Until now, you are suffering from lots of uncertainties due to the pandemic situation. Maybe you are still jobless and can’t sustain your needs financially. Or perhaps you are having trouble getting things done because of the restrictions you need to follow. Maybe you thought you could go back to the way it was before and freely spend your life without a hassle. Sadly, that is impossible. Honestly, the world is changing, and all you have to do is adapt to it. There is no way you can survive the whole struggle of this global crisis if you don’t open yourself to the world’s “new normal.”
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The In Denial
To be honest, it is okay to convince yourself that things will be okay in the end. That is true. Sooner or later, everything around you will become part of history. You will come to a point where you can already laugh about the situation and openly tell the story to the next generation. But daydreaming about reaching the good things right at this moment is not an ideal way of handling this crisis. Convincing yourself that you are emotionally and mentally okay is not helpful at all. You can argue with me about that. But my point is when you fool yourself and think that you are perfectly strong enough to handle the pressure, you are only making it worst for your overall health.
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It is not like I am trying to discourage you from becoming emotionally and mentally positive. Honestly, you have to be. What I’m trying to imply is that you need to be aware of your weaknesses. You shouldn’t ignore them. You must accept that there are things you can’t control, not even your emotional and mental state. You should avoid confusing yourself and think that you are okay because you are not. Admit that you also feel anxious and stress and that you somehow need help.
You see, the problem of most people is that they cannot stay in the middle. Some are too afraid to face the reality of the pandemic situation, while others may be like you who think that they can confidently survive without putting up an effort. I am not saying that you are on the negative side. However, if you can’t see the problem of being overly confident, then you will end up ignoring “change.” You will become too attached to your reality that you will soon fail to accept that adjustments can make a big difference.
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Change In Perspective
All it takes is one idea on how to transform the way you see the situation. These ideas may sound simple, but they are so powerful in terms of the impacts and shifts in can provide in your life. Remember, mental clarity is not about genetics; it is about habits. Acknowledging your weak points is not going to bring you down. In fact, recognizing your unwanted mental and emotional aspects can lead to the development of a better trait. It makes your rethink how you structure your life, your decisions, as well as your ability to care for yourself. Changing your perspective about everything will make you understand the flow of the changing world.
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All changes are hard to do at first, and sometimes, it gets messy in the middle of the process. But once you master the necessary habits you need to keep your emotional and mental state healthy, it becomes fulfilling in the end. Just think about this: If the struggle is not complicated and hard at first, you can never consider it a “change.”
The 2019 World Internet Conference was all about talks on the effects of the internet on our mental health. Obviously, the internet brought about a lot of good things in our lives. It has entertained us with various programs and applications. Work was made easy and convenient because of the internet. But how can it affect our mental health?
The Coronavirus pandemic is affecting all of our lives right at this moment. It causes a lot of unexpected changes in the world. And since it is the main reason why people’s emotional and mental stability is at stake, it is essential to take action seriously. So during this pandemic, all of us should focus on getting better overall health to fight COVID-19. But first, we have to acknowledge the effects of the Coronavirus in our lives before we can make necessary adjustments.
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Mob Mentality And Panic Buying
There is a different level of panic that goes around during this time of crisis that gets worse due to mob mentality. It is where individuals get influenced by other people around to behave and act in an overly emotional and impulsive way. Yes, preparing and stocking up goods is an excellent idea. However, hoarding too much leads to a shortage for others, especially the ones who honestly need it. But we can’t blame them. Some of these individuals believe that hoarding is entirely necessary because they think there is not enough supply for everybody. The behavior is not acceptable, but people react to terrifying situations differently.
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Feeling Of Emotional Isolation
Since the virus gets to pass on from one person to another through droplets from cough and sneeze, social distancing becomes a way to prevent it. Therefore, we have to keep physical distance no matter what, so that it can flatten the curve. However, physical isolation affects our emotional balance. It somehow heightens the feelings of sadness and loneliness due to the limited people we surround ourselves with. And though we can take advantage of the technology and use it to cross distances between friends and family, we still require more than that. In some unfortunate instances, connecting with people through technology sometimes heightens the emptiness we feel because we miss and worry about them more after knowing their conditions.
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Boredom And Mental Exhaustion
Being quarantined inside our houses for an extended period can make us feel uneasy. That is regardless if we love staying at home and are working from home. That is because, in the back of our minds, we have this desire to going outside. We love to explore and experience a lot of things, and getting stuck in the four-cornered wall is not going to help us achieve that. Sometimes, even if we try to fight boredom by listing things we mean to do, we find ourselves unable to start with it. Some instance, even our hobbies or the ones we love to do eventually turns out to be a tiring activity and uninteresting anymore.
