{"id":159937,"date":"2020-04-16T07:00:17","date_gmt":"2020-04-16T11:00:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/?post_type=school-college-post&p=159937"},"modified":"2020-04-15T18:03:31","modified_gmt":"2020-04-15T22:03:31","slug":"tolerating-uncomfortable-emotions-pandemic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/today.uconn.edu\/2020\/04\/tolerating-uncomfortable-emotions-pandemic\/","title":{"rendered":"Tolerating Uncomfortable Emotions During a Pandemic"},"content":{"rendered":"

There are a lot of tips on how to cope with anxiety, and even build psychological resilience in the context of COVID-19, social distancing, and quarantine. You might see suggestions like maintain exercise and physical activity, work on goals or projects, stay in contact with loved ones, keep a schedule, engage in healthy coping like deep breathing, find ways to give or contribute to the larger good, and focus on what you can control.<\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Cassandra Holinka is a clinical psychologist at UConn Health. (Photo by Tina Encarnacion)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

I want to acknowledge that these are sound, evidence-based ways of managing anxiety and resilience. I encourage people to explore what works for them.<\/p>\n

I also want to acknowledge that these are not \u201cone size fits all\u201d approaches, and while we can work on changing our responses to the stress and anxiety around COVID-19, there is also room for acceptance. Dialectical behavior therapy, a treatment developed by psychologist Marsha Linehan, is based on dialectics. That is, two opposing truths can simultaneously be true.<\/p>\n

For example, here we can try to change our levels of fear, and<\/em> we can accept them. We can take control, and<\/em> notice what is out of our control. We can distract from our difficult emotions, and<\/em> we can acknowledge and tolerate them.<\/p>\n

This is about noticing what we need in the moment. Can we make space for painful and scary feelings, or are they so intense that we need to problem-solve them or distract from them? If you find that you can barely function and attend to necessary daily tasks because your anxiety is so high, then you might need to work on distracting or problem-solving to decrease your distress level.<\/p>\n

We can distract from our difficult emotions, and<\/em> we can acknowledge and tolerate them.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

It is OK to try to change a feeling. But, if the intensity of the feeling is not so high that you are in danger or cannot function, the following are some strategies for noticing and validating stress and anxiety in the context of a pandemic. Take what works for you.<\/p>\n