How to cope with the flow of information and not go crazy. Instructions from a crisis psychologist

crisis counselor

Why is it okay now to get distracted, watch shows, and get on with your life?

Where should we start? Of course, dose the information, its sources and be sure to check them. Try to allocate a certain time during the day. For example, one hour when you can consciously go to the Internet, read the necessary information and get out. In fact, the more you are busy with work, studies, daily activities, communication with loved ones, the easier it will be to cope with negative information.

Trust yourself first and foremost. Not the grades you saw in “Instagram” or other social networks. The best option would be to formulate your own judgments based on historical data and information from verified sources. Listen to yourself, to your heart.

Any dispute or evaluation entails discussion, inner experience, tension. In order not to wind up neither your loved ones nor yourself, try to find an inner support and concentrate on it.

What to do if you are haunted by negative thoughts?

If you are haunted by thoughts of negative scenarios, try to clearly articulate what you are afraid of. And then write down in detail a sequential plan of action in case your fear becomes a reality. This will reduce the degree of anxiety, because then we have an understanding of what and how we will do in specific circumstances. This kind of knowledge is stabilizing.

It also helps a lot to keep track of your own emotions. If you notice that your condition has worsened, try to find the primary thought that triggered it.

In this case, it will help to live emotions, work with them: for example, breathing practices or meditation. The easiest thing to do is to focus on your breathing. Try to breathe as usual. In doing so, concentrate on inhaling and exhaling, watch the movements of the abdomen and chest. If your thoughts get confused and rattle again, bring your attention back to your breathing. You need to try to come back to the present, observe the environment around you: are you threatened by something or is the anxiety the result of destructive thoughts?

In crisis situations it is important to take care of yourself. Everything should be aimed at maintaining balance and “normality”, your equilibrium and life. This is what you can do for yourself to get out of the circumstances.