Psychological Immunity- Tool For Mental Wellness In A Crisis

PSYCHOLOGICAL IMMUNITY: A Boon amidst the Covid19 Crisis.

Have you ever thought of investing but refrained after thinking about the risks? How about an investment opportunity with zero risks and never-ending gains? Investing in your psychological immunity would be one such opportunity. The psychological Immune System consists of inner adaptive resources, resilience, and personality characteristics that reduce the negative psychological impact during stressful times.

• WHAT?

The psychological immune system works similarly to our biological immune system. Just as we diligently took our daily multivitamins, maintained healthy practices, took vaccinations to get our dose of antibodies to fight the deadly virus and buffer its effect on our body, building up our psychological immune system would be working on psychological antibodies that buffer us from external and environmental stressors, negative emotions and daily hassles, especially in a pandemic.

      Imagine yourself planning a trekking trip. Along with some simple and smooth walking paths, you might also anticipate some tough/dangerous curves and slopes. You would do all the preparations like wearing trekking shoes, learning roads and directions, storing resources, etc., to make sure you can navigate around those rough paths and deal with any unexpected challenge that might come your way. Similarly, we often know our life will be filled with ups and downs, the COVID19 pandemic being one of the steepest slopes right now. How often do we invest in a shield of psychological immunity to reduce the impact of possible stressors and navigate around in times of distress?

• WHY?

The pandemic has been extensively difficult for most of us in some way or another. The loss of life, fear and anxiety for our health and our loved ones, the lack of socialization, financial worries, and the multiple changes in our lifestyles have taken a toll on our mental well-being and are even expected to impact our psychological health long-term basis. While the pandemic has taken so much from us, the silver lining is that we can get back some control over our present and future well-being by building up our psychological immune system. The need for nurturing our psychological immunity has substantially increased in the current scenario.

• HOW?

Ways to charge up your psychological immune system starting today-

• Think of any recent adversity/stressful situation that you overcame. Gain insight about:

1)Helpful social support around you

2)Knowledge base that helped you,

3)Coping strategies you were able to implement to get out of it,

4)What kind of solution-seeking behaviors are you engaged in.

This might help you put a structured safety plan in place and demonstrate resilience during future stressful situations.

• Persistently explore your strengths/feel-good qualities. These might be the ones you already possess or the ones you want to see in yourself. Engage in hobbies that have kept you afloat so far despite adversities like reading, writing, journaling, dancing, cooking, etc. 

• Water your ability to be optimistic. Try to review situations in a more favorable light gradually, starting with minor situations. Train yourself to approach and view a situation/your emotional and mental state as temporary, manageable, and “this too shall pass” approach compared to viewing it as chaotic, permanent or threatening. Your efficient and solution-focused perception of the situation will assist in you powering through.

• Build your social support and enhance connections with people around you through any medium that suits you. When you face problems or feel down on your resources, the mental and emotional resources might come in handy. Try to do the same for others. In the current pandemic, your immune system would thrive on social exchange and acts of kindness, both received and given.

• Gather accurate information about the pandemic while being aware of all the news you are consuming. Limit and time your exposure to prevent obsessive overload of pandemic-related news. Acknowledge the universal effects of a pandemic. Gradually accept what one can control and can't; this can be done through journaling or making lists. This will help you manage the negative emotions arising from the same.

• Practice gratitude on good as well as bad days. This will give you a fresh perspective in identifying and preserving factors which are:

1)Making you feel good

2)Working for you

3)Protecting you from the stressors otherwise present in your life.

This will also improve your sense of coherence and sense of well-being too.

• Attain deeper knowledge of your emotional capacities. Ask yourself questions about how you will emotionally react to possible anticipated stressors, how confident you feel about experiencing this emotion, how it would affect you. Identify which negative emotions are complicated for you to manage. This will make you feel more prepared.

• Work on your areas of impulses, maladaptive habits, sources of irritability, and emotions on normal days where you feel you have the mental capacity to do so.

• Seek out information in regards to your external/immediate environment. Anticipating possible periods of change or challenges you might face personally in a pandemic will lead to proactive problem-solving skills and pre-planning of different approaches to tackling issues.

• Most importantly, extend the same compassion, empathy, and kindness you extend to others going through a pandemic to yourself as well. You would be of much more help to others around you when you know your own humane struggles and can sustain your well-being. Seek help or reach out with the aim of self-development and enhancing your resources too.

• BENEFITS.

The benefits of building up our mental immunity are numerous. Some of these are:

-Preventing burnout

- Having a more positive judgment about others as well as the situation

-The increased feeling of self-efficacy

-Having a better quality of life and sustained well being

-Being able to respond, develop and bounce back instead of reacting to and feeling lost in the face of adversities.

-Being able to manage and sustain unforeseen tough circumstances emotionally.

- YOU become your greatest asset during times similar to one we are facing right now.

As humans, we have an inherent capacity to not only endure but evolve in the face of adversities. Difficult roads can lead to beautiful destinations. For our immune system to kick back when needed, it becomes necessary to build up our abilities from time to time.

The good thing is it's never too late to start working on gaining any of these psychological antibodies. This awareness brings along a certain extent of control as well as hope in the current situation. Working on all of these together might feel like too much or overwhelming, especially when we feel low on energy or tough days like the ones we are in now, which is what makes it even more important that we start somewhere, work on one protective and supportive antibody at a time for our future selves.