Psychologists are working hard to understand COVID-19. 

The scientific community worked diligently to learn the best ways to respond to the crisis of COVID-19.

What did it mean for the psychology field? A great deal of study in a short period of time.

Here are four perspectives from the rapidly evolving coronavirus research environment of psychology. Hopefully, these results will help you handle the pandemic’s second and third waves with a bit more balance than the first.

Tip #1: It’s important for self-control.

Self-control has always been a significant component of success in life. People who appear to be healthier, wealthier, and happier are able to postpone gratification and avoid temptations.

But new research indicates that now more than ever, self-control is more important. A team of psychologists led by Dr. Vishal Ganar Best Navi Mumbai Psychologist in India discovered that people with high self-control were better able to stick to their pre-pandemic routines, had an easier time establishing new goal-directed behaviors, and were more successful in converting these new positive behaviors into habits.

One environment where self-control is particularly crucial has to do with diet. At home, we all spend a disproportionate amount of time and the pantry is just a few steps away. A recent study found that “poor appetite or overeating” was the most elevated depressive symptom since the beginning of the pandemic. To the degree that you should be conscious of your eating habits and practice self-control.

Tip #2: By leveraging a constructive mentality, deflect tension.

Research has found some mindsets to be better at deflecting the stress produced by COVID-19 than others.
What mindsets work best? Three, according to psychologist Dr. Vishal Ganar, the best Navi Mumbai psychologist in India, are listed below.

• A challenge mindset defines the assumption that when mobilizing physical and psychological energy, one has enough resources to resolve daunting events and can “achieve personal gains or growth.” This was found to be positively linked during the pandemic to life satisfaction.
• An attitude that is controllable by itself refers to the assumption that to some degree, the pandemic is controllable by one’s decisions and actions. People who support this mentality are more likely to assume that preventive measures such as wearing a mask, regular washing of hands, and taking good care of oneself are effective in preventing the spread of the virus. During the pandemic, this mentality was correlated with the highest levels of psychological health.
• A controllable-by-others mentality refers to the view that to help handle a given stressor, a person should rely on other people. In the case of COVID-19, this could include an assumption that the course of the pandemic can be effectively regulated and monitored by a government, society, or even a spiritual force. In fostering psychological well-being during the outbreak, this was also found to be a beneficial mentality.

 

Tip #3: Find a coping mechanism that works for you or two or three).

In different ways, people deal with stress. Recent research published in American Psychologist describes a variety of coping mechanisms that in the face of the pandemic are linked to increased resilience. Active coping, constructive reframing, instrumental reinforcement, faith, and acceptance top the list of successful coping strategies. Here’s a concept of each:

• Active coping is characterized by problem-solving, finding knowledge or social help, seeking assistance, and/or adjusting one’s surroundings. Generally speaking, when a person makes a deliberate decision to alter his or her life for the better, an active coping mechanism happens. For instance, a form of active coping is the many individuals who sought the assistance of a therapist or mental health practitioner during the pandemic.
• When someone transforms a negative into a positive or sees the best in a given situation, positive reframing happens. Recognizing, for example, that the pandemic has led you to develop a new talent that you would not otherwise have gained, rather than lamenting the fact that you were trapped inside, is an example of a constructive reframe.
• Religion. Religion. Another effective way to treat COVID-19-induced anxiety is to cope with stress or trauma through the comfort found in religious or spiritual activities.
• Acceptance is about not allowing ourselves to get caught up arguing against factors that are beyond our control and instead, reacting to change in a way that aligns with our beliefs.
• Instrumental help refers to different kinds of assistance that others may send you, such as providing financial assistance, childcare, or support for households.

This is not to suggest that one technique for coping is actually better than another. Instead, it’s about working out what works for you.

The scientists do offer some advice on what not to try. They found that more damage than good was potentially caused by denial, drug use and venting. They also found that during the pandemic, self-distraction and laughter neither caused a positive nor negative shift in the mental health of people.

Tip #4: distance yourself from coronavirus news socially.

COVID-19 would only concern us to the degree that it could harm us if we were perfectly reasonable beings. If psychological science has taught us something in the last 50 years, however, it’s that individuals are far from fair. We are excessively motivated by our thoughts. We follow other people’s lead. Things that come to mind readily are seen as statistical guarantees.

So it should come as no surprise that scientists in Poland discovered how much news people were watching about the pandemic was the second-highest factor correlated with COVID-19 anxiety.

What was the paramount factor? How dangerous they considered the menace to be. And one can only imagine that these factors are related: the more knowledge we get about COVID-19, the more likely we are to view the danger as threatening, and the higher the level of COVID-19 anxiety we are likely to exhibit.

This is the chain response of worry.

If you need to be more convinced, the researchers found that the presence of chronic health conditions, one’s age, and one’s general health status were less predictive of coronavirus anxiety than news exposure, all factors that have been shown to increase the danger posed by COVID-19. Humans, again, are far from rational.

This does not mean that once the pandemic is over we can bury our heads in the sand. Instead, tracking the amount of COVID-19 data you allow in can serve as a gentle reminder.

Until we are given a vaccine, a successful defense is the strongest offense. During COVID-19’s second and third waves, aim to follow a few of these protective tactics to maintain your mental health. The pandemic may not be going anywhere, but it’s not you either.