Coping with Stress during COVID-19 Times - Dr. Sangeetha Madhu & Eliza Abraham

The World Health Organization recently published a set of coping strategies that can be used by individuals while managing this newfound stress of COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has escalated various stressors for individuals, such as financial difficulties, lack of social support/socialization, children not being able to attend  school, increased workload, poor work-life balance, increased care giving burden & responsibilities, relationship & family conflicts/violence, displacement from homes, theuncertainty of future threat to physical health, disease, vulnerability to anxiety, depression, and lack of self-care (WHO, 2020).

Signs of Stress

The concept of working from home (WFH) is now applicable to people from all areas of life. Changes in sleeping patterns, appetite, motivation, difficulties in concentration, increased fatigue & tiredness, negative feelings (anxious, anger, sadness, worry, guilt), temper loss, crying spells, physical discomfort and a pessimistic outlook towards life maybe some of the signs of stress (WHO,2020).

Strategies for coping with Stress

We will explorea few strategies that can be learnt to cope with stress that we are facing.

A.    Being Hooked

When something is on a hook, it is trapped and it’s difficult to getaway. Thoughts & feelings form an important aspect of stress and we tend to get hooked by them. For example, you might be enjoying a meal with the family or having a conversation and some trigger may get you hooked by angry/sad/guilty thoughts or feelings. It makes us feel like we are being distracted or pulled away from the current situation. The thoughts can be about giving up, blaming others, judgments, future, past difficult memories, worry etc. This leads to conflicts, withdrawal from loved ones, lethargy etc. These behaviours can be known as “Away Moves” as they pull us away from the values, we hold close to us

Unhooking

1.      Focus- bring your attention back to the task at hand.

2.      Engage- give your complete attention & be involved with the task.

3.      Pay Attention Bette -If you learn to focus, pay more attention to the present moment and engage more, yourcan observe that your stress will begin to reduce. This will lead to improved concentration, motivation and contribute to satisfying relationships .This works with stressors that are not very intense.

B.     Grounding

This works with emotions & thoughts that are very overwhelming and intense. Learning to ground ourselves, during these overwhelming situations helps us handle the stress better.

·         Notice: your feeling & thoughts

·         Slow Down & Connect:

-          Do a relaxation technique to slow your breathing

-          Press your feet on the floor slowly

-          Stretch out your arms & then bring them together and press your palms.

·         Refocus: ( 5 senses)

-          Name 4 things you can see around you.

-          Identify different sounds/smells around you.

-          Notice where you are & what action you are doing.

-          Be aware of the taste in your mouth.

-          Pick up an object around you and notice how it feels

These techniques help us to focus, re-engage with our life and bring back our attention to the task in hand. This helps us feel more in control during an overwhelming/ stressful situation. It's important to practice them as frequently as possible for you to feel the change.

C. Acting on Your Values

Values describes the kind of individual you would like to be, how you want to treat yourself, others & the world.

• Notice: the difficult thoughts
• Name: describe what you are feeling and where in the body.
• Engage: with the world using all 5 senses.
• Identify: an important relationship & 2 important values.
• Action Plan: Decide on how to act on this values.

3 approaches to a difficult situation

• Leave
• Change what can be changed, accept the pain that cannot be changed, and live by your values
• Give up and move away from your values.

D. Being Kind

• Notice a harsh self-judgment/ unkind/ self-critical thought.
• Use Grounding techniques (Engage & Ground)
• Be self-compassionate/ kind to yourself.

E. Making Room

Another way to cope with disturbing thoughts & feelings.

• NOTICE:  difficult thought or feeling with curiosity. Focus your attention on it. Imagine the painful feeling as an object, and notice its size, shape, colour and temperature.
• NAME the difficult thought or feeling. Eg: “Here is a difficult feeling”
• Allow the painful feeling or thought to come and go like the weather.
• Relaxation: As you breathe, imagine your breath flowing into and around your pain to make room for it (WHO, 2020).

 

 

References

World Health Organization. (2020). Doing what matters in times of stress: an illustrated guide.

 Coping with Stress during COVID-19 Times

Dr. Sangeetha Madhu & Eliza Abraham

The World Health Organization recently published a set of coping strategies that can be used by individuals while managing this newfound stress of COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic has escalated various stressors for individuals, such as financial difficulties, lack of social support/socialization, children not being able to attend  school, increased workload, poor work-life balance, increased care giving burden & responsibilities, relationship & family conflicts/violence, displacement from homes, theuncertainty of future threat to physical health, disease, vulnerability to anxiety, depression, and lack of self-care (WHO, 2020).

