Since the pandemic, we may feel like we are caught off guard by this unprecedented circumstances. Our reactions can vary from others’ depending on many different multiple factors, including our interpretation skills, beliefs, behaviour patterns, education, upbringing and temperament.
This process perhaps serves as an unconventional way of measuring our psychological resilience. While we are in our own routines, it is easier to react maturely, manage stress and anxiety. But when we face an unknown, we need to use our resources that we have not utilized and practiced with before. Fortunately, our ability to adapt to a new situation allows us to learn from whatever situation we are in, mature and grow stronger. Perhaps we can be at peace with and thankful to ourselves that we got through this situation with minimal damage.
What self-care resources we can turn to during these peculiar times?
1. Self-Compassion
It is time to be understanding and gentle towards ourselves and our loved ones. We may be are skilled at showing this attitude towards others, but we have to admit that when it comes down to it, we find it difficult to show the same compassionate and embracing attitude towards ourselves. Perhaps we have a misapprehension, in which we believe being understanding towards ourselves would mean that we are selfish. However, it would be useful to remind ourselves once again that the most natural support to ourselves can only be given by ourselves. We see natural healing and growth occur when we move away our focus from the search for approval/ understanding/ acceptance we expect from the outside and use our own resources.
2. Principle of Universality
The pandemic has united us under the same roof, it brought us closer to each other and made us realize that we may share similarities and we may feel powerless against the same things. This reveals how universal the sharing is.
3. Radical Acceptance
We can salute the well-known serenity prayer of acceptance with elements such as ‘wisdom’ and ‘patience’. The radical acceptance concept encourages us to adopt reality as it is, without manipulating it, and develop more rational strategies to deal with it in the most effective way. Rather than passive acceptance, radical acceptance allows us to accept what is happening and overcome it.
4. Being Grateful
Perhaps one of the most effective skills we have as human beings is to be able to adapt both to the good and the bad, the beautiful and the ugly, the new and the old. While this adaptability has helped sustain our species for thousands of years, it also causes us to get used to everything very easily and very quickly. Something that makes you very happy can easily become boring and not at all happiness-inducing. Well, aren’t we just a little unfair when it comes to what we have? It is necessary to ground ourselves and be grateful for what we have.
If we are healthy, it is necessary to remind ourselves remember to be thankful that we are improving mental wellness, even if we have a disease, we should remember that we can take control of our body and mind in order to fight and defeat it. And if our loved ones are with us, we should be thankful that we have them.
Hande Anadolu, Psychologist
