How to tame fear and uncertainty?

Fear, uncertainty. Emotions, so well known to each of us today, accompany us all especially often. Therefore, we would like to bring you closer to these states, analyze and try to answer the question: How to deal with fear and uncertainty?

Each of us feels strong emotions in this difficult period for us, and fear and uncertainty far outweigh even a sense of security. We are scared. It's normal. We feel insecure. It's normal. We have "black scenarios" approaching us. It's normal, BA! If we did not feel them, it would seem sociopathy (i.e. the lack of the ability to feel feelings), so that we are afraid is a very healthy symptom. Let's not make another unnecessary brick like: I shouldn't be afraid. We should start from the assumption that is widely duplicated - very unanimously, by psychological environments, namely: All emotions are needed. Our body through emotions communicates with us, therefore marginalizing or rejecting them is a step to lose contact with ourselves.

Approx. We have already established that all emotions are important and should not be denied or underestimated. Everyone serves something - including those from the "not pleasant" category, so to deal with them, we must first know why they serve? Why do they appear? The importance of their weight can be demonstrated by the fact that every living organism around the globe, be it an ant, elephant or human being, is subject to the principle of conservation of energy, which says that the body will not "invest" life-giving energy on purposeless processes. According to this principle, the emergence of emotions called fear, anxiety, uncertainty - is certainly a needed process.

Why fear?

Fear is an emotion generally motivating us to act, triggering in a situation of danger, which is undoubtedly the current situation associated with COVID19. It manifests itself on two levels: physical and psychic. Physically, under the influence of this emotion, a number of hormones, such as adrenaline, cortisol from the adrenal gland, are secreted, etc. This is to "fasten" our body to the reaction to the stressor (stress factor) on the two main atavistically assigned actions: escape or fight. At the psychological level, fear may occur with different intensity. People who avoid stressful situations on a daily basis will probably feel its symptoms more strongly than those who do work in a stressful environment on a daily basis. Why, then, do we feel its symptoms in the situation we find ourselves in? The fear we feel comes from the human ability to connect facts. We are aware that a given situation may cause a threat, because either we have already experienced it ourselves or, as in this case, we see what is happening, e.g. in Italy.

Creep and fear.

Fear is a familiar feeling. We can identify, name, give its reason. This feeling, when something in our stomachs, when we are afraid of something, it is fear. It has its sources already in the prenatal period. It does not result from the threatening situation, and therefore is the result of what is happening in our head. We are afraid of, for example, how a pandemic will develop and how monstrous its size will be. What harvests will the victims collect, but is this the case now? Are we seeing millions of victims and the world is starting to burn? Well, China, for example, is slowly mastering the situation, and European doctors agree - we can do it! If fear does not take real danger, but flows from within us, why does this feeling even serve? Ok, we understand fear - it has an adaptive function, if we weren't afraid of dangers we wouldn't survive. But fear? We are looking at a photo of a venomous, hideous osmion-spider monster - a spider. Most of us are afraid - not fear. It does not threaten us that the photo comes alive and the danse macabre dances with us with the spider. It is a sensation of an imagined threat that is not motivated in reality.

Tame the bastard!

Ok, we've already defined what fear is, we've distinguished it from fear, and we've given ourselves permission to feel all emotions. Let's try to look at methods of dealing with fear resulting from the current situation.

• Let's start with fear. Talking about what causes fear in us and confronting with the situations that cause it, helps us tame it and thus make it stop being a source of fear.
• Physical activity? Sure! This is another important weapon in the fight against fear. Physical effort, followed by fatigue, cause that we do not focus so much on what we are afraid of, and in addition we also increase the level of serotonin in the brain, the so-called "happiness hormone". Since we have our favorite physical activity, we must also ensure a quality rest. Finding in the busy schedule, even half an hour for yourself, devoting time to what brings us relief in a diametrical way, changes our thinking to a more positive one. In the current situation, most of us stay at home. So let's use this time, also for a moment of relax. Maybe we can finally catch up on reading, maybe try some interesting hobby, or maybe netflix and mountain of chips? These are great ways.
• Fear should be rationalized - the ability to control your moods, work on concentration, a kind of "separation" of emotions from critical thinking allow you to deal with the biological source of anxiety more easily. Let's ask ourselves: What are we really afraid of in the current situation? It may turn out that the source of fear lies somewhere else. Different people feel the fear of the pandemic to varying degrees - we know that over 80% of young people are exposed to this pathogen almost unnoticed. Our seniors are definitely more exposed here. If not the virus itself then maybe what it carries with it? Economic effects? Social chaos? An insightful look at ourselves, which is our source, and conscious care of our body is a recipe for coming out of this experience stronger and wiser.

Our knowledge originates in what we feel.

Leonardo da Vinci