How to Deal With the Anxiety of UncertaintyIf there's one defining feature of the coronavirus pandemic, it's uncertainty. Will there be a vaccine? When can schools safely reopen? Will I still have a job next week? Should I book a spring vacation abroad? A crisis that we'd all hoped would be short-lived is dragging on indefinitely, and the list of unanswered questions keeps growing.,下面我们就来聊聊关于数据库管理方式存在数据冗余吗?接下来我们就一起去了解一下吧!
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How to Deal With the Anxiety of Uncertainty
If there's one defining feature of the coronavirus pandemic, it's uncertainty. Will there be a vaccine? When can schools safely reopen? Will I still have a job next week? Should I book a spring vacation abroad? A crisis that we'd all hoped would be short-lived is dragging on indefinitely, and the list of unanswered questions keeps growing.
“I've started thinking about our current situation as being marked by two pandemics,” Kate Sweeny says. “The viral one, of course, but also a psychological pandemic of uncertainty.” A professor of psychology at the University of California, Riverside, Sweeny specializes in understanding how people cope with ambiguity. All her research points towards one conclusion: We don't cope very well.
Uncertainty leaves us scrambling to regain an element of control—by hoarding toilet paper, for example. Ironically, while actions like these might provide temporary relief, they can have the opposite effect in the long term, sending our anxiety levels through the roof.
So if stockpiling a year's supply of toilet paper isn't going to ease the anxiety that comes with living in a state of limbo, what will? Here are some of the coping mechanisms they've found can help.
Stop With the Mental Time Travel
When you're dealing with uncertain situations, it's tempting to both fixate on things you've done in the past—could last week's trip to the grocery store be to blame for my sore throat today—and worry about what the future will look like. Dwelling excessively on what could have been and what might be—ruminating, to use the technical term—is exhausting, and unless it is brought under control, can trigger depression and anxiety.
To stop the spiral, Sweeny recommends learning how to focus on the present by using an age-old technique: mindfulness.
You don't need any expensive equipment or devices to start practicing mindfulness. “For example, you can eat in a mindful way, focusing on every movement, taste, smell, and sound.”
Binge-Watch Your Favorite Childhood Show
While you don't want to waste time worrying about the past, taking a little trip down memory lane can do wonders for your mental health during periods of uncertainty.
It doesn't have to be food. Anything nostalgic that reminds you of a time when you felt secure can help offset the anxiety that comes with so much unknown. If you're worried about your waistline, try binge-watching your favorite show from when you were a kid.
Play a Video Game
If video games aren't your thing, plenty of other activities will do, from gardening to painting. The trick is to find something that's not so easy you'll get bored and not so mentally taxing that you'll struggle to concentrate.
Find a New Rhythm
So many people have lost so much during the pandemic—jobs, houses, loved ones—that it feels frivolous to be missing smaller things, like the bagel you used to buy every morning on your way to the office, or the bar you went to for happy hour on Fridays. But as trivial as these things might seem, they helped create the sense of stability and predictability we need to function.
To help alleviate the anxiety we feel when we lose this rhythm, Mark Freeston, a professor of clinical psychology at Newcastle University in the UK recommends building a new one. “You have to make sure you're creating enough safety signals for yourself.”
Play Around the Edges
As much as we might like to, we can't stay cooped up in our apartments eating comfort food and watching Beauty and the Beast forever.
Freeston recommends starting out small. “Once you've found those things that help you regain a sense of safety, start building in some elements of flexibility,” he advises. “So you can still watch movies from when you were a kid, but maybe ask your roommate to pick from a selection, so you don't know which one it will be.” Once you're comfortable with that level of uncertainty, you can add in more.
如果说新冠肺炎疫情有一个决定性特征,那就是不确定性。会有疫苗吗?学校何时才能安全复课?下周我还会有工作吗?我应该预定春天到海外度假吗?一场我们都曾指望早日结束的危机久拖不决,看不到尽头,未解问题的清单越来越长。
凯特·斯威尼说:“我开始认为,当前我们的处境是以两场疫情为特征的。”她说:“当然,一场是病毒引发的疫情,但还有一场是不确定性引发的心理疫情。”作为加州大学河滨分校的心理学教授,斯威尼的专长是了解人们如何应对不确定性。她所有的研究都指向一个结论:我们应对乏术。
不确定性让我们拼命想重获一点掌控感——例如通过囤积卫生纸。具有讽刺意味的是,尽管这样的行为或许能短暂地缓解焦虑,但长期来看却会适得其反,让我们的焦虑水平猛增。
那么,如果囤积够用一年的卫生纸并不能缓解不稳定生活状态造成的焦虑,要怎样才可以呢?以下是他们发现能有所帮助的一些应对机制。
停止精神时空旅行
在应对不确定的状况时,你会很容易执着于自己做过的事情——今天嗓子疼是不是因为上周去了杂货店——并担心未来会怎样。过度思考本来会怎样和也许会怎样——用专业术语来说,就是反复思考——使人精疲力竭,如果不加以控制,则可能引发抑郁和焦虑。
为了防止事态恶化,斯威尼建议通过古老的技巧——正念——来学习如何关注当下。
你不需要任何昂贵的设备或装置来开始练习正念。“举例来说,你可以正念进食,将注意力集中在每一个动作、每一种味道、气味和声音上。”
一口气看完儿时最爱的电视节目
当你不想浪费时间为过去的事情烦恼时,沿着记忆的小路漫步一会儿,就可以在充满未知的时期对你的精神健康产生神奇的效果。
不一定非得是食物。任何怀旧之物,如果能让你回忆起一段给你安全感的时光,都可以抵消诸多未知带来的焦虑。如果担心腰围,不妨试试一口气看完儿时最爱的电视节目。
打电子游戏
如果电子游戏不合你意,还有许多其他活动可以,从园艺到绘画,不一而足。诀窍在于找到一种活动,既不会因为太容易而让你心生厌倦,也不会因为太“烧脑”而让你难以专注。
找到新的节奏
在新冠肺炎疫情期间,许多人都蒙受了巨大损失——工作、房子或亲人,以至于对那些琐碎之物——例如,以前你每天早晨在上班路上买的百吉饼,或周五度过“快乐时光”的酒吧——的想念让人感觉不值一提。然而,尽管这些事物看似微不足道,它们却有助于创造一种我们正常运转所需的稳定感和可预见性。
为了帮我们减轻失去这种节奏时的焦虑感,英国纽卡斯尔大学临床心理学教授马克·弗里斯顿建议,建立新的节奏。他说:“你必须确保为自己创造足够的安全信号。”
增添一点刺激
尽管我们也许愿意,但我们不能永远将自己关在公寓里,吃治愈的食物,看《美女与野兽》。
弗里斯顿建议从小处入手。他说:“一旦你找到了那些帮你重获安全感的东西,就要开始加入一些灵活的元素。”他说:“这样,你仍然可以看儿时的电影,但不妨请室友帮你挑选一部,如此一来,你就不知道会看哪一部了。”一旦你对这种程度的不确定性应对自如了,你就可以加入更多的未知因素。(刘白云译自美国《连线》杂志网站9月3日文章)
来源:参考消息网
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