Tips for not falling into despair with the pandemic

Every major crisis produces both a material impact and a psychological impact on the population, and the coronavirus pandemic is no exception.

In this sense, there are many people who notice that the situation exceeds them, and emotional imbalances appear linked to a feeling of despair and anguish.

Of course, feeling distress and stress in such a context is not necessarily a bad thing. problematic, but a natural reaction to what happens when many things we took for granted they cease to be. But many times that psychological state becomes part of the problem, because they keep us in a state of hopelessness that paralyzes us and prevents us from finding solutions and applying them. In this article we will see what to do in those cases.

• Related article: "Negative Automatic Thoughts: What They Are and How They Appear"

How do the problems of despair arise in the face of the pandemic?

The sources of stress and anguish in times of coronavirus are many, but the following stand out:

• Fear of losing your job or income. • Fear of contagion. • Fear of losing your health or losing loved ones. • Uncertainty about the social, political and economic transformation of the country. • Discomfort at the mandatory measures applied to avoid contagion. • Social isolation

Among all these elements, the fact of not knowing what will happen (given that the lack of Information on relevant issues associated with crises is usually interpreted from a point of view pessimistic), the stress of having to adjust to a more adverse economic reality, and the experiences of fear or loss generated by the effect of the virus itself. These are problems that no one was talking about a few months ago, and that force us to "position ourselves" from both our personal life as well as from professional life, making efforts to adapt to a new reality very complex.

Given the idea that mistakes can be expensive in situations like this, it is easy for psychological rumination to appear, which is the tendency to think about the same thing over and over again despite the fact that it causes us discomfort. This phenomenon goes hand in hand with anxiety, which keeps us in an almost constant state of alert despite the fact that it does not return us necessarily more efficient in addressing our problems (in fact, it tends to have the opposite effect, paralyzing us by the indecision).

To do?

The most efficient and effective way to manage negative emotions arising from the COVID-19 crisis is to go to the psychologist, something that is possible even with mobility restrictions thanks to the online video call therapy format. However, beyond psychotherapy there are also a series of habits and small routines that you can incorporate into your day to day to prevent or mitigate anxiety problems associated with pandemic. These are the most important.

1. Set a schedule and print it out

Have a schedule that includes the main blocks of activities for every day of the week it is very important to structure your habits and do good time management.

In addition, it is recommended that you do not limit yourself to having it saved on a computer, but that you print it one or several times so that you can put it in places in your home or in your workplace, whatever they are visible. This will act as a reminder of what to do and will also help you keep your short and medium term goals in mind, so you will focus more on them.

• You may be interested in: "How to choose a good psychologist who offers psychotherapy?"

2. Establishes a separation between work and private life

Knowing how to clearly define the times and places to dedicate oneself to work and those compounds for leisure time and domestic and family responsibilities is essential to maintain a good balance emotional.

The key idea in the previous section helps a lot in this, having a schedule, but that is not enough. We must be actively involved in preventing professional dynamics from “infiltrating” the hours of the day that we should be dedicating to anything else. Otherwise, you will expose yourself more to the obsessive thoughts associated with your work.

3. Practice Mindfulness

Mindfulness exercises help keep anxiety and intrusive thoughts at bay, and they are also very easy to learn. You can incorporate these practices into your day to day both as a rest in your work day and before going to sleepFor example, to bring you into calm and goal-oriented states at points in the day when staying in a state of paralysis and looping thinking could get you more trouble.

4. Exercise at moderate intensity to unwind

Regular exercise sessions will not only help you stay in shape, but at the same time they will make you more resistant to anxiety and help you release tension. It is best to schedule at least two aerobic exercise sessions a week, lasting between 40 and 60 minutes.

5. Practice relaxation techniques before going to sleep

These techniques They will help you to go to the layer having disconnected from possible recurring thoughts that usually lead you to a state of anguish or worry. For example, you can spend about 5-10 minutes on controlled diaphragmatic breathing or Jacobson's progressive muscle relaxation.

6. Establish preparation rituals for when you go to sleep

It is very important to sleep well and get enough hours, and for this it is best to adopt habits that do not expose us to the temptation of states "a few more minutes" doing anything else when it is time to get into bed and turn off the light.

Therefore, keep in mind that before that part of your day you should have approximately 20 or 30 minutes of preparation in which you will carry out actions whose sole purpose is to allow you to go to sleep with everything done: brush your teeth, change the sheets, turn off the computer, close the patio door, etc. Of course, it is recommended that these activities do not include those associated with your work life, because if not, you will probably start thinking about work at the wrong time to it.

7. Bring your agenda up to date

It is important that you write down in your agenda all those tasks that, however small or apparently trivial they may seem, are part of your responsibilities.

From that moment, you will always be clear about your goals for the next few hours. Keep in mind that thinking above all about what you can and / or should do in the short term will help you not fall into the despair of thinking only about the big ones tasks that must be done in the medium and long term, which can paralyze you due to the intimidating power of these responsibilities seen as a everything. You have to try to “break them up” into small elements to go slowly but surely.

Do you want to have professional psychological assistance?

If you are going through bad times and you notice that it is difficult for you to maintain a good emotional balance, get in touch with our team of psychotherapy professionals.

On Cribecca Psychology We work assisting people of all ages through psychotherapy for patients individuals such as through couples therapy and family therapy, as well as from the neuropsychology. You can have our help in our psychology center located in Seville, or through our online therapy service.

Bibliographic references:

• Dickson, K.; Ciesla, J.A.; Reilly, L.C. (2011). "Rumination, worry, cognitive avoidance, and behavioral avoidance: Examination of temporal effects". Behavior Therapy. 43 (3): 937–959.
• Kasper, S.; Boer, J.A. & Sitsen, J.M.A. (2003). Handbook of depression and anxiety (2nd ed.). New York: M. Dekker.
• Kendler, K.S. (2004). Major Depression and Generalized Anxiety Disorder. FOCUS. 2 (3): pp. 416 - 425.
• Papageorgiou, C.; Wells, A. (2001). Metacognitive beliefs about rumination in recurrent major depression. Cognitive and Behavioral Practice, 8 (2): pp. 160 - 164.
• Persson, P.B. & Zakrisson, A. (2016). Stress. Acta Physiologica, 216 (2): pp. 149 - 152.
• Settipani, C.A.; Kendall, P.C. (2013). Social functioning in youth with anxiety disorders: association with anxiety severity and outcomes from cognitive-behavioral therapy. Child Psychiatry and Human Development, 44 (1): pp. 1 - 18.
• Sylvers, P.; Lilienfeld, S.O.; LaPrairie, J.L. (2011). Differences between trait fear and trait anxiety: implications for psychopathology. Clinical Psychology Review, 31 (1): pp. 122 - 137.