Signs of Stress

The concept of working from home (WFH) is now applicable to people from all areas of life. Changes in sleeping patterns, appetite, motivation, difficulties in concentration, increased fatigue & tiredness, negative feelings (anxious, anger, sadness, worry, guilt), temper loss, crying spells, physical discomfort and a pessimistic outlook towards life maybe some of the signs of stress (WHO,2020).

Strategies for coping with Stress

We will explorea few strategies that can be learnt to cope with stress that we are facing.

A.    Being Hooked

When something is on a hook, it is trapped and it’s difficult to getaway. Thoughts & feelings form an important aspect of stress and we tend to get hooked by them. For example, you might be enjoying a meal with the family or having a conversation and some trigger may get you hooked by angry/sad/guilty thoughts or feelings. It makes us feel like we are being distracted or pulled away from the current situation. The thoughts can be about giving up, blaming others, judgments, future, past difficult memories, worry etc. This leads to conflicts, withdrawal from loved ones, lethargy etc. These behaviours can be known as “Away Moves” as they pull us away from the values, we hold close to us

Unhooking

1.      Focus- bring your attention back to the task at hand.

2.      Engage- give your complete attention & be involved with the task.

3.      Pay Attention Bette -If you learn to focus, pay more attention to the present moment and engage more, yourcan observe that your stress will begin to reduce. This will lead to improved concentration, motivation and contribute to satisfying relationships .This works with stressors that are not very intense.

B.     Grounding

This works with emotions & thoughts that are very overwhelming and intense. Learning to ground ourselves, during these overwhelming situations helps us handle the stress better.

·         Notice: your feeling & thoughts

·         Slow Down & Connect:

-          Do a relaxation technique to slow your breathing

-          Press your feet on the floor slowly

-          Stretch out your arms & then bring them together and press your palms.

·         Refocus: ( 5 senses)

-          Name 4 things you can see around you.

-          Identify different sounds/smells around you.

-          Notice where you are & what action you are doing.

-          Be aware of the taste in your mouth.

-          Pick up an object around you and notice how it feels

These techniques help us to focus, re-engage with our life and bring back our attention to the task in hand. This helps us feel more in control during an overwhelming/ stressful situation. It's important to practice them as frequently as possible for you to feel the change.

C. Acting on Your Values

Values describes the kind of individual you would like to be, how you want to treat yourself, others & the world.

 

 

 

 

• Notice: the difficult thoughts
• Name: describe what you are feeling and where in the body.
• Engage: with the world using all 5 senses.
• Identify: an important relationship & 2 important values.
• Action Plan: Decide on how to act on this values.

3 approaches to a difficult situation

• Leave
• Change what can be changed, accept the pain that cannot be changed, and live by your values
• Give up and move away from your values.

D. Being Kind

• Notice a harsh self-judgment/ unkind/ self-critical thought.
• Use Grounding techniques (Engage & Ground)
• Be self-compassionate/ kind to yourself.

E. Making Room

Another way to cope with disturbing thoughts & feelings.

• NOTICE:  difficult thought or feeling with curiosity. Focus your attention on it. Imagine the painful feeling as an object, and notice its size, shape, colour and temperature.
• NAME the difficult thought or feeling. Eg: “Here is a difficult feeling”
• Allow the painful feeling or thought to come and go like the weather.
• Relaxation: As you breathe, imagine your breath flowing into and around your pain to make room for it (WHO, 2020).

 

 

References

World Health Organization. (2020). Doing what matters in times of stress: an illustrated guide.

 

Workplace and Wellness - All in the Mind - Dr Sangeetha Madhu and RK Shivani

Workplace and Wellness

Workplace, a means to challenge and develop oneself, provides one with a sense of identity and meaning. The Indian youth spent an average of 52 hours a week at work, which was higher than that of other countries, stated a 2016 Wall Street Journal report.

Mental health status

           According to a study conducted by the Live Love Laugh Foundation, 71% of the respondents used terms associated with stigma against mental illness. However, 87% of the respondents had an awareness of mental illness. This indicates adequate levels of awareness alongside a lack of sensitization. Bridging this gap is the need of the hour. According to a study by Optum in 2016, 46% of the workforce in Indian organizations suffers from stress that requires assistance, Among these employees, two-thirds faced discrimination at work, stated a 2017 study in Indian Journal of Medical Research. Even though the Mental Healthcare Act of 2017 prohibited discrimination on the basis of mental illness, organizations are not equipped enough to implement the same.

Such high numbers might lead to conjectures that employers would naturally be taking steps to combat the same. Reconsider this. In an interview conducted by Firstpost, no employee reported policies at the workplace regarding employees’ mental health. In organizations, with policies in place, the employees were unaware of the same. Policies regarding physical illnesses and data regarding the same are collected during the induction stage; medical leave was sanctioned for physical illness but not for mental illness.

