The psychological trauma brought about by the epidemic is like an invisible scar.
The process of producing negative emotions is compared to the growth of tree roots by psychological counselors. When people are immersed in it, the negative emotions will go deeper and deeper, and it may take a longer process to eradicate them.
The psychological crisis caused by the Wuhan epidemic in 2020 is more reflected in the lack of awareness of the new coronavirus and the panic that is close to life and death.
Since the beginning of this year, cities such as Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Chongqing, and Guangzhou have experienced epidemics one after another. People's emotional commonality has gradually transitioned from panic about the virus to anxiety about lockdowns.
Since December, measures to optimize prevention and control have been introduced successively across the country.
On December 7, the Joint Prevention and Control Mechanism of the State Council issued the "Ten New Measures" to optimize the implementation of epidemic prevention and control, and made optimization and adjustments on the division of risk areas, nucleic acid testing, and isolation methods.
Behind the "downsizing" of nucleic acid, people's psychology is also quietly changing.
People who lack an objective understanding of the virus, people with the elderly and weak at home, and people with low body immunity are full of insecurity and uncertainty about the future. Anxiety is transmitted among them, and the Internet with different opinions is everywhere. Information is also invading inner peace. How can different groups help each other psychologically?
What can we do in the face of an uncertain future?
We interviewed Xu Kaiwen, a doctor of clinical psychology at Peking University and a licensed psychiatrist at United Family Hospital, who has observed the psychology of people infected with the new crown at close range; During this period, she carried out psychological assistance in the shelter hospital.
The following is the conversation between the Beijing News reporter and them.
"All these conditions are new conditions now"
Beijing News: Recently, various places have introduced optimization measures. While returning to daily life, some people have experienced short-term discomfort.
How do we understand some of the emerging psychological conditions of the moment?
Xu Kaiwen: First of all, I would like to say that all these situations have never been encountered before, and there may not necessarily be mature coping methods. This is a basic premise.
Second, the pandemic seems to me to be a serious collective trauma that disrupts and changes the way people are used to working and living, as well as the way they connect with others.
Third, everyone's current psychological and emotional reactions are not only a reaction to the actual situation, but also a result of various negative emotions accumulated over the past three years.
For example, the score for no anxiety at all is 0 points, and the score for collapse is 100 points. Before the epidemic, we may have had 60 points, but now it has become 80 points. This is a cumulative result.
In the case of a high level of anxiety and even some tendency to depression, when encountering new challenges and new situations, you will not adapt.
The reason why our reactions are sometimes extreme or strong, seems to be irrational, is because it is not only acute trauma and stress, but also long-term chronic trauma and stress.
Liu Shaoyan: As far as Shanghai is concerned, everyone has experienced a lot from March to now. I personally feel that everyone's ability to adapt to changes has improved.
Anxiety is an emotion that each of us will have when faced with this uncontrollable environment. In fact, the key is that the first step is to recognize this emotion, then accept this emotion, allow this emotion to exist, and not fight against it.
Let's not think that I can't be anxious and I can't be nervous, otherwise we will fall into a vicious circle.
Then we must know that under the guidance of such emotions, we will realize to do something to face this environment.
Take some corresponding measures to protect ourselves.
For example, wear a mask, disinfect frequently, and wash your hands frequently.
Emotions have a certain degree. Appropriate tension and anxiety will make us move and do something.
But after it is overdone, if the emotion is too strong, it will be overwhelmed by this emotion, which may freeze the whole person.
At this time, you need to do some relaxation, such as taking deep breaths, quickly stabilizing your emotions, or stimulating with some cold water to restore your rational part and reduce your emotional intensity.
Including mindfulness meditation, yoga, etc., when these are ineffective, drug intervention is required.
Beijing News: After optimizing and implementing the epidemic prevention and control measures, what kind of people are more likely to feel anxious?
Xu Kaiwen: People who are more panicked now, people who are prone to anxiety, may not have enough social support, and the support from family, relatives and friends may also be lacking.
And people with a relatively high level of anxiety, for him, no matter how to deal with this matter, he will feel insecure. This is also a characteristic of anxiety, that is, he wants to control, but he cannot control it.
When he can't control it, he wants to control it more, and his efforts to control it will make him feel more anxious-the more you want to control, the easier it is to lose control.
Maybe no matter what you do, this anxiety will always exist, and the cases with strong individual reactions should provide them with more psychological support.
Liu Shaoyan: No matter whether you are inside or outside the shelter, people with a high level of anxiety will make things worse.
For those who are highly adaptable, their entry into the shelter will not have much impact on them.
When I was supporting the Fangcang Hospital, there were 400 people on one floor, not all 400 people would have psychological problems. In fact, a large part of people could adapt to this environment, and they would also be nervous and anxious, but they could watch videos or talk to others. Chat eased.
