we have cancelled the effect of the last two months of restrictions. Many regions announce the weakening of the regime of self-isolation. From June 15 to repeal mandatory observation for coming to Crimea from other regions.
This means a reduction in the number of infected COVID-19, but not the disappearance of coronavirus from our lives. Still in the “red zone” go to work with doctors and other medical staff. Graduates will soon have to pass the exam and to enroll in universities. Not back to normal assistance to parents of children with serious illnesses, people 65+, and pregnant women. Hundreds of people dozens of times in recent months to hear: pull yourself together, stop panicking. Such statements could never be saved. But to escape from a stressful situation is necessary. And the sooner the better.
How can we help ourselves and others to remove stress, says psychologist, cognitive behavioral therapist, clinic, Mental Health Center, doctor-Intern Department of psychiatry and medical psychology of medical faculty Russian national research medical University named after N. And.Pirogova Olga Titova. Note also that Olga is one of the experts, volunteered on a voluntary basis to provide free psychological assistance to physicians that are in the “red zone”.
of Course, in General, all individually and depends on the life and condition of the human psyche, as well as the conditions in which he was forced to undergo a regime of self-isolation, but the most vulnerable groups such as: people age 65+ and those with chronic diseases who were unable to travel to the country; families who have seriously ill children, pregnant women and seniors, as well as medical professionals.
Elderly people (in my experience) noted reduced background mood because of the impossibility of a long time to get out of the house, reducing the interest that fascinated earlier, and expressed OPAknown that prolonged reduction of physical activity in the future out-of-home can be an overwhelming task. Now, after the lifting of the isolation regime, the activity of some of them has declined compared to what it was before the isolation.
Patients who have chronic diseases (especially those that involve frequent medical monitoring), as well as pregnant women at the moment can experience to experience stress because of possible difficulties with the provision of routine medical care for organizational reasons, plus some of them reporting difficulties with access to private taken by a physician familiar drugs.
Families that have children with serious illnesses, were in a different, but also not simple situations. If a child suggested a serious change in the usual rhythm of life before the pandemic (children with cerebral palsy, SMA) and constant care, the family was largely psychologically adapted to such a situation. Their difficulties can mainly be related to economic reasons – job loss, the decline of assistance from the funds and many more. Parents of children with ASD often notice changes in behavior of children due to the sharp change of habitual way of life and the impossibility of attending: increased anxiety, reduced interest in play and interactions with adults, an increase in stereotypes in the activities and games. If all this is happening against the backdrop of a sharp transfer operation to the remote mode to which we must adapt, that’s what parents doubly hard.
In a difficult situation and alumni – in addition to the usual stress of the exam and receipt (with whom they are addressed to psychologists and earlier) this year they experience additional difficulties due to the transfer dates of the exams, the possible new forms of delivery, or change the rules of admission to universities.
One of the most intense eMozy that can face people during a pandemic, alarm. The direction in which they move and how they can help? In the first place — to hear what they would like to share (if you notice they have such a desire). Support here could be validation of emotions: you need to make it clear to man that his experience can hear, they are important, they are in this situation normal for him really hard and he is entitled to it “complicated”. Most effective way to do this by repeating verbatim part only that phrase or its meaning. You can use for yourself (and to teach loved ones) emotional regulation techniques of the modern trends of cognitive-behavioral therapy. For example, during intense but short-lived emotions, you can use a skill of dialectical-behavioral therapy, consisting of three parts:
– temperature (cold water wash)
– breathing (it is important that exhalation was longer than inhalation, for example, inhale for 5, exhale for 7 or 4/6)
intensive physical activity (any movement).
At high, but the more usual level of anxiety, you can use the technology of therapy of acceptance and responsibility – to try to name five objects around, the four heard the sound, focus on others, smells or tactile sensations from the nearby objects.
Why we have to help health workers? A huge burden, both physical and mental, the separation from loved ones (many, protecting their families, live in hotels). While appeals are not many, as people are either in the phase of mobilization of internal reserves, or (which is often) recover first physically, and psychological processing, the experience of “marked for later” emotions will come later. For example, some people in such situations may occur posttraumaMATIC stress disorder (PTSD is a severe mental condition arising from events that may negatively impact on the psyche), which can develop in periods ranging from one to three months after a traumatic situation, and can be delayed (after 6 months or more). These people will seek help at a later date.
At the moment, medical professionals were treated as consultations on any issues that were before the pandemic and intense anxiety. In most cases, it requires prolonged deep psychotherapeutic work, and short-term counselling relating to the identification and study of anxious thoughts, and training the specific skills of regulation of emotion and problem solving.
