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Hey there, Maureen Chana here, founder of the Mindsight Academy, neuro coach to executives, leaders, entrepreneurs, and a neuroleadership trainer using insights from neuroscience to help you deliver results by learning to work smarter, be in control of your brain, manage yours and other people's emotions, change behaviors, flourish and exceed expectations. Welcome back to another episode of Lead2 Excel Podcast. I am so thrilled to be with you today. And before we get started, don't forget to subscribe to this podcast wherever you listen to it. And as usual, I will appreciate all your comments. So grab a cup of coffee, put your feet up and listen in. Our topic this week is managing pandemic stress. So for today, let's get started. The prolonged coronavirus crisis has taken its toll on many people's mental health. I remember working as a research assistant in the early days of the HIV crisis and seeing the trauma that AIDS was causing to individuals, to families, and the society. This pandemic has really brought back a lot of those sad memories. But this COVID-19 pandemic feels so different because it not only is taking its toll on the economy as people lose their jobs, but it's so sad to hear people fall sick and die. And as the lockdown continues, you see the impact of isolation on family members causing intense emotional pain and stress. Many people around the world have died from the coronavirus and the numbers keep increasing. So self-care and being able to support each other has become extremely important. As some countries start getting the vaccine, it's still probably months away for many countries to get it. The uncertainty of not knowing when this will all end or whether the future would look anything like the past is causing many people a lot of stress and taking its toll on mental health, on mental well-being, on careers, on businesses as well. And also on both the young and the old. A survey done in June 2020 by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention on Adults found that about 25.5% adults had symptoms of anxiety and 24.3% had symptoms of depression, which is an increase of threefold and fourfold respectively from 2019. The sad thing is that it's having a much deeper negative impact amongst the black and the other minority groups who are more exposed and less protected. The question now is how does one go through these prolonged months of trauma and strain, the isolation, the dirts, the economic wreckage, the fear and the uncertainty. And this podcast is really focused on giving you coping mechanisms to help you manage this pandemic stress. When people in devastating situations can spot warning signs of mental trouble. When you can acknowledge and express your distress, focus on the present moment and the small things that you can control. When you can find ways to connect with others, it will help you get through the darkest of moments and also enable you to build up your resilience as you adapt to the situation. It's an opportunity for every one of us to come out better on the other side than we were before, and it will also enable everyone to become flexible, open, and honest with ourselves, and just take things one day at a time. Because this is what helps build adaptability and will also help you recover from this long, prolonged stress. So let's look at some warning signs of declining mental health. Changes in appetite or sleep patterns that last more than a week can be an indication. When you find yourself becoming more irritable, possibly lashing out more frequently at your family members or even colleagues or getting quite irritable with colleagues and working virtually, this is happening quite a lot. Poor concentration or inability to enjoy things that you used to enjoy may also indicate that your mental health is declining and this can be a sign of depression and anxiety. Increased consumption of alcohol is also a sign to watch out for, especially if it becomes your primary way of coping, and you find that you need more and more of it to get through the day. That's a red flag. When people struggle to manage their emotions, their distress often manifests itself physically with symptoms such as pain, dizziness, or indigestion. These are really caused by the results of the loneliness, unpredictability, fear, and deprivation that this pandemic is causing. So, how do you manage your emotions? If you've listened to me in the past, you'd have heard me talk so much about emotional intelligence. This is a time that everyone needs to build up their emotional intelligence. You need to start by acknowledging your emotions. Don't feel bad about having them. It's totally normal to have these feelings of anxiety. The key is being able to manage them. Many people think that fear and worry are bad, and being strong is the absence of these emotions. But that is not the truth at all. You can feel fearful, nervous, upset, anxious, and simultaneously be resilient and victorious. Writing about feelings is a powerful way to also walk through them. Developing awareness and recognizing these negative emotions are important because they open the door for you to be able to ask and answer the question, What can I do next? It's about identifying exactly what is the main cause of the fear or anxiety, and then identifying aspects of the situation that you can control or make progress on. For example, you might have just lost your job or possibly worried about paying your bills. You can brainstorm small things that you can do to give yourself some sense of control, such as changing the grocery shop that you use. You could also set yourself