The Beijing News: For people who are more prone to anxiety, they have anxiety and worry, and even dare not go out. Psychologically, how should they adjust themselves?
What can we do to help them?
Liu Shaoyan: For example, someone is afraid of being in contact with others, afraid of being infected by a virus, so he reduces going out, or even does not go out. In fact, psychologically, this is a behavior of escaping reality. It may end up getting farther and farther away from the real society. , into a lonely situation.
We must continue to learn to face it, to master ways to reduce risks as much as possible, and to return to society to build relationships and communicate with others.
Avoidance behavior is effective in a short period of time, but in the long run, it is actually dangerous and can cause other more serious psychological problems due to panic.
Because avoidance will make us retreat more and more, it is difficult to listen to the voice of reason, and it is difficult to live a life that should be lived.
At this time, some older adults need support from family.
I believe that in his family, everyone thinks that he should be afraid, or that he cannot go out. For such elderly people, the care of family members is very important.
If the old man says that I cannot go out because of fear, the children should see that the old man is actually insecure and needs the care and support of others.
When conditions permit, take protective measures, take him out together, and slowly increase some social activities.
Xu Kaiwen: High-risk groups need more scientific understanding and face reality.
He may need stricter self-protection measures, a more active self-protection attitude, which is not a denial of reality.
We can use the scientific data and facts we have to communicate with them. Listening to and accompanying them is support in itself, allowing him to speak out.
Even speaking out will not completely solve the problem, but the very act of knowing that there are people around to support him can greatly reduce his sense of insecurity and fear.
We need to provide such social resources. For example, there are already many psychological hotlines or remote psychological counseling to help this group of people and give them some psychological comfort and support.
Scientific knowledge should also continue to be widely popularized. I think it will help alleviate the anxiety level of the whole society.
Beijing News: If we are diagnosed positive for the new crown, what situation will we face psychologically and how to deal with it?
Xu Kaiwen: In the past two days, two of my colleagues have been infected and tested positive, but they have no symptoms. They are infected, but they are still under psychological pressure.
I think on the one hand, there will be a sense of denial at the beginning, because there are no symptoms, and the nucleic acid was negative before, we will not be willing to accept this at first.
In addition, I worry about affecting my family and my children. This impact is not only reflected in the fact that I am really sick, but also because it will change our living conditions. It will affect people in close contact with us, such as children and the elderly. .
Including maybe worrying about being ostracized and rejected, these aspects are new sources of anxiety and stress.
At this time, all the colleagues around us went to support him.
Help him buy medicine together, arrange local isolation, and contact medical resources. In short, this kind of social support is very important.
But this social support is different from other post-disaster rescues. Your act of helping him may make us infected, so whether it is the infected person or the supporters around him, there will be such pressure to some extent.
But supporting each other is still effective.
Scientific facts close the gaps in people's positions
The Beijing News: At present, people are paying more attention to scientific data such as articles on the recovery of people infected with the new crown and the rate of serious illness caused by Omicron. Will reading these articles and videos help us psychologically?
Xu Kaiwen: It is definitely helpful, but it should be serious science popularization based on facts, without exaggeration or concealment.
For example, there are scientific average data for recovering within a few days after being infected with the new crown, but there will also be special cases. We must accept this knowledge realistically.
I have a live connection with a student in Xinjiang. She has been infected with the new crown, and she has indeed gone through a painful process. She has not been vaccinated, so it took her more than 20 days to turn negative, and she also entered the shelter. Her husband may be four or five. Good day.
As long as you understand that the recovery cycle of each individual is different in the early stage, you will have a reasonable psychological expectation after fully grasping the scientific information.
Be sure to convey scientific and authoritative information to the public.
Everyone should not start from a standpoint. For example, I want to relax the measures, so I only think about the slightly good side; or if I agree to continue the lockdown, I will repeatedly emphasize the severe disease.
Data facts with large sample sizes are needed to close the gaps in people's positions.
The Beijing News: Many debates are based on different positions, or they only see the information they want to see. Regarding this kind of endless debate, how can we alleviate it from a psychological perspective?
How to rebuild consensus?
Liu Shaoyan: I think the goal of the debate seems to be to ask the other party to accept their point of view, but in fact, we must first accept the reasonable part of the other party’s point of view, and then put forward our reasonable part, that is, both parties must be able to see where our cooperation is. .
If you just want to convince the other party, it’s meaningless. Don’t try to change it. Instead, we should find the greatest common denominator based on facts and adopting common viewpoints.
If a person is always arguing, and then is occupied by anger, he has not lived up to his life.
Do you also have to think about why you must fill your life with so much anger?
You are in an emotional vortex and you can't do anything.
Xu Kaiwen: Personally, I think there is no point in arguing. More attention should be paid to how to take care of the elderly and how to help children.
