Contents
“Remember that more than 90% of your worries never happen”
Psychology
The psychologist Laura Fuster provides the keys to minimize the emotional and psychological exhaustion experienced by many people during confinement
“But is this never going to end?”, “Are we always going to be threatened by the coronavirus?”, “Will we have to forget about the summer holidays?” … The “mental gazpacho” that many people have been preparing in his head during confinement has ingredients as indigestible as uncertainty, the fear and the anxiety.
Each filtering bag psychologists expect a significant increase in patients in the coming months as a result of the impact that each of these factors (or the sum of them) is already producing: the effects of the lockdown, job losses, the economic consequences derived from this situation, the death of loved ones or the different traumatic experiences related to the disease.
One of the keys to
successfully overcome these unknown experiences resides, according to the psychologist Laura Fuster, of the Center for Cognitive Behavioral Psychology of Valencia, in working with thinkingWell, these are the ones that condition our emotions and, therefore, our behavior. With the help of this expert we review everything that can help undo that “mental gazpacho” that has many people blocked and put each ingredient in its place.
What resources can help alleviate the emotional exhaustion that we are experiencing?
At the level of thinkingIt is important to detect the irrational ideas that we have acquired during confinement and that we look for alternative thoughts that are more objective and do us less harm.
For example, if I think that, since during these days of confinement I have been sad, every day I will be like this, I am generalizing. If I think that my partner is overwhelmed by spending so many days together, I am “reading his mind”, since I have not asked him and it is only a guess.
Detect these errors of thoughts helps us to change them and to mitigate the emotions that such catastrophic and extreme ideas generate in us.
In this sense, it is also important that we take care of the language that we apply in these thoughts, since they are the way in which we speak to ourselves. We should try to use a measured and neutral language and avoid extreme and general terms such as “always”, “never”, “everything”, “nothing”, “horrible”, “necessary”, and so on.
As for the emotionsWe can practice meditation, which can help us focus on the present and the here and now. In this way, we will think less about the past and the future. We must remember that more than 90% of our worries never happen.
From a behavioral point of view, it is important to return to the enjoyable activitiesas they are the basis of the mood. Remember the things you liked to do and recover them, this will bring you positive emotions.
How can we avoid falling into a loop of pessimism and negativity?
Thoughts condition our emotions and behavior. We must work on them so that the emotions are not so intense and, in this way, do not condition my behavior.
For example, if I think that if I go out into the street I am sure that I am infected with the coronavirus, my emotion will be a strong anxiety and it will lead me not to go out and even develop fear of leaving home or “agoraphobia”. Otherwise, if I think that if I follow the security measures I will not get infected, my anxiety will be controlled and I will be able to go out little by little until I realize that nothing is wrong.
It is also important respect emotions that we feel. It’s okay if one day you’re sad, but if you find that pessimism lasts too long, work on your thoughts, do pleasant activities, or seek professional help if you can’t handle it.
What kind of attitude in your day-to-day life can help you cope with anxiety and uncertainty?
It is time to focus on the present. The current situation is very changing and this gives us uncertainty, which in turn generates anxiety or fear.
If we focus on the activities of the day and the short term goals, anxiety will be reduced, since it is easier to know what I am going to do today or this week than in a month or a year.
For example, it can generate anxiety think about summer vacations because we don’t know what we can or cannot do. In this case, focus on the enjoyable activity that you are going to do this weekend. Take care of your summer holidays later, when you have more information and knowing that this year everyone is going to have to improvise
What are the signs that we need psychological help?
Psychologists talk about frequency, intensity and duration of discomfort. If you have an emotion that causes you discomfort that occurs every day, it is very intense and you find it difficult to control it and your discomfort lasts for hours, or if a thought that worries you every day is very intense and you cannot stop giving it turns, we would be faced with parameters that indicate that an emotion or unimportant concern is becoming pathological.
You can also search Professional Help when you have tried to solve the problem yourself and have not been able or have not achieved the results you expected.
What is resilience and how can it be trained to strengthen ourselves in the current situation?
La resilience it is the ability to cope with difficult situations. The coronavirus crisis has led us to experience adverse situations such as the death of a loved one, the loss of a job, the restriction of freedom by not being able to go out, fear of contagion, etc. What’s more, it is a situation that has never been experiencedTherefore, we do not have previous references that can serve as an example for good emotional management.
We can train resilience by being aware of our potentials and limitations. We must thus be very aware of what I can face and the tools I have, but also of when I should ask for help or delegate.
We can also remember similar past situations and think about what strategies I used to solve them.
Also, you have to try to have objective thoughts and focused on the present and knowing when to lean on others
A Guide for Those Who Can’t Find Handles
The coronavirus crisis has not only changed our way of life, but it is also changing the way we see life. Adjusting psychologically to these two profound changes is proving difficult for many people. Some say that a complicated and unknown context like this can bring out the worst in people, but the truth is that the media have witnessed altruistic initiatives from the field of sports, art, music, education, literature and psychology, among many other disciplines, which not only make sense of the fact that a crisis brings out the worst in people but also leads us to think what On the contrary: in difficult situations many people offer the best they have to others without asking for anything in return.
One of these altruistic initiatives is the one that was forged in the heat of virtual meetings between professionals, who decided to join forces to contribute their knowledge to the population in an altruistic way. Thus, the psychologist Laura Fuster is part of the group of psychologists who during the first weeks of confinement developed a guide to psychologically face the coronavirus. The document, which can be downloaded for free, provides guidelines and exercises to manage anxiety, useful activities for children, people with disabilities or the elderly, as well as recommendations for caregivers, healthcare personnel or even people suffering from chronic diseases. In addition, the expert provides access to a guide with guidelines for managing anxiety.