Self-isolation Stress And Anxiety / How To Survive An Epidemic / Self-regulation And Self-management

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

Quite recently, as if yesterday, it seemed to me that this topic is relevant for people experiencing health problems. Personally, I used these techniques for clients for whom stress is contraindicated for medical reasons, so an attempt to delve into the causes of a stressful situation could lead to additional exacerbations of the underlying disease, and there was only one thing left - teaching self-regulation techniques.

Today the whole country (if not the whole world) finds itself in a state of uncertainty, uncontrollable anxiety and tension, the cause of which we cannot influence and this situation must simply be endured with the least loss. The first thing you want to do is to find the guilty ones: the conspiracy of the world government, the inaction of the local administration, inappropriate actions of law enforcement agencies, the incompetence of psychologists, the insensitivity of family members, etc.

On the one hand, such a reaction is understandable and justified. If someone is to blame, then nothing depends on me personally - I am a victim. Give me a magic pill, universal advice, and on the count of 1-2, solve all my problems. But the "magician in the blue helicopter" does not fly, and the fairy-tale fairies only come in children's films. It is not yet clear to live in a new way, as anxiety covers your head over and over again.

Self-regulation techniques are not magic pills, but they can help you take control of your emotions. The truth is that it is impossible to fight with your anxiety, but you can and should negotiate so that it, this anxiety, does not interfere, but helps us to survive in a new situation. Most often, the negative also contains positive moments, for something it is needed. For example, after the coronavirus epidemic, the PRC authorities officially banned the consumption of cat and dog meat (and this custom was very widespread in China before the well-known events).

The simple question remains - how to do this, how to come to terms with your anxiety? At one time, two wonderful and very talented people generously shared with us their best practices and guidelines for self-regulation. These are Mikhail Gennadievich Kochurov - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of Kirov Medical University and Yuri Vasilyevich Makarov - Candidate of Psychological Sciences, Associate Professor of the Russian State Pedagogical University named after V. I. Herzen from St. Petersburg.

So, we call for the help of the gestalt technique - the "two chairs" technique.

To practice this technique, dear reader, you need to answer the proposed list of questions with the utmost sincerity and frankness. Do not look for beautiful and correct phrases, voice your associations, feelings and feelings. Ready…? Go!

1. Describe what exactly do you feel when anxiety (stress, depression) comes?
2. Is your anxiety male or female?
3. How old do you think she is?
4. Is she older than You?
5. How did you determine her age?
6. She's beautiful?
7. Describe her "scary" / beauty?
8. Who does she look like?
9. Do you want to get rid of her?
10. What did she do you wrong?
11. For what specific reason do you want to get rid of her?
12. How exactly does it prevent you from living?
13. How often does this condition occur?
14. Give an example and describe a specific situation.
15. Could you yourself get rid of this anxiety?
16. What happens if you get rid of her?
17. Describe how exactly will you feel when the anxiety goes away?
18. Move the second chair and imagine that Your anxiety is sitting on this chair. Take your time and get used to this image. Close your eyes and imagine vividly and clearly that Your anxiety is here in this chair. Repeat “My anxiety is here in this chair” several times until you can clearly imagine it.
19. What are you feeling now?
20. And you can tell, but why did these feelings arise?
21. Imagine that now you have a club in your hands. Come to the second chair and hit your anxiety with all your might. …
22. Can not? What exactly is stopping you?
23. Maybe ask someone else to beat her up?
24. Do you feel sorry for her?
25. But doesn't she poison your life?
26. What are you feeling now?
27. You just wanted to get rid of her, didn't you?
28. So, you agree (to) that she stay with you?
29. Sit on the second chair and pretend that you are the same anxiety. What would you, anxiety, say to a person from the first chair?
30. How do you, anxiety, relate to this person?
31. What do you, anxiety, feel about him?
32. Why do you need Him, anxiety?
33. Can you, anxiety, say anything else to this person?
34. Come back to the first chair and tell me, do You agree with these words of alarm?
35. If you get rid of your anxiety, will you lose nothing?
36. Sit on the second chair and answer, is there anything good in You, anxiety?
37. Come back to the first chair and tell me, please, do you agree with the fact that there is something positive in any anxiety? For example, anxiety mobilizes human resources and creates an attitude to find a way out of a difficult situation.
38. What are you feeling now?

If you could not agree with your anxiety, contact a psychologist. The current situation requires us to make new and innovative solutions. If the feeling of anxiety prevents you from doing this, you need to integrate the opposites of your “I” and understand your problem by adjusting your attitude towards it. Be healthy and take care of yourself!

With deep respect and respect for the authors of the self-regulation program.

Larisa Dubovikova - psychologist, business coach