BEATING THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF COVID-19

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BEATING THE MENTAL EFFECTS OF COVID-19

Uncertainty is unsettling. Restrictions to our daily lives, combined with isolation from our family and friends, can be very distressing. In addition many people have sadly lost a loved one to COVID-19 and will be experiencing unprecedented grief.

‘The only certainty now is that the uncertainty is set to continue.’

We all need support in these worrying times. So what can we do to help guide us through the assault course of emotions that many of us are experiencing at the moment? Here are some tips and coping strategies as set out by the BACP (British Association of Counselling & Psychotherapy):

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EXAMS – THEY SUCK....

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EXAMS – THEY SUCK....

It’s a fact. There’s no getting around it. Exams suck. Even if you’re lucky enough to be amongst the few people who can handle exams without stressing out, EVERYONE gets anxious and nervous about them.

‘Sometimes the best thing you can do is not think, not wonder, not imagine, not obsess. Just breathe, and have faith that everything will work out for the best.’

It’s completely normal to have feelings of anxiety occasionally – especially about exams. In fact a little anxiety can actually help you be more focused. But if you become overwhelmed by anxiety it can prevent you from doing your best, and you may end up cheating yourself out of the results you deserve.

So let’s try to understand what happens to our minds and bodies when we feel anxious.

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GRIEF IS LOVE

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GRIEF IS LOVE

Last week I had the great privilege of being part of an incredible thing. ‘Someone, Somewhere’ (written for radio by Pat Davis and brought to the stage by The Green Room Productions) is a beautiful play about the true, and very tragic, story of Jessie Earl. Given the fact that Jessie was murdered in 1980, it was easy to assume that the experience of watching this play was going to be depressing and rather bleak. But threaded through the obvious sadness there was great joy. The play wasn’t about the loss; it was about the life.

“You will lose someone you can’t live without, and your heart will be badly broken, and the bad news is that you never completely get over the loss of your beloved. But this is also the good news. They live forever in your broken heart that doesn’t seal back up. And you come through. It’s like having a broken leg that never heals perfectly—that still hurts when the weather gets cold, but you learn to dance with the limp.” ~ Anne Lamott

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SURVIVAL OF THE KINDEST

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SURVIVAL OF THE KINDEST

‘In a world where you can be anything, be kind.’

In his Natural Selection theory, Charles Darwin believed that evolution occurs as a result of the ‘survival of the fittest’. I had to find a simple explanation (for myself!) and came across this example, using fish as the subject:

‘In a river there are a school of orange fish being watched by a hungry, orange fish loving, Eagle on the bank. One day a mutation happens in the species which turns one of their offspring blue, making it easier to blend in to the surroundings. As the blue fish is camouflaged, and hence much harder for the Eagle to catch, the orange fish population slowly dies out and the blue fish gene spreads. Eventually the river is filled entirely with blue fish, forcing the Eagle to go and hunt prey elsewhere.’

Imagine what a difference we could all make if we set out to do just one small kind thing a day?

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SUICIDE IS PAINLESS

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SUICIDE IS PAINLESS

Have you ever thought about ending your life?

I have. And I suspect that a great many people reading this will have, at some time – even if just for a fleeting moment - considered the possibility. And it’s absolutely OK to have felt like that – it doesn’t make you a lesser person, or ‘damaged goods’. Life can be incredibly hard. The good news is that you are still here. Perhaps you found support in your family or friends, or you were brave enough to seek professional help.

Unfortunately there are an awful lot of people who don’t have that support, or courage, and who feel totally alone and desperate.

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