Why it is hard to implement the WHO advices: Be active, Eat a balanced diet and Try to anticipate distress?
As the coronavirus pandemic rapidly sweeps across the world, it is inducing a considerable degree of fear, worry and concern in the population at large and among certain groups in particular, such as older adults, care providers and people with underlying health conditions.
Then why is it that many of us fail to implement the World Health Organisation advices?
The short answer: Because we are programmed to resist change.
Meaning the most important question is besides how to stay safe is how to stay sane and change?
In public mental health terms, the main psychological impact to date is elevated rates of stress or anxiety. But as new measures and impacts are introduced — especially quarantine and its effects on many people’s usual activities, routines or livelihoods — levels of loneliness, depression, harmful alcohol and drug use, and self-harm or suicidal behaviour are also expected to rise (source WHO).
When I read the advices of the WHO, Unicef, Mental health UK I think they all makes sense, but for most people they will be almost impossible as it means a behavioural and belief change.
The 3 main advices struck me as almost undoable for a person unless they are already daily routines.
- Be active
- Eat a balanced diet
- Try to anticipate distress
Everyone who has done his/her best to change a behaviour knows how hard that is just by understanding the need of it.
Everyone who ever wanted to stop an addiction knows it is not easy to do even though it makes totally sense and you know why you should do it it. Just like very person who has a weight issue knows that they should eat healthier or less and that does not means they do it. Something is stopping them an like an unconscious force.
Knowing why we should do something does not change us, if that was enough unhealthy habits would not exist anymore.
When I was reading some other advieces it made me even worry even more, I was thinking how can someone implement this without professional assistance?
“It is OK to feel vulnerable and overwhelmed as we read news about the outbreak, especially if you have experienced trauma or a mental health problem in the past, or if you have a long-term physical health condition that makes you more vulnerable to the effects of the coronavirus.”
and than the advice:
“It’s important to acknowledge these feelings and remind each other to look after our physical and mental health. We should also be aware of and avoid increasing habits that may not be helpful in the long term, like smoking and drinking?”
When you open the newspapers which sales is going up? It is the sales of alcohol, cigarettes and food and this is making totally sense as we like to comfort ourselves in these times of stress. This is a deep ingrained habit which is not so easily changed.
Just imagine: we learn to talk when we are 3 and really grasp the concept of language from age 7 onwards, meaning all the things we learn before we are 7 are stored differently in our minds and body. Most of our (limiting) beliefs and habits will be stored in somatic experiences or to say in normal language feelings/emotions.
Every time a child is told: eat your dinner and than you can have a jammie desert it learns that nice food is a reward. Not consciously but emotionally and most of our out of control eating and drinking is called in psychology emotionally eating or drinking.
So advices in words do not work as they do not speak the language of our emotions. It is like talking Chinese to an Englishman and assuming he can understand you.
So what can we do to implement these advices?
Talking in the language of the mind and body, so we can address the places that are in control of our beliefs and memories.
In that way we can address how to change behaviour and deep ingrained beliefs.
It could make you think: how and where are these memories and emotions actually stored?
The last years it is becoming more and more evident that these memories and beliefs are stored in our Heart and Gut Brain.
Just to be clear yes, there is more than one brains controlling us it is actually three and that is also the case for your beloved ones, your colleagues and your clients.
We have a ‘Gut brain’ (500.000.000 neurons) which controls our survival needs and acts in fear or anger hence our fight or flight responses and furthermore it feeds our EGO. In these period of times this Brain is in overdrive as it it perceiving our environment as hostile and dangerous. This is making the Gut Brain fearful for our survival and communicates that to us with feelings of anxiety and stress.
Then there’s our ‘Heart Brain’ (100.000 neurons) and it is has the objective bonding with other people and with our Heart Brain we feel love, compassion but also hate. This Brain is aware of the disconnection we are facing now in these COVID-19 times. In the pursuit for compensation of those feelings of loneliness it actives our Gut Bain to makes us feel good again and the Gut Brain knows food is making us happy.
Finally, there’s the welknown ‘Head Brain’ with the three brains inside: the rational human brain or prefrontal cortex; the emotional middle brain; and the instinctual reptilian brain. Their joined objective is creating logic of all of this.
So, what is the language of the Heart or Gut brain and how do we access them?
Actually, it is wasy and hard on the same time as is it really taking time to fully access your feelings and having a conversation with them.
Just imagine you feel lonely, where do you feel that? Yes, your Heart.
The simple way is to sit with that feeling and to connect to it and asking your Heart what is it’s need?
You will be astonished what will happen if you are really connecting to your Heart; it will provide answers.
From calling a friend to having a walk to the shopping mall to do some shopping.
In general we do not take the time to really listen to our own feelings or what they actually are telling us as we are educated to ingore how we feel and do a quick fix. The easy compensation, as food, alcohol, binge watching Netflix etc.
The same with feelings of fear or anxiety: what is the need of your Gut brain? When you come aware of the real needs you can start bringing solutions for yourself and others that really work.
Success with staying sane and healthy
Christoffel
