The journalists at BBC Future have put together a list of some simple tips to help you feel at least a little less anxious about what is happening in the world. During the coronavirus pandemic, when people find themselves isolated from each other, when a simple meeting with friends in a cafe becomes impossible, when the economic prospects for the whole world look increasingly bleak, when an avalanche of bad news overwhelms, it is very difficult to push away negative thoughts and constant worries even for a moment and to live as before…
But even in such times, you can take precautions to keep your inner world from falling apart completely and to lift your spirits. The science of emotions is incredibly complex, but it is also a well-studied field. Over several years, BBC Future journalists have interviewed dozens of world-renowned experts in the field of psychology, and they have given us practical advice for everyday life – how to cope better with stress. We sat down, sorted through and summarized everything they told us. Here’s what we came up with (some tips may surprise you).
I agree, it’s very easy to get caught up in the cycle of a stressful issue, thinking about it over and over again, and running around in circles with our negative emotions. And it doesn’t matter what it is – a coronavirus outbreak, an impending economic crisis, or something else. However, scientists have proven that if you stop dwelling on upsetting events in your mind and distract yourself with something else, your blood pressure will drop much faster than if you try to do it without distraction.
In difficult situations, during hard times, many people turn to meditation, to increasing mindfulness – and discover that it really helps. However, not everyone can do it – precisely because of that same mindfulness. Some who sit still only provoke themselves to think more about the bad. Vainly trying to clear their minds of anxious thoughts, they achieve the opposite – such thoughts accumulate as if they were just waiting to happen. That’s why we don’t have clear evidence that meditation helps. For those who can’t stop the flow of thoughts and enter a state of heightened awareness, it would be better to engage in something completely absorbing – watch a movie you can’t tear yourself away from, play an exciting computer game, engage in a favorite hobby – for example, learn a new song on the guitar and perform it for friends over Skype.
How our own emotions affect us depends greatly on the context in which we place them. In 2017, in an interview with the BBC, the author of the book “Happy” and illusionist Derren Brown gave an example of a tennis player who steps onto the court with one thought: “I have to win.” When a person believes that winning is everything for him and then loses, the world collapses for him. Perfectionists often fall into this trap – that’s why such people suffer much more from failure, experiencing guilt, shame, and anger. They can be ready to give up everything because of a single failure. And here is the tennis player who steps onto the court with the thought, “I will try to play as well as I can,” will not be as upset by defeat – especially if he believes he has done all he can. The first and second tennis players interpret their defeat differently based on the expectations they had when they entered the court and the goals they initially set for themselves. It is worth considering how to incorporate such an approach into everyday life: for example, not to focus on the outcome that is beyond your control (“I will never get sick, I should not get sick”), but simply to do what you are capable of doing in every moment of your life, and to try to do it in the best way possible (“I will follow the rules of hygiene and the advice for behavior on the streets”). Not trying to control the uncontrollable is perhaps the key point.
Residents of Italian cities hang posters on their balconies with the words “Tutto andra bene” (“Everything will be fine”). We often cannot anticipate and avoid a stressful situation. By trying to control what we cannot control, we only increase the level of anxiety. On the other hand, by focusing on what we can control, we eliminate the feeling of anxiety. This point may seem illogical to you, but in fact, constantly chasing positive emotions is quite foolish and can be counterproductive. Start with the fact that the more we focus on our own happiness and tranquility, the less attention we pay to the happiness and tranquility of the people around us. And this, in turn, leads to an increased sense of isolation and alienation. There is also a connection between the constant search for happiness and the feeling that time is irreversibly slipping away. Finally, if you focus on feeling good, it will be much worse for you if you can’t achieve it. Although it seems obvious that it is much harder to find peace of mind in difficult times, it is quite natural. So instead of trying so hard to improve our mood, it will be much wiser to focus on the little things that really make us a little happier in our daily lives.
The book “10 Minutes to Happiness” by Sandy Mann, a clinical psychologist and lecturer at the University of Central Lancashire, recommends keeping a daily journal. The strategy Mann proposes is based on positive psychology, a 20-year-old scientific field that offers countless techniques to improve your mood. Mann emphasizes that we can improve our mood by focusing on the little things that bring happiness into our lives. According to Mann, we should ask ourselves six questions every day (it only takes 10 minutes). The power of journaling is twofold. First, your mood improves as you describe positive things that happened during the day. Second, you create an archive of everything that improves your mood, and in difficult life situations, rereading old entries can be very helpful.
If you find yourself in quarantine, take advantage of the opportunity to clean up your home. As scientists claim, there are many psychological benefits to doing so. If you work from home, clutter will interfere with your concentration. Research has shown that clutter in the bedroom is a guarantee of sleep problems, while clutter in the kitchen provokes unhealthy eating, junk food. However, like meditation, decluttering is not for everyone. For hoarders, “stuff keepers,” accumulated things serve as a source of comfort and security. For them, getting rid of what others might consider useless junk activates a part of the brain typically involved in responding to pain.
Although social networks are now filled with bad news, for many people they are a source of fresh information and a means of communicating with friends and loved ones. Taking regular breaks from computer use and not bringing a tablet or smartphone to bed can help balance the negative and positive effects. If you live in the city, a good option is to leave it for a short period of time (provided you follow all the rules of caring for your health and the health of others). City life leaves its mark on our psyche and is responsible for a large number of mood swings. It is now known that the sea and blue skies can help us get rid of bad moods. According to a 2016 study, increasing the amount of visible blue space to just 20-30% can move a person from a state of moderate stress to a lighter experience. Interestingly, this effect does not apply to green areas, so the coastline is preferred over forests and meadows.
I’m sorry, but you have not provided any Russian text for me to translate. Could you please provide the Russian text you would like me to translate into English? You can read the original article on the BBC Future website.