Dread vs. Hope

                                        (img: unique mindcare)

Tag nerbyos na ko! With the lengthened stay of the virus, people started to grope for activities which can drive away boredom and anxiety. The information they see in the news and the escalating numbers of the infected seem to weaken their defense mechanism and resiliency. People have different stress limits that others are now succumbing to depression.

Anxiety, according to Psychology Today, encompasses feelings of worry, nervousness, or dread. Although unpleasant, occasional bouts of anxiety are natural and sometimes even productive: By signaling that something isn’t quite right, anxiety can help people both avoid danger and make important and meaningful changes.

For many people, the uncertainty surrounding corona virus is the hardest thing to handle. We don’t know how exactly we’ll be impacted or how bad things might get. And that makes it all too easy to make it a catastrophe and spiral out into overwhelming dread and panic.

Our momentum was suddenly intruded by the unknown. We suddenly stopped our normal routines and stayed at home. The psychological impact of it might be acceptable first since we need to follow what is the best so to be safe. Yet, the lingering threat of the illness especially when the “Balik Probinsiya” activity was done added to the dread lingering at the back of our minds.

Over information can sometimes be the cause of such anxiety. It’s vital to stay informed, particularly about what’s happening in your community, so you can follow advised safety precautions and do your part to slow the spread of corona virus. But there’s a lot of misinformation going around, as well as sensationalized coverage that only feeds into fear. It’s important to be discerning about what you read and watch (Smith, Robinson, 2020).

As the corona virus pandemic rapidly sweeps across the world, it is inducing a considerable degree of fear, worry and concern in the population at large and among certain groups in particular, such as older adults, care providers and people with underlying health conditions. These are pervasive in countries with infected individuals.

So how can we avoid being entrapped in the looming fear of such threat?

Understanding the risk to yourself and people you care about can make an outbreak less stressful. Learn and share the facts about COVID-19 and help stop the spread of rumors. When you share accurate information about COVID-19, you can help make people feel less stressed, make a connection with them, and help stop stigma (cdc.gov).

A broad body of research links social isolation and loneliness to poor mental health; and recent data shows that significantly higher shares of people who were sheltering in place (47%) reported negative mental health effects resulting from worry or stress related to corona virus than among those not sheltering in place (37%). Negative mental health effects due to social isolation may be particularly pronounced among older adults and households with adolescents, as these groups are already at risk for depression or suicidal tendencies.

Recent polling data shows that more than half of the people who lost income or employment reported negative mental health impacts from worry or stress over corona virus; and lower income people report higher rates of major negative mental health impacts compared to higher income people (Panchal et al, 2020).

We will cling to hope to lessen the stress level.

Psychologists have proposed lots of different vehicles over the years. Grit, conscientiousness, self-efficacy, optimism, passion, inspiration, etc,, they are all important. One vehicle, however, is particularly undervalued and underappreciated in psychology and society. That’s hope.

Hope is not a brand new concept in psychology. In 1991, the eminent positive psychologist Charles R. Snyder and his colleagues came up with Hope Theory. According to their theory, hope consists of agency and pathways.  The person who has hope has the will and determination that goals will be achieved, and a set of different strategies at their disposal to reach their goals. Put simply: hope involves the will to get there and different ways to get there (Kaufman, 2011).

We cannot help to have this dread of the unknown. But we have hope to cling to and that we can dwell on the positive side of knowing that ALL WILL BE WELL soon. Let us continue to see this life as an avenue of more beautiful experiences.