Disclosure: A dilemma

          The unwillingness to positively respond to mental illnesses of employees mirrors of attitude towards mental health in general. This creates a sense of hesitation regarding the revelation of mental health issues because employees believe that they will be looked upon as incapable and unfit. While revelation would help in the risk reduction and promote sensitization and empathetic interactions, the chances of discrimination keeps employees at bay. In such a scenario, accommodation and assistance from an external source would help in the improvement of employee mental health which in turn would positively impact work performance.

What can organizations do?

           A number of organizations have policies to promote mental well being. Steps from recruiting people with disabilities to providing regular assistance to employees have been taken by various private sector organizations ranging from consumer goods industries to online service providers. However, there aren’t adequate policies and programs in place at these organizations. Those in place might not be well articulated or emphasized on, to be utilized by the employees.

Installation of policy-level changes to combat mental health stigma is required to successfully implement assistance programs. With regular stress-buster sessions, sensitizing employees and managers, counseling sessions, and employee engagement activities, mental health issues at work can be tackled in order to enhance well being, combat stigma, and improve performance.

Dr Sangeetha Madhu , a clinical psychologist and Leadership expert & Shivani RK presenting articles related to well being, leadership/personal development, cognitive mastery, positive emotions, building resilience, and relationships.

                                                 

Stress Management - All in the Mind - Dr Sangeetha Madhu and RK Shivani

Stress Management

Stress is not what happens to us. It's our response TO what happens. And RESPONSE is something we can choose.

Maureen Killoran

Stress is a part of everyday life. In small quantities, stress is good; it can motivate you and help you become more productive. However, too much stress or a strong response to stress can be harmful.

Stress:  Can either help us with challenges and problems or make them many times worse.  The effect stress will have depends on how we handle or view the situation.

·       Handling stress depends on us: Recognizing the stress

·       Understanding where it is coming from- Sources

·       Understanding our stress management options

Recognizing the stress

What are the signs of stress?

 We all experience stress differently in different situations. Sometimes you might be able to tell right away when you're feeling under stress, but other times you might keep going without recognizing the signs.

 Stress can affect you both emotionally and physically, and it can affect the way you behave. Some signs include the following

·       Tension  Irritability

·       Inability to concentrate 

·       Feeling excessively tired

·       Trouble sleeping

·       increased blood pressure

·       Difficulty breathing

·       Stomach upset

·       Sweating palms

·       Tight muscles that may cause pain and trembling

Sources of Stress

Identify the sources of stress in your life: Stress management starts with identifying the sources of stress in our life. To do so we need to look closely at our habits, attitude and excuses. Until we accept responsibility for the role we play, our stress levels will remain out of our control.

We can experience stress from four basic sources:

The Environment – The environment can challenge you with intense and competing demands to adjust. Examples of environmental stressors include weather, noise, crowding, pollution, traffic etc.

Social Stressors – we can experience multiple stressors arising from the demands of the different social roles we occupy, such as parent, spouse, caregiver, and employee. Some examples of social stressors include deadlines, financial problems, presentations, disagreements, demands for your time and attention, separation,  divorce, and co-parenting.

Physiological – Situations and circumstances affecting our body can be experienced as physiological stressors. Examples of physiological stressors include illness, aging, giving birth, accidents, lack of exercise, poor nutrition, and sleep disturbances.

Thoughts – Your brain interprets and perceives situations as stressful, difficult, painful, or pleasant. Some situations in life are stress provoking, but it is our thoughts that determine whether they are a problem for us

Stress management options

·       Identify sources of stress in our life and accept responsibility

·       Avoid unnecessary stress

·       Alter the situation If we can’t avoid a stressful situation, try to alter it. Do what we can to change things so the problem will not occur in the future.

·       Accept things you can’t change , Some sources of stress are unavoidable, acceptance may be difficult but in the long run it’s easier to accept than to rally against things we can’t change.  Expect ongoing change; understand the stages

·       Laughter

·       Positive thinking

·       Deep breathing

·       Stretching

·       Exercise

·       Healthy diet

·       Maintain a positive attitude

·       Try to maintain a positive attitude and minimize negativity

·       Avoid complaining and criticizing

·       Seek the visiting Psychologist and Counsellors  support.

Dr Sangeetha Madhu , a clinical psychologist and Leadership expert & Shivani RK presenting articles related to well being, leadership/personal development, cognitive mastery, positive emotions, building resilience, and relationships.

