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After the first wave of coronavirus broke out, more people were observed to experience emotional difficulties during the quarantine. Many of them turned to psychologists and sought help in other ways. The Vilnius University (VU) Psychotraumatology Center conducted a study to find out which emotions most tortured Lithuanians during the first universal quarantine.
Psychologist at the VU Center for Psychotraumatology, one of the main researchers in the study of psychological well-being related to the Covid-19 pandemic, dr. Odeta Geležėlytė says that the first quarantine brought Lithuanians the most anxiety, sadness and confusion. And as soon as we started talking about the second quarantine, more and more people doubted the existence of the virus. The psychologist says that denying the virus can also be a way to defend people against the virus.
Recently, he conducted a study on how quarantine and pandemics affected people’s emotional state. What emotions did Lithuanians live with during the first quarantine?
That the first quarantine affected people, we not only have imagination, but also the results of the investigation. In the summer, we conducted a study at the VU Psychotraumatology Center. We listen to the people who affected them the most. We found that a large portion of the study participants were affected by uncertainty about the duration and risk of the pandemic. We know little about the virus. Knowledge is growing, but we still know little and we don’t know what will happen in the future. We feel insecure about our work, about how we will be able to implement our plans, because we never know what restrictive measures will be implemented.
People were also affected by the fear of contracting coronavirus. We note that an even higher proportion, almost 56 percent. the participants in our study were greatly affected by the fear of being infected by their loved ones. This shows that in this situation we are more concerned not about ourselves but about our loved ones. People were affected by the limited live contact with their loved ones.
Up to 51 percent. of the study participants experienced increased anxiety, 38 percent. experienced sadness, and 29 percent. felt lonely. People associate this with a coronavirus pandemic. We found that almost half of the study participants had poor psychological well-being. We also noted the risk of depression, anxiety, and adjustment difficulties in a large number of participants. This shows that it is difficult for a person to cope with stressful things and it is automatically difficult to adapt to everyday life.
This is how Lithuanians felt during the first quarantine. Now autumn has arrived, the introduction of a second universal quarantine. Autumn and anyway put a lot of melancholy in the mood, what will happen during the second wave?
In summer we had the opportunity to relax, recover and get some rest, but we really expected the situation to get worse in the fall. That is what happened. We are back again. The measures are tightening, we have been living with stress for a long time. When we’ve been under stress for a long time, it really drains us. Our internal resources are being wasted.
People will likely need additional resources of some kind to deal with it again. After all, our financial situation in relation to work is also very important to us and a great economic burden is felt around the world. I hear a lot of people worry about their financial situation right now.
We found that fall is not an easy time for people. And in practice, you can see that the number of patients often decreases in summer. They rest, enjoy the warmer weather, and in the fall they feel worse again. This, of course, is also affected by cold weather and darkness. The fact that our vacation is coming to an end, a time when we can rest from stressors and the beginning of a dark period again, seems to make sense as well. We will have to go back to work, face our difficulties.
You are well aware that now lies the full burden that we carry with a pandemic. We are more tired and more exhausted because of it. At the same time, we have a seasonal difficulty, when in general many people feel bad.
You say we are wasting our resources. What resources are you talking about? Professional psychological help from professionals?
Basically, he had more internal resources in mind. How much strength we have, what ways to overcome stress do we find. In terms of external resources, I believe that now I can really find affordable psychological help if the need arises.
You said that people get more and more tired. In the social space, you can see that more and more people have begun to deny the virus, less fear. Can this be attributed to fatigue?
Yes, really, when we get tired, we can start to resist, to feel more annoyed or irritated. One of those ways to overcome anxiety is denial. Certainly, there can be several psychological reasons. If people are concerned, they may find it easier to just say that there is no problem.
Perhaps they hope to avoid failure in this way. We are also dealing with an invisible enemy because you will not see the virus with the naked eye. When the enemy is invisible, it is more difficult to fight him. Sometimes it is easier to imagine its absence than to understand that it is invisible. When you don’t see something, catch up on what action to take to resist. The sense of control weakens and you often feel less secure.
Is it possible to say that those who fear the virus the most are those who fear it the most?
