There is a Zen koan that husband and father Layman Pang was once selling bamboo baskets. Coming down off a bridge, he stumbled and fell. When his daughter, Lingzhao, saw this she ran to her father’s side and threw herself down. “What are you doing?” cried Layman. “I saw Daddy fall to the ground, so I’m helping,” replied Lingzhao. Interesting here is that she does not help him get up and put himself back together. She does not fix the situation. She helps him fall. She falls right next to him. That is how it is, we fall down together. Falling teaches us something: that life is uncertain, unknowable, unpredictable. This is the water we swim in, always. As Lingzhao helps her father fall, as she falls with him, there is no fixing, there is no illusion.
When it comes to COVID 19, we’re all in the same storm but we’re not all in the same boat. The only way out is through.
I recently had the opportunity to partake in Alberta Health Services Psychological First Aid (PFA) online course. What is psychosocial support? Helping people meet their every day emotional and social needs. Distress reactions after an emergency don’t equal a mental health problem. The goal is to support individuals and families in managing their new normal at home.
Considerations during a pandemic are that everyone is impacted, which is not the case with all disasters. In the case of COVID 19, stressors emerge due to fear of being infected and increasing physical distancing and social isolation measures, along with physical, emotional, and financial changes. There may be increased mental health needs as people may avoid accessing healthcare due to fear of being infected.
Now more than ever, connectedness and how we support one another is vital to instill and sustain hope, humour, calm and a sense of self and community efficacy.
Think about who might be at risk? Some examples include people with mental illness, older adults, people living in poverty, children, persons with disabilities, people with chronic health conditions and newcomers.
A world-wide panel of experts identified five essential elements to helping respond and recover from a disaster; promoting safety (providing impacted individuals with accurate information), promoting calm (letting people know feelings of anxiety and uncertainty are normal and encourage calming techniques such as deep breathing and meditation), promoting self and community efficacy (encouraging individuals to carry on regular activities and looking for ways to participate in community or group activities), promoting connectedness (with a pandemic, this connection and community participation can occur in unique and innovative ways such as online or in driveways), and, instilling hope.
PFA action principles are in this order; Prepare (learn about the emergency, available services and supports and safety and security concerns), Look (look for people with obvious urgent basic needs and for people with serious distress reactions), Listen (make contact with people who need support, ask about their needs and concerns and listen to people to help them feel calm), and, Link (help people access services and connect with social supports).
When listening to someone it’s important to be effective such as asking open ended questions “how are you today?” or “how can I help you?”. Also show empathy and be reassuring. Brene Brown says empathy is about holding space for people and honouring their experience.
Common stress reactions are physical (pounding heart, low energy, sleep problems), spiritual (questioning their belief system), emotional (anxiety, sadness, anger, fear) and mental (trouble making decisions or remembering things, confusion).
Self-care red flags can include; change in eating habits or weight, loss of interest, guilt, conflict in relationships or changes in sleep. Also, domestic violence and child abuse risks can increase during self-isolation and times of increased stress.
What is the minimum thing you can do for your self-care? Suggestions include; physical activity, deep breathing techniques and, creative hobbies.
If you or someone you know need help there are resources available at www.informalberta.ca (information about community, health, social and government services keyword “disaster”), 211 (information on available community and social supports), 311 (information related to services and disaster information), 811(Health Link), 1-877-303-2642 (Mental Health Help Line) and www.emergencyalert.alberta.ca (Alberta Emergency Alert, click on ‘Sign-Up For Alerts’ to download the App).