From my point of view, in fact, the negative impact of this epidemic on young people is very large, and it will last for a long time.
In the past two years, children have been taking online classes for a long time, unable to study normally and interact with classmates, and even normal outdoor sports are affected, making them more prone to anxiety and depression, and children's self-regulation ability to deal with anxiety and depression is weak, as far as I know In some cities, the incidence of extreme incidents among primary and middle school students is much higher than before the epidemic, and is two or three times that before the epidemic.
Knowable Trends in the Unknown
Beijing News: In June this year, the World Health Organization released a mental health report showing that since the outbreak of the new crown epidemic in 2020, more than 50 million patients with depression and more than 70 million patients with anxiety disorders have increased globally.
How long will this long-term collective trauma last, and how can it be healed?
Liu Shaoyan: This kind of experience can actually make us think about what is most important to us personally in life.
Some people may find that hobbies are also important.
A friend of mine went to learn guitar during the epidemic. He felt that in the process of learning music, he could feel the healing brought by music.
Some people may read books, and some people may draw pictures. I think it is very important to find something that makes you feel nourished or has a healing effect.
Xu Kaiwen: I still take teenagers as an example. They need to socialize with their peers, and they need to have things they are interested in. We need to have more company with our children, and then pay attention not to pass on our negative emotions to them. Maybe we can use isolation When you are at home, go to do things they like to do with your children and create a good environment as much as possible.
At the same time, when we have emotions, we have to find someone to talk to, that is, I can express my own emotions, which is very important.
When emotion cannot be expressed, it becomes more likely to become sickness and problem.
We need to support each other's emotions instead of passing on anxiety and stress.
Transfer energy to valuable and meaningful things, so from this perspective, I think returning to school and returning to work is an effective way to ease the overall social mood.
When you don't try to completely control anxiety, anxiety will decrease or even disappear. This is the characteristic and law of anxiety itself.
Beijing News: Psychologists are also parties involved in the epidemic. Which of your self-coping methods can ordinary people learn?
Xu Kaiwen: Use some cognitive methods. For example, I think about what to do when the worst happens. When we know that the worst happens, we have ways to deal with it and can accept it. Then our anxiety and depression condition will be much better.
We all have some symptoms of generalized anxiety right now, which is our excessive worry and fear of things that are not happening.
What is he anxious about, he doesn't know what he is anxious about.
In other words, the thing he was anxious about never happened at all.
For example, what do you think is the probability that the room you live in will suddenly collapse?
If you put the time long enough, the probability of this building falling down may be 100%, but is it possible for it to fall in the next second?
Yes, but it is a small probability event. Are we afraid to live in it because we are afraid of collapse?
So we say that an important criterion for people's mental health is to ignore the danger of small probability.
I'm ready to deal with it if it happens, I've got the medicine, if I get positive, I should go to the hospital, I should go to the hospital, I should go to the quarantine, but even if I do everything, it still has There is a certain probability of becoming seriously ill or even dying, but who can guarantee that he will live in this world tomorrow?
Liu Shaoyan: Observe your emotions by observing your body, such as whether my heart beats faster, whether my muscles are tense, whether I am sweating, whether my scalp is numb, when these states appear, It means that I am nervous and anxious.
Be aware of your emotions.
I would recommend mindfulness meditation.
Mindfulness actually refers to living in the present moment and focusing on the present moment. We can’t change what happened yesterday, so we can’t control what will happen tomorrow. We focus on today’s events and what we can do in the next time. , to make your life richer and happier.
Mindfulness meditation needs to be practiced constantly, and it is also a gradual process.
While it's not a cure-all, this type of training can reduce anxiety levels in anxious sufferers.
In fact, it is really not easy to maintain inner peace, but it is possible to improve the stability of your inner world if you continue to be aware of your body and mind and practice continuously.
Beijing News: After optimizing and implementing the "New Ten Measures" for epidemic prevention and control, what will happen in the future is still unknown to a certain extent. Facing the unknown, what can we do psychologically to prepare?
How to self-groom?
Xu Kaiwen: I am also a doctor. At least my education and understanding of the virus is this: it must exist for a long time, and this is certainly not the last epidemic that humans will encounter.
Therefore, from the perspective of science and the history of the relationship between humans and viruses, the general trend must be eased. It is not an unknowable situation, but it is unknowable when it will end.
At present, the number of new infections every day is still an endless state. From my point of view, even if the epidemic cannot be completely over, I can live a normal life as much as possible. That is to say, I cannot maintain my body and mind. Health is based on the premise that the epidemic is completely under control.
Otherwise you will keep failing, you will fail again and again.
I think this epidemic is telling us that the world itself is uncertain, so we have to accept this uncertainty, let nature take its course, do what we should do, and let our lives move on.
Reporter Zhu Qinghua (Source: Beijing News)