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Overconsumption Of News And Media
Through the help of technology, we all have access to knowing what is currently happening in the world during times of crisis. It is great because we can raise awareness of that. However, overconsumption of sometimes inaccurate information is damaging to our mental health. It is because some news only intensifies the anxiety and fear we have. That is why even if we find it evident that we are looking at the not-so-credible source, we still believe the information we get from there. And to add damage to that, we often share false information online. Sadly, it soon becomes the truth of everyone. It is okay to get informed. But we have to be mindful of how much time we need to spend consuming news information.
It is okay to feel sad and alone in times like this. The emotional and mental struggle we are dealing with is valid. However, I would like to say that we are here for you during this difficult time in the global crisis. Stay safe!
Being a participant of the 2017 World Discussion on Mental Health Conference, it helped me widen my horizon about mental health. As far as I know, this topic is vast and can cover how an ordinary mind goes or the mental stability of a person, to how a person copes when something happens to him. It can also be about mentally challenged children who may be bullied by others. Depression, stress, ADHD, autism, anxiety, and all other mental health conditions that people are suffering are included in this discussion.
As much as we care for our physical health, we should also be aware of how our mental health goes. Usually, people have a happy disposition, especially when things go their way. But when trying times occur, it is when our mental health is being challenged.
Because of this mental health conference, I have opened my eyes to different circumstances in which our mental health is usually led to a struggle. And by understanding these circumstances, we can then learn how to handle our strained mental health when things don’t go our way.
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Of course, we all know that each of us has experienced the ups and downs of life. But people have different perspectives on how one handles these things, so that makes the difference. For example, others take their breakups just fine while others may really have trouble moving on, or maybe even do bad things like practice self-harm, get obsessive, and other things. During these times, when the pain or confusion is unbearable, one can always call on certified counselors to help them get through the tough times.
Stress is also a challenge to one’s mental health. There are different stressors for every one of us. For employees, one may be stressed over the attitude of their employers or with their co-employees. Housewives may be torn between wanting to stay at home for their children and wanting to look for work to have their income. In this conference, I have learned to understand more about how life goes with proper treatment and how to be free of worries to be able to keep ourselves not just physically healthy but mentally as well.
Many of us have out of this world perceptions and beliefs about finding love. There is just so much fascination about it to the point that topics on love attract everyone’s attention even in the movies, books, songs, stories, and the like. Even if we deny it, somewhere inside of us lies hopeless romantic hearts carefully, patiently, and not to mention – painstakingly, waiting for that moment to finally meet the one.
Conspiracy theorists have their own version of every situation. Often, conspiracy theorists say that governments have a role to play in unfortunate incidents. For example, in the 9-11 attack, they made a very detailed narrative of how the US government may have rigged the situation to their advantage. Conspiracy theorists are arguing that an unfortunate event is an “inside job.” Their side of the story borders on typical storylines of science fiction movies and tv series.
In your lifetime, you may have heard from your loved one some extraordinary stories they experienced. These stories can be the landing on the moon being merely orchestrated by NASA, that the 9-11 attack came from the White House itself, that there’s a secret group controlling the entire world, or that aliens are always in contact with us. These are called conspiracy theories.
We all do something, ranging from quirky to self-destructive, that seem on the surface to have no benefit at all. — Teri Woods Ph.D.
Throughout our lives, some things would entirely shake us to our core, those unexpected chilling moments that cannot be explained even by modern science. It is how supernatural beliefs were formed because not everything is explainable by a rational explanation.
Mental illness is a serious and complex issue. Thus, this is not always easy to explain or to understand, even to those who suffered from different disorders for many years. It is true for those who have loved ones dealing with problems such as depression, paranoia and the like.
Superstitions are created as a long-established coping mechanism during uncertain life situations. It affects how people see things, issues, and events happening around them. Whether middle ages are true or not, they have an impact on how people think and react.
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Superstitions
Superstitions are often rooted in supernatural beliefs and a sign of respect for the past, to how people back then lived.
It is a questionable postulation that superstitious behavior that implicates largely mental action, as opposed physical behavior, could even be considered behavior because it is not observable. — Ann Olson Psy.D.
While others find no harm in being superstitious, there have been concerns from medical experts, especially those who are mainly concentrated on mental health, that other superstitions are considered bad luck beliefs and would affect how believers understand and accept therapy or counseling, as to how they see superstitions change their views on therapy.
