Mindful Happiness

Anthony Quintiliani, Ph.D, LADC

  • Home
  • Dr. Anthony Quintiliani
    • About
  • Mindful Happiness
  • Mindful Expressions Meditation CD
  • Contact

October 22, 2020 By Admin

COVID-19 Means Higher Stress and Emotion Dysregulation

COVID-19 Brings Higher Stress and Emotion Dysregulation

The Book of Job notes “Man is born unto troubles as the sparks fly upward.”

Current stress surveys indicate Americans are stressed out due to COVID-19 concerns, work stress (money needs), imbalance in life-work experience, and lack of support (social, emotional, financial).  The 2020 American Psychological Association national survey of stress in America indicates similar finding. Stress is getting the best of us! Of special concern are the physical, emotional (psychological), and behavioral implication of such high levels of stress reactivity. Higher stress reactivity is particularly recorded in families; stress is also related to educational concerns, basic needs, health care services, and missing out on major developmental milestones of children and youth. In 2019 Americans were experiencing stress levels noted at the 4.9 level; in 2020 that number rose to 5.9.  Now 74% of respondent noted their stress dealt with fears and concerns about coronavirus; this same number had concerns about how the government was responding to this mega-crisis.  Additionally, 71% of respondents noted that managing their child’s education was a major source of increased stress. The concerns and stress do not appear to be highly related to political party affiliations: 63% of Republicans, 67% of Independents, and 73% of Democrats were worried/stressed about coronavirus concerns. Stress appears to be impacting more so on people of color. Hispanic adults noted stress levels between 8 and 10 regarding the virus. When one compares the levels of stress for people of color with whites, there is no doubt people of color are suffering more – having higher levels of stress reactivity: fear of getting the virus 71% vs. 59%; meeting basic needs 61% vs, 47%; and, access to health care services 59% vs. 46%.  For more information Stress in America 2020 may be found at www.apa.org.

Another important reality is COVID-19 fatigue. Johns Hopkins Medicine has published a helpful article about dealing with this reality. The federal government, state governments, hospitals, healthcare workers,  patients, and the general public may be suffering from COVID-19 fatigue. This condition is similar to burnout under high stress conditions.  Important outcomes may be habituation to death, emotional exhaustion, strong fears, auto-pilot routines, reduced energy of health care providers, and increased errors in care. This pandemic is surely one of the most serious challenges this nation (and the world) have faced. It does not appear that the crisis will end soon.

If you are experiencing serious stress reactivity, you might want to practice the following self-care strategies. Eat well, sleep well, and exercise well as much as is possible for you.  Staying connected to loved ones and friends is also highly important. Use mindfulness skills to be in the present moment; realize it will change due to impermanence. Note it will change either for the better or worse. It may also be helpful to make formal plans to DO positive activities, no matter how small. Get out into nature; if you cannot do this regarding forests and mountains, at least spend more time outdoors. Regular daily walking is a good idea.  Doing good things to help others is also a way to feel better about yourself; in hard times, it is not easy to feel good about yourself. Learn and practice various tried-and-true breathing techniques (usually from meditation, yoga, athletics, etc.). If you are in fact doing some of these self-care practices, but you still feel overwhelmed, defeated, anxious, depressed – it may be best to see professional for psychological help. Before you decide to work with a mental health provider, do a search about them, their practice, and their ethics.

For more information refer to Hanlon, P. (Summer, 2020). COVID-19 means different approach to stress in American surveys. New England Psychologist (Fall, 2020). pp. 4 and 7.

https://psych.ly/covidfatigue.

Anthony R. Quintiliani, PhD., LADC  

From the Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont and the Home of The Monkton SanghaChiYinYang_EleanorRLiebmanCenter

Author of Mindful Happiness  

Mindful Happiness cover designs.indd

Filed Under: Coping, Covid-19, Emotion Dysregulation, Emotions, Featured, Human Needs, Johns Hopkins Medicine, MIndfulness, Stress Tagged With: COVID-19, EMOTION DYSREGULATION, JOHNS HOPKINS MEDICINE, STRESS

Twitter

Mindful Happiness -Currently in Production

Mindful Happiness Posts

Using Your Compassionate Mind in Psychotherapy For you to become a more compassionate therapist, follow the details noted below. These preconditions, skills, and practices are required as a baseline for  compassionate practice. You need the ability to access calmness in an environment of emotional suffering, chaos, or conflict.  Most people do this by breathing in […]

The Great Mother of Gratitude Meditation Sit in silence and take a few very slow, very deep breaths in and out. Relax within your personal comfort with eyes opened or closed. If you prefer your eyes to be open, hold you head level and gently gaze down a few feet in front of you. Continue […]

