Stay in touch with your emotions to reduce pandemic-induced stress


Date:
October 14, 2020
Source:
University of Iowa
Summary:
The coronavirus has ushered in a lot of stress. Psychologists say
people can reduce stress by identifying their emotions and taking
mindful action to address them. The findings come from a national
survey gauging how Americans are faring during the pandemic.



FULL STORY ========================================================================== Everybody, it seems, is stressed out to some degree by the coronavirus pandemic.


==========================================================================
It may be anguish over the sickness or death of a friend or family
member. It may be anxiety over a job that has been altered or
eliminated. It may be disquiet over the competing demands of work and
family while working from home.

These are natural emotions during stressful times, says Emily Kroska,
a clinical psychologist at the University of Iowa. The good news, she
adds, comes from a new study she led that shows how people might reduce
their distress.

In that study, Kroska's research team surveyed Americans' responses to
various situations wrought by the coronavirus pandemic. The team found
that those who took stock of their emotions -- be they sadness, anxiety,
fear, loneliness, and the like -- and then addressed those emotions with mindful action -- such as calling a friend or family member -- reported
lower stress levels than those who steered away from identifying with
their emotions or did not gauge the potential effects of their behavior.

"The goal is to try and help people become more resilient by remaining
in touch with their emotions and finding creative ways to maintain or
build upon relationships with people or activities that are important
to them," says Kroska, assistant clinical professor in the UI Department
of Psychological and Brain Sciences. "People who do that will generally
not be as distressed, or anxious, as those who don't." The researchers
in May surveyed 485 adults across the nation, asking them to describe
their experiences with various situations arising from the coronavirus pandemic. The respondents identified physical sensations such as
sweating, accelerated heart rate, and fear for their own safety, as well
as "objective hardship measures," including making rent or mortgage
payments, loss of personal income, living apart from family members,
or difficulty getting grocery items or household supplies.



========================================================================== "Basically, we wanted to learn about the full sort of adversities
that people encountered due to COVID-19," Kroska says. "We found
everyone encountered some degree of adversity, which is quite sad but expected." The researchers used those answers to measure a respondent's "psychological flexibility" or, generally speaking, their ability to roll
with the emotional punches inflicted by the pandemic. The researchers determined respondents' psychological flexibility based on three factors: Openness, behavioral awareness, and valued action.

Survey respondents who were open to their emotions and were more aware
of how they were responding to those emotions were found to have lower
levels of pandemic-induced distress. As a whole, psychological flexibility accounted for a substantial proportion of pandemic-induced distress.

Kroska gives the example of turning to Zoom to connect with someone
who's important to you, even if speaking with that person remotely is
inferior to conversing face to face.

"If you are creative with trying to talk with your family remotely
instead of in person, but you're resentful about it the whole time and
think it sucks, that's going to cause more distress," says Kroska. "But
if you're willing to say, 'OK, this isn't what we were exactly hoping
for, but we're going to make the best of it,' that's the values and the openness piece. It's the combination that's required.



========================================================================== "Really what it comes down to is, can you adapt? Can you do what matters
even when it's challenging?" Kroska adds.

Kroska, who counsels patients affected by distress stemming from the
pandemic, as well as stress more generally, says it's natural for people
to be anxious.

"People don't want to be distressed, but they're going to be during
this pandemic," she says. "Being flexible and continuing to do what is important to you even during these difficult times is important and is associated with less distress. I think people are desperate for anything
that will help them feel less stressed out." The study, "Psychological flexibility in the context of COVID-19 adversity: Associations with
distress," was published in the Journal of Contextual Behavioral Science.

Co-authors from Iowa include Anne Roche, a sixth-year graduate student in clinical science in psychological and brain sciences; Jenna Adamowicz,
a third- year graduate student in clinical science in psychological
and brain sciences; and Manny Stegall, lab coordinator for Kroska's
research team.

The National Institutes of Health funded the study through predoctoral
training grants, along with funding from the Department of Psychological
and Brain Sciences.


========================================================================== Story Source: Materials provided by University_of_Iowa. Original written
by Richard C. Lewis.

Note: Content may be edited for style and length.


========================================================================== Journal Reference:
1. Emily B. Kroska, Anne I. Roche, Jenna L. Adamowicz, Manny
S. Stegall.

Psychological flexibility in the context of COVID-19 adversity:
Associations with distress. Journal of Contextual Behavioral
Science, 2020; 18: 28 DOI: 10.1016/j.jcbs.2020.07.011 ==========================================================================

Link to news story: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2020/10/201014140942.htm

--- up 7 weeks, 2 days, 6 hours, 50 minutes
* Origin: -=> Castle Rock BBS <=- Now Husky HPT Powered! (1337:3/111)