a goal to create a new household budget or to find out about financial relief programs that you might be eligible for. The important thing is to be solution focused. It's very important in this current climate to have an open mind because you will struggle to adapt in any situation with a rigid way of thinking. This means being open to pivoting in your business or career. It might mean considering jobs that you would not have considered in the past or even asking people that you would not normally reach out to for help or support. The key is to think of problems as challenges or obstacles that you can overcome, rather than as insurmountable hurdles that you can do nothing about. There are definitely aspects of this pandemic that we cannot control, but by focusing on the things that you can control at least to some extent, and by thinking of yourself as adaptable and resilient, you will make good progress. This practice will go a long way in boosting your mental health as well. Remember the quote attributed to Henry Ford that says, Whether you think you can or you think you can't, you're right. And that's absolutely true. So it's important now to take back control of your brain, be in control of your emotions, pay attention to how you're feeling, and start listening to what you're thinking. And if you need to start changing those thought patterns, do them. If you want to know more about how to rewire your brain to change the thought patterns, I've done a previous podcast on this topic. Go listen to both parts of it. You can also visit the MindSight Academy. We have got a fantastic course on leading with emotional intelligence. Now, connection is another important aspect of coping with pandemic stress. This pandemic has forced people to give up what they emotionally need the most, which is connection. In a 2015 analysis of 70 studies, researchers at Brigham Young University found that people who reported feeling lonely were 26% more likely to die over the next seven years on average than those who were not lonely. There's been a lot of research on the detrimental effects of social isolation and loneliness and the mitigating effects of social support. Reaching out to family members, to friends, colleagues regularly by phone, by email, or snail mail and perhaps setting up regular phone calls or typically distance visits are really important in these days. Virtual therapy also provides another means of connection. It's very important to reach out to someone or a helpline if you're feeling lonely. Pay attention to yourself as well. One of the hardest things about this pandemic is the level of uncertainty about the future that it has created. We like to be organized by planning and setting goals, but many are too reluctant to even do that now because of the uncertainty. Focus on the present. Pay attention to your emotions and your feelings in the moment rather than focusing on what you cannot control. It's very important to set goals in order to give yourself some level of certainty and then have daily goals that enable you to take one day at a time. Meditation, prayer, and mindfulness practice, such as focused breathing, are good ways to help you stay grounded and help reduce symptoms of anxiety and depression. Mindfulness makes us feel calmer because it slows down our breathing and it sends that message to the brain that we are okay and there's no trigger in the environment, there's no stressful issue that we need to be attending to. And that way we're able to activate our conscious brain so we're intentional about our response to situations. There's no one size fits all approach to managing this pandemic stress and keeping your mental health intact, and the approach that is best for you will depend on your situation, your access to resources, and your preferences. Psychologists say to trust your instincts and to try the available strategies that you think might help the most is the key. Be willing to try out new things if the approaches that you first choose do not seem to be working. And remember that you are in control of your brain. So you can actually take that control back and start taking actions and doing something to ensure that you manage your emotions and your thoughts effectively. So I wish you great success in rewiring your brain, in turning problems, lack of control to opportunities for progress and growth for yourself, for your business, and in your career. It's a time when many people are beginning to reflect on where they are at and where they want to go. And it's a fantastic opportunity to do that. But do it effectively and make decisions that you want. But remember not to get so fixed in one way of doing things. Be open to change, be open to learning new things. Don't get so fixated on okay, this is what I'm going to do. I talk a lot about this in the mini course I've created at the Mindsight Academy calls So Higher because having a plan doesn't mean that that's the only way. You need to be able to adapt to changes externally and internally while you still remain on your own lane, making sure that you're really heading to where you really want to get to. Thank you once again for tuning in. And remember that if you haven't subscribed to this podcast, click on the button wherever you listen to it so that you don't miss an episode. And I would really appreciate you leaving a review. I've got some exciting episodes coming up with some interesting guests that you really wouldn't want to miss. So, in this climate, wherever you are, do remember to keep safe, look after yourself, and I truly wish you perfect health. Stay limitless, and I look forward to seeing you in the next episode. Bye for now.