As we come out of another lockdown I hear people are tired, battered and bruised and anxious. Some people cannot wait to go out and socialise whilst others tentatively pop their heads out of the safety of home unsure about social expectations and which camp are you in vaccine or no vaccine, are you hugging or keeping distance, even before we have met up with anyone there are worries that we never had to consider before.

All of these worries are what we are aware of, what about what is happening on an even deeper level, how have we responded physiologically to this global pandemic? 

Maybe take a pause to consider what happens to our body and mind when there is a threat to life on such a global scale. The threat has not only been about getting the virus but also the fear of passing it on to others. These very real threats have created a long term trigger to our autonomic nervous system and very specifically our fight/flight/freeze response. The job of our nervous system is to keep us safe and so our mind becomes very vigilant to the danger. When our brain detects a threat we are sent various neurotransmitters to protect us from this threat. Our heart rate goes up, our digestion is paused, our muscles are given more fuel to respond and we sweat , these are just a few responses our body creates in order to get ready to face the threat either head on or run away and even freeze. We all react in different ways some people are short tempered others are tearful, some of us find it hard to concentrate and don’t feel as productive.

We may not be aware this is happening when the threat we are facing is constant and for a year now our nervous systems have been managing various triggers, going in and out of lockdown and the impact this has on our individual situations triggers various intensities of stress and anxiety. 

Over time this constant response that is felt in our body and our mind is exhausting and we find ourselves becoming detached and dissociated from the world in order to cope. Again our survival system kicks in and this process of hiding ourselves away is a primal response to continued threat to stop ourselves from constantly checking if the threat is out there. 

Often what helps us to regulate our nervous system is touch and connection, important parts of human life that we have been unable to do and we feel even more disconnected not only with the outside world but with ourselves.

So what can we do to help ourselves and others through this time? 

Clinical Psychologist Christine Runyan describes the benefit of having awareness, asking ourselves how does this present for me today?  Just by being curious to our current state of body and mind can give us a hit of dopamine in the brain helping us to feel good by looking inwardly. We are looking for ways to get back to our thinking brain by naming what we are feeling and then we can begin to quieten the nervous system giving it reassurance that we know what is going on and the threat does not require such a response.

Another suggestion is to simply focus on the exhale when noticing the breath which can calm the nervous system. 

Christine also talks about using scent or music that is familiar or soothing giving messages to the brain of comfort or safety.

Christine refers to an interesting quote from Victor Frankl, “Between stimulus and response there is a space. In that space is our power to choose our response. In our response lies our growth and our freedom.” 

It can be hard to pause at a time when we are activated by a threat such as Covid but maybe if we can try and catch ourselves, name what we are thinking or feeling and show compassion for why maybe we feel scratchy or distant, tearful or finding it hard to concentrate and find ways to feel grounded and comforted, we can emerge slowly at our own pace to connect again when we feel ready to do so.