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Do you find yourself knocking on wood when you said something foreboding, and you want to reverse or counteract what was spoken? Or are you spooked by seeing 13 falling on a Friday or a black cat crossing your path in the middle of the night? Are you that superstitious person who finds walking under a ladder is necessary instead going around it?
These are just some of the superstitions we grew up knowing, and some are still advocated up to this day.
According to a poll made by Gallup, it was found that about 25% of Americans are superstitious; that’s about one in four people living in the country who believed in bad luck, devil or evil spirits, lost souls, gods, wishing for death, dog poop, index fingers crossed, throwing salt, left foot itch, left shoulder pain, good spirits, evil eye, and a broken mirror.
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That number says a lot about following certain superstitions that usually have no scientific basis but still rely on it for good fortune. Moreover, there is nothing wrong with believing, except when you’re being forced to eat goat meat.
Thoroughly confused, I was informed that knocking on wood ensures that you don’t “jinx” something you really want to happen. Rather than question the logic of this deeply illogical practice, I latched on. — Emily Green Psy.D.
Where Superstitions Originated
One would wonder – where did all these superstitions originate and how did these superstition arises? Somehow, whoever invented common superstition ideas must have some foundation, right? This belief could have come from ancient Roman deities, the Greek sun god, or even new concepts that emerged times in the past. Many of these superstitions were tied to the idea of bringing good luck or warding off misfortune.
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Psychologists explained that it commenced from certain traditions and many superstitions and common beliefs around the world and ended up in every house all over the world. Superstition has made quite an impact on a loved one’s behavior towards certain things due to false conception. For instance, encountering a black cat is often associated with bad luck in some cultures, while others might hesitate to walk under a ladder for fear of misfortune. Similarly, many consider Friday the 13th to be an ominous day.
Much of these superstitions come from life’s uncertainties, wherein if you yearn for something, you’ll find comfort and control in mythical behaviors. For example, an itchy left palm has a meaning that you’re a big spender. Many people also associate walking under a ladder with bringing good luck, showing how the same superstition can be perceived differently in various cultures.
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These include broken mirrors, demons and spirits, itchy left palm, itchy right palm, black cats crossing, African American folk magic, yellow flowers, a penny, new shoes, turkey bone tug, Friday the 13th, or any unlucky number, and many superstitions to mention.
These also include seven years of bad luck and the rest unmentioned legend here.
Some of these common belief and rituals indicates the possibility of having an unlucky day.
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Though some can bring good luck, most of the time people often see them bring bad luck and sometimes point to cause death.
Some of these come from ancient Egypt and African tradition, early Celtic tribes, as well as first-century Roman emperors.
When people are faced with chaos and uneasiness, it makes them feel like they are losing traction and control; therefore, the tendency is to find solutions for the lack of oversight from outside sources such as mythical beliefs.
Rationality Versus Beliefs In Superstitions
The reality is, that being overly superstitious significantly affects a person’s state of mind and behavior, influencing everything related to mental health issues such as too much anxiety, irrational fear, and psychological phenomenon.
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From a person’s performance and preparation for a specific challenge to the responsiveness to given placebos, the effectiveness of specific psychological illness treatments is wholly dependent on the patient’s responsiveness and positive thinking.
Therefore, when mental health myths and superstitions are getting in the way of treatment, it’s time to take it down a notch or completely disregard these beliefs.
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This is supposed to be done to make way for a scientific approach when dealing with mental health conditions.
Every behavior we repeat offers a reward. It doesn’t matter if the reward isn’t obvious. — Teri Woods Ph.D.
What’s disconcerting about believing, especially if it concerns mental health, is the way people would understand and accept the diagnosis thinking that it’s just some sort of superstitious event in a person’s life that can be eluded or conquered easily.
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People’s performance to achieve goals, such as relationships, money, and career, that are elicited from the same human nature trait or behavior disregards the notion process of learning how goals should be met.
Superstition Conclusion
In therapy, if a superstitious patient’s uncertainty about obtaining mental health goals is heightened, there is a possibility that the supernatural beliefs also increase.
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However, if supposedly provided with a lucky charm or good luck charm (such as rabbit’s foot), they will become more positive in the outcomes, and their improved performance in conquering their conditions becomes more pronounced.
Whatever the setting may be, a single spread of word belief or word superstition led humans to become precarious as they aimed to protect themselves when these beliefs started to cross and interfere with wellness and activities of daily living.
Superstition FAQ
What is being superstitious?
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