It has been a rough two years: 21 months of pandemic, distant working, distant education, political unrest across the last presidential election, masking/no masking debates, and a historic freeze that left many without power and water for days. That is just naming a number of things that happened in 2020 and 2021. 

Should you’re heading into the brand new 12 months with trepidation, you usually are not alone. 

Much of what happened within the last two years were things just like the weather: “totally outside of our control,” said Vanessa Kennedy, director of psychology at Driftwood Recovery, which provides inpatient look after people experiencing alcohol and drug abuse, mental health conditions and chronic pain. 

The very first thing to do is to acknowledge what we’re feeling and check out to honor that it’s OK to have the emotions we’re having. We do not have to place a completely happy face on it.

“Anytime we may be honest and acknowledge what is happening, I’m all the time an advocate of that,” said Allison Chase, the regional clinical director at Eating Recovery Center and Pathlight Mood & Anxiety Center. “The avoidance of feelings and thoughts is rarely really helpful.”

The second thing is to normalize feelings and reactions. “We’re not alone,” Kennedy said. Now we have faced prolonged stress. That has increased the stress hormone in our bodies — cortisol — which makes it harder to administer our emotions, she said. 

“It is not weird or abnormal,” Kennedy said. “It’s a really normal response to prolonged stress.”

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Calm down the stress response

Our bodies need us to work on managing stress.

Once we’re continually in a fight or flight mode, after we’re on alert for what’s going to occur, Kennedy said, “We’re more vulnerable to anxiety and depression and even reduced immunity.” 

Attempt to work out what type of patterns or behaviors help to give some relief, Chase said.

For some people, managing stress comes through calming activities akin to meditation, journaling, yoga or crossword puzzles. For others, it might probably mean more physical activity akin to running, kickboxing or going for a walk.

To cut back the cortisol and to administer stress, Kennedy suggests an activity called 5-4-3-2-1. Go searching and describe five stuff you see. Then describe 4 stuff you hear, three things you may touch, two things you may taste, one thing you may smell. Should you’re wearing a mask and may smell and taste only your individual breath, you may describe things you want to smell or taste. It helps change your focus from the thing you were anxious about to the things which can be around you.

Kennedy also suggests guided imagery akin to reflecting back on a relaxing place you’ve got been. Meditation apps are great for that type of exercise.

Also work on getting enough sleep, physical exertion and eating healthful foods, all of which have an effect on how stress affects people.

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Find the nice in 2020, 2021

Experts suggest trying to reframe what these two years have been. As a substitute of specializing in all of the gloom and doom, consider the nice things which have happened. For some people, these two years have meant reevaluating what is vital to them and letting go of things that are not.

“We have been very resilient within the things we have gotten through,” Kennedy said. “We have been more in contact with our values and more assertive with boundary setting.”

These two years even have taught us tips on how to be flexible. Who would have thought we could work and teach kids from our kitchen table at the identical time? Yet we did. 

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Sit up for 2022 with hope, realism

Attempt to enter 2022 with a positive outlook. “It is not going to assist anyone to make assumptions about 2022 being more doom and gloom,” Chase said. “Aim for it to be the 12 months we might prefer it to be.” 

If there are lots of things which can be uncontrolled, as there have been within the last two years, “aim for ok,” Chase said. Do things the most effective we will, after which allow them to go.

Neither Kennedy or Chase are big on resolutions. As a substitute, set realistic, small goals to work on creating change in something you should take motion toward slightly than some big, lofty resolution without an motion plan.

Remember, the calendar is moving from Dec. 31, 2021, to Jan. 1, 2022. It is the change of in the future, or one hour, or one minute, or one second — nonetheless you should have a look at it. 

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