Sources : http://hydesmith.com/de-stress/files/StressMgt.pdf

http://keltymentalhealth.ca/sites/default/files/toolkit_for_professionals-_module_4_-_stress_management.pdf

https://www.mind.org.uk/media/1993364/how-to-manage-stress_2015.pdf

http://www.gov.pe.ca/photos/original/StressManage.pdf

Steps to Improve Communication - All in the Mind - Dr Sangeetha Madhu and RK Shivani

  STEPS TO IMPROVE COMMUNICATION

A large portion of our lives is spent communicating with others. Sharing your thoughts and understanding another person's feelings are essential skills for functioning in any society in the world. 

The following is a simple model of communication that can help illustrate how communicating with others really works, all the places it can go wrong, and what we can do to be better

The picture above is a really simple map of how any type of communication works.

 The necessary pieces are a sender, a receiver, and a message.

. The two basic ways of coding messages are putting it in some kind of language (speech or writing) and/or nonverbally communicating it (body language, tone, etc).

 The receiver then interprets (decodes) the words and nonverbals, hoping to arrive at an understanding of what the sender really means.

Communication Problems

The way we encode and decode messages is based on how we learned to communicate in earlier stages of life. The ways we code and decode messages are determined by our culture, family patterns, and other experiences.

Sender Problems: The most common problem that we can make as message senders is coding our thought, feeling or need in a way that has a low chance of being understood by the receiver.

 Consider how you might code the message of feeling hungry differently to a 3 year old, someone who doesn't speak the same language as you, and your best friend. Those should look and sound completely different.

Thus, choosing the best way to code a message is important to make sure the receiver gets a good understanding.

Receiver Problems: The biggest problem that happens when we receive messages is in decoding things inaccurately, which can be caused by

1)    Not really attending to the sender, 2) not having the skills necessary to decode the message, or 3) adding your our own meaning to the message that was not really intended by the sender.

2)    For the first, if you don't really pay attention completely to the message (including the nonverbal aspects), you can miss critical elements of it, and then have a misunderstanding. For the second, if you don't know certain words or the message is too complex, then there is a low chance of really understanding it.

3)    For the third, we can automatically add things to the message that make us miss what was intended. 

Communication problems are usually two-person problems. Anytime there is a misunderstanding, it is the fault of both the sender and the receiver.

How to Communicate Better

1. Be Aware of your own communication errors. We are all susceptible to sending confusing messages when we are aware that all of us can make all of the communication mistakes, we can adjust how we send and receive messages.

2) Choose your words (and actions) wisely based on who the receiver is. As much as we would love for our partners, parents, and employers to just automatically be able to know what our needs and feelings are, or interpret all of our questions and comments with complete accuracy, they can't. We can become better senders by thinking about how the specific person at this specific time would be receiving a message, and then deliver it in that form.

3. Check in with the sender when you are decoding messages to make sure you have the right understanding. After hearing something, especially if it strikes you strangely, ask the sender if you are hearing it correctly instead of trusting your interpretation completely. Think about how many arguments can be prevented with just that one!

Dr Sangeetha Madhu , a clinical psychologist and Leadership expert & Shivani RK presenting articles related to well being, leadership/personal development, cognitive mastery, positive emotions, building resilience, and relationships.

Source

https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/notes-self/201307/basics-communication

Social Media Fitness - All in the Mind - Dr Sangeetha Madhu and RK Shivani

Social Media Fitness

Social media platforms are online services that help you build and maintain social connections and networks. This area of technology has witnessed a steady growth since 2008. Individuals across the globe have gained means to enhance life, increase awareness and stay connected to provide and receive various services.

However, a recent study found that individuals spend an average of at least 3 hours per day on social media platforms. About 80% of them stated that this time was spent engaging in activities unrelated to their job and was, in fact, a distraction from the same. Social media has also limited instances of direct communication and team productivity.

Being aware of some indicators that you might be overusing or using social media improperly, on an individual level, is important. These might include going online for work-related productive reasons and finding oneself on social networking sites instead, a constant urge to check your account despite knowing there are no notifications and spending time on social media in real-life social situations. From this perspective, the benefits of limiting social media usage would primarily be mood upliftment and an increase in time and productivity.

Simple ways to limit or modify social media use to achieve would be as follows:

1. Setting time limits or duration for use of each application
2. Turning off notifications so that these are checked only at a designated time
3. Curating the feed and unsubscribing to content that has a negative impact on mood
4. Scheduling posts for designated times at the beginning of the day
5. Using autoresponders when you are away

Dr Sangeetha Madhu , a clinical psychologist and Leadership expert & Shivani RK presenting articles related to well being, leadership/personal development, cognitive mastery, positive emotions, building resilience, and relationships.