Coping with uncertainty – distraction
09 Apr 2020
As coronavirus has put on hold day-to-day life and fertility treatment, this adds pain to those waiting to fulfil their dream of starting a family. In these uncertain times, Jackie Stewart, one of our counsellors, has provided some advice, in this guest blog.
Coping with uncertainty – acknowledge your feelings
As much as everybody fully appreciates the importance of helping to prevent and delay the spread of coronavirus, it can be unsettling to feel out of control in planning for the future.
Tell yourself it’s OK to feel sad or frustrated, try to accept your feelings and know you are doing the best you can each day
Self-care
In order to rest your mind from continually thinking a stream of uneasy thoughts about what you can’t control, it might also be helpful to consider the following suggestions.
- give yourself permission to DO or NOT DO whatever makes you feel most peaceful
- think about what you need and maybe communicate this to your partner/loved one/a trusted colleague, thereby encouraging them to do the same. You will then not be second guessing each other’s needs.
- pace yourself. Review and manage your feelings daily/weekly, so that you can adjust and balance what you need with life’s demands, in order to feel less overwhelmed.
- look after your health and physical wellbeing – eat well and stay hydrated.
Distraction
Distract yourself when you can with whatever helps you to feel better emotionally. This way of coping enables you to feel you are doing something to help yourself. Using distraction is a great way of quieting the ‘monkey mind’ to help you cope.
Here are some suggestions, whilst respecting the current Government instruction to stay at home:
- if you enjoy your work (and its not causing you stress) then look to see how you can add value to what you do, perhaps look for an online course to develop your skills
- enjoy a new project, gardening, reading, exercise to YouTube class or take a walk,
- listen to music, watch your favourite films/shows or try something new,
- Clean out the junk and spring clean feel lighter and more organised.
- learning a new skill, meditation, mindfulness, breathing exercises, a bath with scented oils and candles,
- talk to loved ones and friends more on the telephone or online directly rather than just commenting on their posts!
- take up a new skill cooking, baking, sewing, painting, being creative whatever that looks like for you
Some other helpful links and sources of support:
Podcasts to help those coping with uncertainty
Available on Apple, Spotify and other good podcast providers, suggested by Jackie as others have found them helpful.
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