Disturbing news from everywhere surrounds you and makes you feel panic, fear, lethargy, depression and anxiety. There are techniques that can help you deal with these feelings and maintain your mental health.
One of the worst feelings a person can experience is the feeling of helplessness. When outside forces dictate major world events, such as war, natural disaster, an unimaginable act of violence, or a threat to our health, it taps into our deepest and most human vulnerability. Psychalive writes about it.
But how to deal with it? How can we take care of our mental health, not just to help ourselves and our loved ones, but to have the strength and resources to be useful and help other people? How can we regain the sense of personal power that makes us stronger in the world around us?
Breath 4-7-8
When we’re afraid, expecting something bad, or obsessed with negative news, cortisol levels skyrocket. It can be difficult to calm the nervous system as events can be out of our control. You may even feel guilty for trying to “calm down” out of fear that you are ignoring a problem that you need to do something about.
To increase emotional stability, you need to learn to calm down within yourself. A simple and immediate technique you can try is the 4-7-8 breath. It consists of inhaling for four seconds through the nose, holding the breath for seven seconds, and exhaling for eight seconds. Repeating this pattern five times can calm your nervous system.
RAIN Technique: Understand Your Response
Much of what we read or see in the news can either be traumatic in itself or provoke us on a deeper emotional level. The RAIN Approach is a method taught by psychologists Jack Kornfield and Tara Brach to help people cope when they feel emotionally overwhelmed. RAIN steps:
To recognise (R-know) overwhelming emotion, trauma, or loss
Recognition/permission/acceptance (one – accept) happened and may not be resolved, but the feeling will pass
i’m discovering (I – research) the nature of the experience in your past and present life. Do sensations, images, feelings, or thoughts arise when you acknowledge your feelings?
self-identification (not identifying with n-). Don’t identify yourself with what has happened or could happen, try to look at the situation from the outside and feel more than just the thoughts and feelings that are in your head right now. It is important to understand that any negative situation is a particular burden for you and only you can choose to continue or get rid of it.
Disturbing events can evoke old or unresolved feelings. Making these connections and processing the experience of the RAIN steps can prevent you from being paralyzed and afraid. Instead, you can accept and feel emotions, make sense of them, and move forward.
Feel what you feel.
When something bad happens, there is strong pressure to stay calm and move on. Oddly enough, but “going on” with your usual routine – washing the dishes, making breakfast for the kids, focusing on work or just not scrolling through the news pages on the phone – We everyone has to keep moving throughout the day. However, when we persist in our feelings and don’t confront them, they have a way of following us.
Whatever emotions we experience, such as anger, grief, fear or sadness, it’s important to give ourselves time to feel them. Like a wave crashing over us, our emotions can seem powerful and overwhelming when they rise, but when we feel them fully, they can subside and return to the sea. While avoiding our emotions can cause all sorts of side effects that permeate our lives, feeling pain can actually give us a feeling of recharge, inspiration, and empowerment.
If you can’t reach a calm state and your feelings are constantly running over you, this may be a sign that you need help and support from a professional.
show yourself compassion
Many people tend to pull themselves together when faced with something traumatic. We may feel guilty or just be cruel, repeatedly reminding ourselves that we feel bad. We can fill our heads with hopeless scenarios that increase the feeling of powerlessness even more.
Instead of falling into these traps, you should devote yourself to the practice of self-compassion. Christine Neff defines three principles of self-compassion as follows: being kind to oneself rather than self-judgment, awareness instead of identifying with thoughts and feelings, and humanity instead of isolation.
favor yourself. When going through tough times, your main goal should be to treat yourself the way you would treat a friend who is going through the same thing. You have to empathize with yourself and accept that what you are going through is really difficult.
attention. When you go into fight-or-flight mode, you can be conscious of how you react. You can accept that everything you think and feel is normal. However, you don’t need to get carried away with every thought and emotion in your head.
Support. Most of the things we face, we don’t face it alone. This is especially true for stories that affect millions of people. When a tragic event occurs in public, many people feel the same way we do. Connecting with shared human experience is an essential part of self-compassion. No matter how unprecedented events may seem, we are still surrounded by people who share this experience and strive for change.
create your team
Part of the powerlessness is the feeling of loneliness. When you are negatively affected by an event, the same thing happens to many people. Finding a team means building a support network of people to talk about your feelings.
Creating your own team is an act of personal protection and social activity. Having people around to walk you through the ups and downs is key to not feeling like you’re drowning in the noise. You need someone who will let you feel what you’re feeling and also lift your spirits when you’re upset. And you will do the same for someone else.
to behave
Many people are greatly relaxed and deeply energized by participating in volunteering activities and helping others. Even small actions can have a huge impact on your mental health.
There is no better place to channel your frustration than to take action. It releases adrenaline and is a tool to take action in harmony with how we feel. Approaching a goal brings hope and connection in a world that often leaves us feeling down and overwhelmed.
Using your personal power can connect you to a broader and stronger vision of what people are capable of. This is something you should not lose hope for. Each of us experiences trauma in one way or another every day. You get through tough times by treating yourself with compassion, building a team, and taking action that aligns with your values. You improve your own well-being and radiate a sense of hope and compassion to others. It may seem like all you can do, but it’s the only thing that keeps you going. You can’t control every news, all you can do is be kind to yourself, respect your feelings and keep fighting for the things you care about.
Remember that the skin is a very sensitive organ, so it is the skin that first responds to stress, anxiety and worries.
Previously Focus He wrote that there are foods that can provide essential nutrients and compounds that promote relaxation, reduce stress, and improve overall well-being.
This material is for informational purposes only and does not contain advice that may affect your health. If you have problems, contact a professional.
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Source: Focus
Mary Moore is an accomplished author and journalist known for her engaging and informative writing on trending topics. She currently works as a writer at 24 news breaker. With a keen interest in current events and a talent for finding the human angle in stories, Mary’s writing is always engaging, insightful and informative.