If my goal was to write about a contentious topic right now, I couldn’t do any better than pick coronavirus.
Along with the symptoms associated with the virus, Covid-19 also brings with it an ability to incite heated opinions in people.
Actually, my intention is not to write about a tricky topic just for the sake of it.
That said, I’m seeing a marked difference in how people are experiencing this lockdown in my practice and I want to share some thoughts.
We’re dealing with a new virus and uncertainty
While Covid-19 is dominating the headlines, it’s by no means the only pathogen we’re dealing with currently.
Uncertainty has been forced into our lives in a way none of us have experienced before. No less contagious, this feels like a pathogen we’re fighting on all fronts too.
Whether we look at the public or private sphere, we see uncertainty – and no end to it.
I do believe that people want to do what is right, in this current moment, to protect the health service, and the more vulnerable members of our society. From a public sphere point of view, most people mean well. People are doing their best while having very little firm data to act on.
At the same time, it’s worth calling out that people are dealing with so many unknowns as they look to chart a path through this pandemic in their personal lives too.
- Is my job safe?
- Should I return to an office?
- How much longer will homeschooling take place?
Losing the predictability to make decisions about our lives (e.g. booking a weekend away a month in advance, regularly meeting up with friends and family members, our weekly swim at the lido) reveals just how much of the virus falls outside of our control.
And losing that control is scary.
How can we navigate sensibly through the media hysteria?
I’ve been a practicing psychotherapist for more than 15 years. In that time, I’ve frequently noticed patterns among the clients who have engaged with me.
Recently, I’ve had client after client tell me that they are reducing their media intake drastically. In fact, I’ve had so many clients tell me of their Covid media diets, that I can only identify this as a trend!
Colleagues of mine are repeating similar experiences within their practices.
As a psychotherapist, I wholeheartedly support my clients in making these empowered decisions. Taking control of how much media content we imbibe is one way to reduce uncertainty and put some power back in our own pockets.
As a therapist and an individual having to navigate through this experience like everyone else, I’d like to share a few thoughts on the role the media is playing.
Observationally, it seems as though our news cycles have become addicted to catastrophe.
Searching for insights can feel like the proverbial hunt for a needle in a haystack.
The closest I have come to this recently is an article by The Telegraph’s Science Editor, Sarah Knapton. She puts forward a thought out and methodical analysis of the numbers we’re being bombarded with daily.
Her article leaves no doubt as to the seriousness of the situation, but the deeper insights she shared helped me feel a little more understanding. And, by extension, a little less uncertainty.
Sadly, this is not what we’re receiving in the main from our media. The stance being taken is sensationalist and it feels frightening and gloom laden all the time. This impacts our nervous systems, repeatedly taking us into fight/flight.
The dance that our nervous systems are in now has the potential for negative long term effects on us physically, emotionally and psychologically. A recent article in the Daily Express discussed the anxiety levels people are feeling and the harm this is doing.
I am urging people to reduce their news consumption.
I often share with my clients how our bodies are a huge source of information for us.
Many of my clients are sharing with me the stress they feel in their bodies when they’re consuming media at the moment. This has been my experience too.
My decision has been to catch up with some media input on one day a week only. The rest of my free time is made up of cooking, listening to music, keeping all-important contact with friends and doing stress-reducing activities such as Chi Kung and listening to bedtime stories at night on the Calm app.
This decision hasn’t changed the daily statistics around coronavirus, but it has contributed to me feeling calmer.
My clients embarking on a media diet are reporting similar results with me. They’re feeling less frantic and anxious for having reduced how much hysteria they’re taking in from the daily news cycles.
Create a map through the overwhelm
Managing the uncertainty that has come with the pandemic is the key to getting through this period of time.
The following ways might help people to do just that:
- Identify what “stability markers” you have in your life and stick to them. So much of our structure has been eroded by our circumstances. Identifying and creating new structures are helpful, we all need some scaffolding to lean upon. Examples include:
- Waking up at the same time every morning
- Going to bed at the same time every evening
- Eating a healthy meal every day
- Going for a walk within your allowed radius
- Doing some form of exercise in your home (moving your body really does lift your mental state)
- Know that feeling stressed and anxious is an entirely logical response to what is happening. Do what you can to reduce these feelings and support yourself, but don’t berate yourself for feeling them in the first place. They make sense.
- Don’t believe that your thoughts are facts. Your thoughts will come and go throughout the day. A healthy way to deal with them is to get into a place where you observe them. This helps you let them go easier.
- Remember your own resilience. Think about the ways you have overcome uncertainty in the past. And be reassured that you will again.
One of the ways to navigate through the pandemic is by speaking to a trusted therapist. I am supporting clients around the world with online therapy.
Please feel free to contact me if you’d like to find out how therapy might help you right now. I’d be delighted to chat with you.