacy, emotions, and affection can take different forms. Even when families are complex, they do also make us feel safe.
● Many families find it difficult to have honest conversations and deep dialogue.
● This crisis can be a moment to rebuild your relationship with your family.
● Playing old games (carom, ludo, charades)
● Having conversations after dinner is essential to build and maintain closeness.
● You can talk about: 1) each person’s favorite vacation, 2) their lasting regret, 3) their secret adventure, 4) what they are proud of in self, and others 5) what they appreciate or dislike about each other etc. Even simple questions can help in building and rekindling bonds, allowing us to connect with family safely.
10) Interconnected nature of self with the world:
● It might feel daunting to realize that we are deeply interconnected with each other and the planet we live on. The current crisis is a reminder that our health and well-being depend on each other. The earth balances our existence, and it is a good moment to hear the call of the earth and adopt practices that help our planet. Within a few days, we all are witnessing the earth rejuvenating and the ways our current economic system has made us indifferent to the pain of the others. Thus, breathe in the air from your balcony, hear the birds, and be amazed at the stars and keep it as a memory to remind ourselves that we are gifted with a beautiful planet, and we are responsible for its healing.
Dr. Sugandh Dixit,
PhD Clinical Psychologist,
sugandhdixit@ncuindia.edu
Some helpful resources:
