COVID-19: Managing how you personally respond

April 28, 2020 | By Caroline Robertson, Vitil People Solutions

As Perth businesses and individuals navigate through the COVID-19 terrain and the impact from that, managing our mental health has become more important than ever. How we respond in a crisis can make the difference between surviving, staying afloat and in control rather than getting dragged down and drowning from our negative thoughts and emotions.

Everyone responds differently due to not only what they may be feeling and/or thinking, but also based on previous life experiences and how those were managed.

Dr Russ Harris, author of the Happiness Trap, has developed a video that explains how to use Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) to help deal with COVID-19. The video also provides strategies to help manage those emotions and your mental health. Dr Harris has developed an acronym called ‘Face Covid’, which is briefly discussed below.

Focus on what you can control. When we feel stressed or in a state of overwhelm, we can get stuck in our thoughts, which stops us thinking clearly. This can also happen when we are focusing on the negative aspects of a situation.

Acknowledge and accept your feelings. Everyone will be different, but the most common feelings may be loneliness, financial worries, getting sick, stressing about other loved ones and how they will manage and generally just wondering how you are going to cope. Acknowledging and accepting your feelings helps you to process them quicker and take back control.

Come back into your body - when you are stuck in your head, you are not in control. Reconnecting with your body will help you regain control whilst still acknowledging how you are feeling.

Engage in what you are doing - check in with your senses. What can you hear, touch, taste, smell and see? Whatever you are doing, give your full attention to the task. This help you to remain in control.

Committed Action - what are your values and how are you going to put those to good use? What are you going to do that helps others?

Opening up means recognising how you and others may be feeling. Give yourself and other permission to talk about how you are feeling. Be kind to yourself and others.

Values - how will you use your values in this crisis? Will you be a Negative Nellie or a Positive Polly? How you behave can really correlate to the experience you and others around to you will have.

Identify Resources that will help you survive this challenging and unprecedented time. What help, assistance, support and advice will you need and who can provide this to you? These can include friends, family, neighbours, health professionals and counsellors.

Disinfect and Distance really speaks for itself. It is more important than ever to follow the advice of the World Health Organisation, the Department of Health, and the Government throughout this pandemic. Take responsibility for your own and others hygiene and health. The more we do now to flatten the curve, the less impact there shall be in local communities.

Beyond Blue has launched its new, free Coronavirus Mental Wellbeing Support Service to support all Aussies, including Perth small-business community, as they manage the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on their mental health and wellbeing.

The service, offered through a digital site and funded by the government, is available around the clock.

It offers easy access to a broad range of support, from online wellbeing tips, evidence-based information and self-help tools to phone counselling from trained mental health professionals as well as peer-to-peer support.

Go to: coronavirus.beyondblue.org.au

Vitil Outsourced Human Resources Support

Vitil People Solutions is a boutique HR consulting firm based across Perth, who offer flexible, reliable and affordable outsourced Human Resources support, people solutions and recruitment services, where your team is the key focus. Talk to the experts in these trying times. Our experienced professionals can objectively assess your environment and help with change implementation.

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