This blog is based on a training session held virtually for Services For Education, March 2021, led by Dr Kate Middleton, Psychologist, Director of Mind and Soul Foundation and project lead at Headstrong.
With restrictions around Lockdown 3.0 gradually beginning to ease, the session with Dr Kate Middleton was well timed, giving us some space to consider the impact on our emotions of the events of the past 12 months.
Recognising why this has been a difficult season is important – unsurprisingly we have faced an unprecedented rise in our baseline stress levels. In normal times, routine helps us manage underlying stress – but during the pandemic we haven’t been able to turn to many of our usual routines. As Kate put it “not only has the climbing wall changed, but also the hand-holds and the position of the boulders.”
As humans we are wired to cope well with short term crisis – but we tend to doing that by suppressing emotions. With a pandemic lasting for over a year, that becomes very difficult (think of trying to keep a beach ball submerged in the sea – easy for a few seconds but maybe not so easy a few minutes later!)
We considered three different ways the pandemic can impact our emotions and well-being. In being more attuned to how we can respond, we can perhaps be less concerned when we are responding in a way that seems out of character – and less susceptible to feelings of guilt. There was a helpful reminder to us all that we can’t solve a global pandemic (if only ?!), and perhaps it is more about ‘treading water until the tide turns.’
Three Key Impacts
1. We probably feel exhausted
It’s been a relentless season – whether that is juggling the challenges of work, and then for many, adding in the additional demands of home-schooling or caring for others. There was an important reminder that those feelings of exhaustion can be equally real for someone who has been furloughed – the challenges of sustained isolation and boredom can be immense. Boredom and monotony can impact our concentration and mood, making it harder to ‘get in the flow.’ For many of us, memory retrieval is impacted. For all of us, at least at some points within the last year, our ‘worlds have collided.’ Everything is taking place in the same space – often at home.
2. Our stress levels are raised
This is a normal response to the constant and changing demands that we are navigating. As a result, it may be that our tolerance levels reduce and how we feel emotionally changes. Switching off may become difficult, which in turn is likely to impact sleep. We considered what we could do to help with this – going into the Easter break, getting some rest is so important. As social spaces slowly begin to open up, we can vary our environment – and gradually meet up with friends and family again. We acknowledged that after a year of changed routines, it was about taking it a step at a time.
3. We need time to process
The challenges of Covid-19 have impacted all parts of our life - many of us have encountered grief, we have all encountered loss in some way. We need to give ourselves the space to process, otherwise those more difficult emotions are more likely to spring up when we are vulnerable or tired. ‘Processing’ will look different for us all … walking, journaling, meditation, creativity, resting – the list goes on. There’s lots to be said for talking through those emotions in trusted spaces with good friends – and there may be times when professional support really makes a difference.
As we have reflected on the session afterwards, many of us have been encouraged that the range of emotions we are experiencing is normal. In particular those moments of short-term memory loss when we have wondered what on earth we have gone to the cupboard for - and that whilst there may be times that we feel it, we haven’t aged 20 years in the pandemic! The roadmap easing us out of lockdown, will bring with it, it's own challenges and emotions – but by being more attuned to our brain’s ‘smoke alarm’ or early warning system, we can perhaps be better equipped to navigate the next few months.
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