Not necessarily, it depends on the situation. Our experience shows that it really can be very different. It can also be related to the knowledge that people have, maybe people are facing liars. This seems to man to be true. Maybe they read a lot, they watch a lot of videos that have positive conspiracy theories or something like that. Therefore, it can be related to lack of knowledge, fears, and various other reactions. I couldn’t say it unequivocally, but fear is one of the things that can probably work too.
Liars In the public sphere, there is an increasingly heated debate, often raging on two sides: those who believe in the virus and those who deny it in every way. I think those discussions are frustrating. How should you contact someone who doesn’t believe in the virus?
This is a very broad topic. We see how much the new restrictions are causing unrest in the world. While it looks like we’ve just seen a tough first wave, people get upset again when new restrictions are applied. In general, when we feel bad, out of control of a situation, one of our reactions is anger.
It can take many forms. Sometimes we express anger in words, sometimes we even take aggressive actions. In a situation where there is a lot of anxiety, it is natural that the anxiety can be expressed in anger. We don’t like the situation, we don’t know how to change it. It is important for us to observe our emotional reaction and try to understand why we feel this way and what we can do with it.
So how do you communicate with an angry person?
Basically, it is important not to get involved in the conflict yourself, not to try to prove its truth, but to try to stay as calm as possible. In such a situation, it is important to express your position calmly. No more gasoline should be added to the fire. In this way, we will only get involved in the conflict, we will expand it, but there will be none of that. It also depends a lot on the situation and what we care about in that conflict. If we just want to prove our truth for no other purpose, maybe we should leave the person with their truth. When it is important to make a joint decision, you should try to speak in a friendly way.
It is also possible to tell a person we see that they are angry. When we hear that people see us, it encourages us to turn to ourselves, to see what is happening to us. It is also important to note that no one is mad at the good life. Even if a person is angry, it means that something is not right for him or that he feels bad. Such a position can also help us to respond not with resentment, but with a sincere desire to find out where the problem is and how we can change it.
Since November 7, the universal quarantine is in force in Lithuania. How do we act so that we feel our best and come out of quarantine neither tired nor angry?
Based on the results of our research and the experience of other countries, I can say that, above all, it is important to maintain your daily routine. In the study, we found that those people who struggled with a healthy lifestyle and daily routine during the first wave had lower levels of anxiety.
We also see how people feel affected by loneliness, the loss of social contacts. In general, a sense of community is important in crisis situations. As human beings, it is extremely important to us. Therefore, it is important to communicate, of course, it is necessary to adhere to the restrictions to control the spread of the virus, but there are remote means. You can call and talk to your family and friends.
The study also found that people who spent more time searching for information about the spread of the virus and dangers had higher levels of anxiety. We need information to know who we are dealing with and how to react, but the amount must be limited.
We’ve already heard it from the World Health Organization.) Don’t overdo it, don’t dive into the information about the virus. It is recommended that we choose a few times a day when we open a reliable source, read, take a look, get acquainted with information and recommendations. Too much information is alarming and may not lead us in the misleading direction.
When faced with uncontrollable situations, it is important to regain at least some sense of control. We must look in our environment and in our daily life what we can control. For example, we can control our daily routine, if we eat healthy, some aspects of our work. When we want to contribute to the control of the virus, we follow the recommendations and thus protect ourselves and others, if we want, we can contribute to some social initiatives.
The unique thing about a pandemic is that we are not only faced with new challenges, but we are also limited by the ways we normally deal with stress. To a large extent, we are isolated from real contacts, we cannot go on vacation to another country, we cannot go to have fun, to a bar, restaurant, theater, concert, exercise in a sports club. A double challenge.
But still, don’t forget to take time for enjoyable activities, even when we have a lot of work or business to do. We need to look for what pleases us, helps us calm down. If, due to limitations, we can’t take advantage of what we normally like to do, let’s try creatively to find other options.
We also have a lot of free psychological aids these days. There are various gadgets, such as Ramu or Self Help. You can download and use a variety of relaxation exercises and tools for free to help reduce anxiety. If we feel that we feel worse for a longer period of time, we can consult a specialist, a psychologist.
Such opportunities are available in polyclinics, public health offices. You can call the emotional support lines and get support there. Sometimes a conversation is enough to understand if it is normal to see what is happening with you or not. Additionally, a professional can help you discover a wider range of ways to reduce the anxiety that arises.
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