How To Deal With Negativity?

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

The events of the last year in the country have changed us a lot. Regardless of the position, degree of involvement and activity. Because, one way or another, the information was constantly around, and even if the person did not watch TV or was not an active user of social networks, the news was still discussed wherever we went. Since December last year, the country has been living in constant tension and stress. And the consequences of this can already be observed.

PSYCHOLOGICAL TRAUMA is harm caused to a person's mental health as a result of the strong influence of unfavorable environmental factors or the impact of other people on his psyche.

Forewarned is forearmed. Psychologists unanimously agree that all of Ukraine has experienced a huge psychological trauma. It doesn't matter if people were participants in the events or watched everything on TV. Numerous studies show that a witness to traumatic events receives psychological trauma no less (sometimes even greater) than the participant himself. In addition, trauma can be single and strong in impact, or multiple, lesser in impact, but with accumulation, the consequences will be the same. Usually, with trauma, those psychological problems appear that a person had previously, but did not manifest. This is especially true of those feelings that are permanent companions of psychological trauma: fear, shame, anger, guilt. For example, a person begins to feel ashamed that he was not a participant, did not help, but survived. Or anger that the world around is changing so dramatically. Or blame for the dead. Those. the psyche is traumatized by events from the outside, and the person's own past psychological problems manifest themselves. We supposedly react to events, but in fact we react with our "sore spots", unlived emotional traumas. And the more there were such situations in the past, the sharper the reaction will be. The consequences of psychological trauma can also manifest themselves in completely different areas. More often than not, we don't even realize why we are afraid or angry. Suddenly we begin to experience inexplicable fear or an attack of panic, although there seems to be no apparent reason for this. Psychotherapists say that the degree of trauma can be judged by its default. When insignificant reasons are given great importance, and the real cause of anxiety is hushed up.

Life after injury. Often, the response to stress is not manifested in the midst of some events, but immediately after, when, it would seem, the most difficult is over. The state of people at such a moment can be described with the following metaphor: when the frozen limbs begin to warm up, it becomes very painful. This is what psychotherapists observe, in such symptoms as unexpected panic attacks, decreased mood and appetite, depression, exacerbated health problems, family problems, activation of various fears. Many are experiencing a so-called panic attack for the first time. This is a very severe attack of severe anxiety, which may be accompanied by shortness of breath, palpitations, dizziness, chills, extreme fear of going crazy or dying. This happens most often in subways or confined spaces. In any case, this is a consequence of the worries experienced. In general, the reaction to events depends on many factors, primarily on how difficult a person's life was, how much psychological trauma (loss) was experienced, how healthy a person is physically, how satisfied he is with his current life, how much he has built up various spheres - from work and career to family and sex. Someone quite easily survived the events, some did not. But the adaptive capabilities of our body and, in particular, the psyche are sometimes amazing. You just need to learn to listen to yourself, help and take care of yourself.

If you are faced with a PANIC ATTACK, remember that no one dies or goes crazy about it. You need to try, at least to even out your breathing. Or try to shift your attention to something else.

ANTISTRESS - TECHNIQUES

· As soon as you feel tension, try to walk your mind through all your muscles or focus on breathing, aligning it.

Try to imagine a very pleasant place and have a little thought in it

· Count items of a certain color where you are.

Reading, dancing, or singing can help cope with anxiety.

8 TIPS RELEVANT IN THE CURRENT SITUATION:

It is important to understand that it is absolutely normal to be anxious and afraid in the current environment.

1. Remember that many of our current reactions are caused by trauma. Therefore, pause, think about why there was some kind of reaction, emotion, desire and do not rush to actions and conclusions.

2. Learn to listen to yourself and take care of yourself. Look for resources you can draw on. Determine your area of responsibility, what you can really influence. First of all, this is your body. Now it is especially important to take care of health, get enough sleep, eat on time, engage in physical activity, monitor health, have sex, if there is such a need.

3. Continuing the topic of resources - now there is a huge surge of interest in art or sports. This is the desire to live. This is how the psyche adapts. In this case, anything can become a resource: sports, hobbies, courses, communication, meditation, travel, etc.

4. It is important to learn to dose news and social media time. Multiple viewing of violent videos is especially harmful. Thus, the psyche is re-traumatized.

5. Remember that other people around us react in a similar way, and may very well be more anxious and aggressive than before. This is now associated with frequent fierce political disputes that can lead to a break in relations.

6. It is necessary to cope with attacks of anxiety or panic. Especially if you have small children or elderly people in your family. Because often, your stable, calm state helps to align the emotional state of other people. To do this, you need to learn to switch from disturbing thoughts. This can be done with the help of breathing exercises, various psychotechnics, meditation, again physical activity, art therapy or art classes.

7. It is very important now to communicate with loved ones as often as possible and to appreciate good, good relations.

8. Do not be afraid to seek help from specialists if you feel that you cannot cope on your own. When is it worth contacting a specialist? As mentioned above, now everyone, to one degree or another, is experiencing the consequences of a social traumatic situation. Many have discovered reactions or symptoms that were not there before. But is it worth it to be scared? It all depends on how pronounced these reactions are and how much they interfere with ordinary life. For example, if a panic attack happened once, and you dealt with it and the state did not return, then everything is fine. If such attacks occur periodically, and before they were not, then this is a reason to ask for help. At the same time, you should not mistake any bad mood for depression. This can apply to any manifestation - psychological or physical.

It is worth paying close attention to symptoms such as a sharp decrease or increase in weight, insomnia, causeless anxiety or increased irascibility, prolonged low mood, difficult experiences or dreams, recurring traumatic memories, tearfulness, deterioration in health, a feeling of extreme helplessness or constant threat, thoughts about suicide, the inability to do the usual things, alcoholism. Communication problems or unwillingness to communicate with other people, problems can also be the consequences of psychological trauma. But it is important to understand that all the symptoms described can appear much later, after a few months, or even six months. This is especially true for health problems. This should be taken into account and in time to seek help from specialists.

Katerina Aleksandrovskaya for "Good Advice" June 2014.