HOW TO REDUCE PANIC DURING QUARANTINE

2024 Author: Harry Day | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 15:43

General hysteria and panic cause almost more harm than the coronavirus itself. As a psychologist, I give recommendations to be less afraid.

So. Why is there so much fear?

As Marie Curie said, "There is nothing in life that is worth fearing, there is only that which needs to be understood."

Fear intensifies before the unknown - that which is not explained from the point of view of science, religion, does not have clear instructions and guarantees of safety. And then, as in the Middle Ages, people turn on magical thinking, speculation, fantasies. And in the age of the internet and social media, they are spreading faster than the coronavirus itself.

🔴 It turns out that there are as many as two epidemics - one is related to the virus, and the other, media, is related to discussions around the virus. Accordingly, along with sanitary, we need informational and mental hygiene. On the first - follow the recommendations of doctors. On the second, the psychologist's recommendations are below.

To protect ourselves and our psyche from "social infection" and "mass psychosis", we need to maintain a normal ability to judge and not fall into obsession

✅ Do not participate in the replication of panic in conversations, SMS and social networks

✅ Slow down those who load you with their anxieties - negative emotions are also contagious, and complaints weaken the immune system

✅ Make it a rule to notice every day what makes you feel positive. Any little thing: the aroma of coffee, a sunny morning, a bright scarf, a favorite song, slipped through a cork, bought a bouquet from an old woman, and so on. Arrange the exchange of good news and train your loved ones to notice the good

✅ Do not flip through the news feed endlessly. Our psyche perceives negative information as a threat. One of her defensive reactions: the desire to control the situation in the world. But this is an illusion of control - to monitor the news. In fact, this only intensifies the stress response, which gets no outlet. And prolonged stress weakens the immune system, making the body susceptible to infections.

✅ Keep track of strong bodily and emotional reactions as you read the news. Muscle tension, headache, heart palpitations should be a signal to close your laptop / smartphone and change your activity. Go for a walk or make tea.

✅ Express and relive your emotions. Any human tragedy can cause a stressful response. Empathy is a natural human quality. I want to cry? Cry. Do not suppress your feelings even if you are worried and regretted about someone else's tragedy, illness, lost soldiers or people in a plane crash.

✅ Draw your experiences. It is enough even to scribble with ordinary wax crayons on a sheet of paper until the tension subsides. Then rip, discard or burn.

✅ Duration of emotion up to 12 minutes. If you are stuck for a few days, ask yourself a question: what is my grief really about, what event in my life history resembles what is happening? Have you recently experienced a difficult breakup, dismissal or loss? Activation of trauma occurs in aftereffect. Repressed grief can lead to depression. When faced with an event that is associatively reminiscent of what happened to you earlier. Perhaps now that you have grown up, you already have enough resources to live and rethink the past experience. If not, seek help from a psychologist.

✅ Feeling over-scared? Ask yourself - what fear do you really avoid in life: changing jobs? Divorce? Marry? Give a birth to a baby? Or maybe you can finally start living the life you really want?

✅ Moms who are overly anxious about their children, pay attention to yourself, your desires, feelings. It often happens that they put all their love, care and the meaning of life in those who seem to them to be better, more ideal and more important than themselves. In those who have everything ahead. In those who cannot do without them. To always be needed and most loved. The meaning of life is really scary to lose. It's time to think about how to properly distribute it. And on yourself, your needs, your realization and your desires as well. Show your children an example of how to live life happily and fulfillingly.

✅ Allow yourself to have fun. You have the right to do so. Can you be all right when someone suffers or you are sure to be punished? Where do the legs of this idea grow from? Write down the top 50 things you've ever enjoyed and do something from this list every day. Viruses are afraid of people overwhelmed with lust for life.

✅ Remember, a crisis is always a point of growth. Non-standard situations activate the sleeping potential, we develop creativity, new professional skills, reasonable consumption of natural, material and human resources, care for loved ones and health prevention, neurotic symptoms make it possible to get rid of them forever. The evolution of mankind is impossible without overcoming difficulties. We will definitely cope, strengthen the immune system, become healthier and stronger!

✅ Keep in touch with reality! And stay critical. Acceptance of reality occurs through living through 5 stages: denial, anger, bargaining, depression, acceptance. The main thing is not to hang in the stage of denial - not to deny the fact of the danger of infection, not to ignore the recommendations of health workers and the observance of quarantine. It is also important not to plunge into the depression stage nadolko - if the signs of depression last 2-3 weeks in you or your loved ones, seek psychological help. Stay calm and tackle real-world problems as they arise.

✅ You can switch from alarm to certainty at any time. It's time to practice this skill. Yes, not everyone can do it right away. But it is still possible. For example, during the quarantine period, shift the focus of your attention to what you yourself can control in your life and for which there was not enough time before. For example:

- diet and sports to strengthen the immune system

- clean up deposits in closets

- do a general cleaning

- clear the memory of your smartphone and laptop

- plant flowers and take care of them

- watch your favorite films at home instead of premieres in the cinema

- arrange a romantic candlelight dinner

- experiment with recipes

- use quarantine to establish emotional closeness with children, say "I love you", play together, discuss a movie or a book, bake a cake, take a walk in the fresh air, paint or indulge, measure wardrobe and teach a daughter to apply makeup, and a son to tinker what something around the house.

✅ And for those who really find it difficult to cope with their experiences during this period, are very scared for themselves or loved ones, do not bring the psyche to exhaustion, panic attacks, neurosis or depression. See a psychologist in time. To do this, now you don't even need to leave the house. For example, I now conduct online psychological counseling via video communication with clients from any city in the world.

Take care of yourself and your nerves - the key to healthy immunity!