Uncategorized

Our brain has one main system to respond to danger and this is called the “Fight or flight” response. As humans evolved we had to respond to regular threats, forcing us to scan our environment for potential danger and then reacting very quickly in order to run from the threat or fight it. Upon recognising danger our body releases chemicals to assist us to act quickly, such as cortisol and adrenalin. We experience hormonal changes and physiological responses. Our heart beats faster, pushing blood to the muscles. Our pulse rate and blood pressure increase. We start to breathe more rapidly, beads of sweat can appear, or we may feel nausea. All these reactions are there to help us survive. Running from the danger or preparing to fight.

If these physiological responses sound familiar, that is because they are the same as those that occur when we experience panic, or what can be called a panic attack. A panic attack is just our body responding to threat. Our bodies only have the one system, not one for actual danger and one for perceived stress, like worry about exam performance, or worry about a job interview. So every time our brain thinks there is a threat, it sends out the same messages even though we may not need to run or fight. What we need in an exam is to concentrate, too much chemicals telling us to run or fight can interfere with our capacity to concentrate. The good news is we just have to let the body and brain know we are safe, there is no threat, and chemicals like cortisol and adrenalin decrease again, as do all the physiological responses.

It is possible to learn mindfulness techniques that can help to restore a sense of safety, calm, and ease. This can support the recovery from feelings of panic more quickly. Just by understanding why we have these physiological responses we became less afraid of the symptoms commonly associated with panic.

It is understandable that many people will experience some apprehension, or even anxiety associated with emerging from social isolation. Adjusting to change can cause discomfort, even when we want the change to occur. It may also be that in this case you don’t want the change to occur, being at home may have allowed you to avoid things that were previously challenging. For example if you weren’t enjoying being at you workplace, or you found socialising overwhelming at times.

It can be important to remember that other people will also experience apprehension about this readjustment.

Here are some tips you may find helpful:

Allow yourself time to readjust, where you do have control, take small steps, don’t put pressure on yourself to immediately be as productive, or as social, as you previously were. Give yourself permission to take time to adjust.

The messages we say to ourselves have an impact upon us. So telling yourself you won’t be able to cope may result in feelings of overwhelm, or reduced confidence. Perhaps a more accurate message to tell yourself is to acknowledge, ‘I’m not sure I will cope, but I will take small steps and wait and see’. Or, ‘I will ask for help if I find I’m not coping well’

Remember all the good practices you may have applied in social isolation to reduce distress and continue to do these. Exercise really impacts our mental wellbeing, so continue or implement an exercise routine. Relaxation techniques like mindfulness meditation are also helpful.

Talk to others about how you are feeling. It can be so affirming to know others are facing similar challenges. We can’t always see how others are feeling, and tend to assume everyone else is finding this easy accept for me. Sometimes we can also hear what works for them, and learn a new strategy.

Of course seek any help you need. It can be useful to speak with a psychologist or counsellor and find new strategies to manage stress and strengthen our capacity to adjust to change.

Finally, deliberately bring to mind things you feel grateful for. This is very effective if you happen to feel grateful for something that you can now enjoy because you are emerging from social isolation. Either way bringing to mind true feelings of gratitude is very protective for our wellbeing.

Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT) is a therapeutic approach focusing on helping a person to identify and change the thoughts (cognition) and behaviours that are causing them difficulties. The aim is to assess the negative thoughts a person is having about themselves, and their view of the world, and to replace them with more positive and constructive thoughts and behaviours. By addressing the thoughts and behaviours which contribute to the development and maintenance of problems, CBT seeks to offer a holistic approach to mental health.

A person undertaking CBT will learn coping skills and techniques, both ones that are relevant to their symptoms, and more general ones that will help with everyday life. A person will learn about their psychological condition, and how it is being maintained. By increasing understanding of conditions and how they are being maintained by behaviours, a person can begin to apply changes to their behaviours. CBT aims to equip a person to face their fears, or to deal with situations that they believed they were previously unable to deal with or actively tried to avoid.

Working collaboratively with your therapist you are encouraged to establish goals aiming to reduce symptoms whilst enhancing quality of life and well-being. Working towards these goals involves using therapy sessions to explore how behaviours and thoughts impact on mood.

Mindfulness has become a popular term, and like all words that enter everyday language, meaning can be lost. Sometimes people are referring to meditation or ‘mindfulness meditation’, other times they may even have mistaken beliefs associated with a state of mindfulness, believing their mind should be ‘blank’. The brain is always doing something, even when we are sleeping. Focusing all our attention on what is actually happening is a nice way of feeling that our mind is clear, as we are not distracted. It results in great presence and attention.

So mindfulness is being able to be aware and paying attention to what is actually happening. This could be what is happening around us, or inside us. It involves using our senses. To notice what is actually happening outside of us we must pay attention to what we see, hear, feel, taste and smell. To notice what is happening inside us we pay attention to body sensations, notice what thoughts arise, or notice what emotions arise and where emotional sensations may be located in the body. Thoughts and emotions are tricky to just notice, as we can easily lose attention and become swept up in the thought or feeling. No longer just noticing it but reacting and emotionally experiencing past events associated with the thought or imagining future events. At that point we are not mindful, we are not in the here and now, we are in an imagined ‘default mode’ world created in our heads. The default mode feels like when our minds wander, or we experience feeling being on ‘automatic pilot’. This is where we worry about the future trying to predict or control, or dwell on the past remembering past judgements, past criticism.  At a neurological level different parts of our brain operate in default mode, compared to when we are paying attention being mindful.