Whilst dealing with the ongoing crises, we are not only falling short of physical resources but also seriously unable to cope with the psychological effects of this ongoing trauma. PTSD- Post Traumatic Stress Disorder is suffered by soldiers who are in stressful war situations for a long time & unable to cope with it. We are collectively experiencing a Continuing Trauma Stress Disorder CTSD in the war against COVID and we don’t even know it or even if we do, we are unprepared to deal with it.
The feeling is that of being trapped civilians in a war zone who are not even a part of any army and yet being exposed to complete risks of the war. Most of us are confronting pain of the loss of loved ones, dealing with the fear of us/dear ones contracting the deadly virus & suffering the consequences. We are not only in the same boat as regards our physical/financial condition but also not in the same boat as regards our psychological condition and our ability to cope with stress. It is a time for a crash course in psychological training to deal with the stress.
I recently saw a video of a psychologist who suggested 3 interesting techniques to deal with Stress. Needless to say that there are many other techniques to cope with stress but I found these simple and practical to be implemented by anyone, hence sharing.
1. Act on the “Controllable” – Accept the “Uncontrollable”: Note on a paper all the “Problems” that you can perceive on the left side and on the right whether there exists a solution that you can currently work on to resolve the problem. Do whatever you can for the ones that you can, for the ones where no solution exists or you cannot work on it presently then put it in God’s bucket and say”God will solve this”. Later if you are worrying yourself about the same problem – refer to the paper and say that it’s already in God’s bucket and over time your mind will stop stressing over it.
2. Stop Negativity: Stop watching news/messages/statistics incessantly like your life depended on it and stop sharing information that you think would negatively affect people.
3. Conscious Relaxation: Close your eyes and consciously relax your eyes for a 20 seconds, whenever you can, you will find that your body and mind both relax.
This COVID Trauma seems to be in for the long haul and we don’t have any alternative but to prepare ourselves physically and mentally to cope with it with consistent exercises both physical and mental. Learn & consistently practice physical/mental exercises for your own good and for the good of your loved ones – since your stress not only affects you but also your loved ones. If you are in a position to be of help to others in any way, try to do whatever you can, whenever you can. Doesn’t matter if you haven’t tried all this before, the best time to start was yesterday, the next best time is today.
Above all remember: This too shall pass….
Bodhisattva 