Interpersonal Mindfulness Various forms of mindfulness-based compassion training help us to care more about the needs, happiness, and health of other people. However, direct applications of interpersonal mindfulness activates these influences into direct action on behalf of others.  Thus, if lucky, we learn to care more about others and less about ourselves.  The self-centered ego […]

Vipassana Meditation and Introduction Vipassana meditation, as taught by S. N. Goenka, has been practiced in India, Europe, the United States and in many other parts of the world. There are various claims for effectiveness when used as a form of meditative treatment with various populations (often correctional and substance using populations); however, there is […]

Tips on Practice During These Troubling Times Some people are religious, and I am sure turn to those sources for support and hope. Others are spiritual, and I hope also pursue those sources for emotional stability and closeness to the “their” divine. Other people may  be Agnostic or Atheist; I am certain such people also […]

Meditation for Managers and Helpers  Let’s Talk – Contact Me – Click Here I am a Licensed Psychologist-Doctorate and a Licensed Alcohol and Drug Counselor with 35 years of clinical experience in community clinics, schools, professional organizations, and universities (OSU, UVM, etc.). I have been the past Clinical Director of Howard Center, and Past President […]

Psychoanalytic Gems – Even More D. W. Winnicott has made significant clinical contributions to both building therapeutic alliance and maintaining a positive, helpful focus in psychotherapy. Below I have noted various approaches to use in your therapy.  Use of these “gems” requires considerable knowledge and skill by the therapist.  Here is the list: Respect the […]

Stress in America – 2019 Every year the American Psychological Association ( November, 2019) conducts an extensive survey to determine the levels of stress in America. The data below does NOT include children; therefore, the already high numbers would be much higher. Here are some highlights. Stress levels are quite high but stable. Increased concerns […]

Crisis Resilience Skills  – Mindful Happiness Below I will list various interventions that have proven effective in reducing the level of personal crisis. The sources for many of these skills came from Burns (1980), Ellis (1995), Seligman (1988), Linehan (1993, 2015)), Hayes (2018), and Thich Nhat Hanh (various publications). The skills noted are for immediate […]

Mindful Walking Meditation: How to Walk by Thich Nhat Hanh – A Powerful Short Book of Wisdom In my opinion, Thich Nhat Hanh and The 14th Dalai Lama are the two most important and wise teachers of mindfulness, meditation, compassion, and Buddhism in the 21st century.  Below I will offer my interpretation of Thich Nhat Hanh’s […]

Setting Emotional Boundaries from Work to Life Anthony R. Quintiliani, Ph.D., LADC Sometimes setting emotional boundaries from the psychotherapy room to your life outside of work can be a difficult thing to do. Shifting from “experience near empathy” (Kohut), “unconditional positive regard” (Rogers), “hovering attention” (Freud), “the holding environment” in “intersubjective space” (Winnicott),  and compassionate […]

“i Rest” Yoga Nidra Practice (Richard Miller, Ph.D.) All regular meditation and yoga practices are capable of bringing us closer to our true self and our relationships in the world. A by-product is deep relaxation and equanimity. Richard Miller, Ph.D. (Clinical Psychologist, yogic scholar, spiritual teacher), has created a yoga nidra practice that promises to […]

What The Buddha Taught About Metta In the Metta Sutta (Anguttara Nikaya, 11:16) The Buddha said that we should seek the following characteristics in how we live our lives: Wholesome goodness; Gentle speech; Human Humility; Personal contentment; Personal calmness; and, Pure-heartedness in all we think, say, and do. By living this way we would be […]

Happiness Path  – The 14th Dalai Lama His Holiness The 14th Dalai Lama has suggested, among many other important things, that humans may experience true inner happiness by regular practice on the path to enlightenment. In his 2012 book, From Here to Enlightenment, he noted that personal happiness may be attained via specific behaviors and ways of […]

How Suicide impacts Psychotherapists One of the greatest fears of psychotherapists is that one of their clients will commit suicide.  Here are some common reactions of psychotherapists when one of their clients commits suicide.  In some ways these reactions are sequential, but no exact concrete sequence is well documented. Here is a list to consider. […]

Quintiliani’s Brief Life Experience Screening Years ago, when I received a rather large number of managed care referrals for  adolescent “treatment failures” and their families, I soon realized that typical screening, assessment and therapy was NOT working well. I tried so, so hard to reach these young people – all experiencing extreme psychological suffering with […]

America’s Opioid Problem-2020; A Brief Update Unfortunately, Opioid Use Disorder (OUD) is alive and well in 2020. Today approximately 150 People are dying each day due to opioid overdose. The CDC noted that from 1999 to 2017 approximately 399,000 people died in the United States from Opioid overdose. Related to chronic pain, this is one […]

Mindful Ways to  Help a person Change Unhelpful Behaviors Brought to you by The Eleanor R. Liebman Center for Secular Meditation in Monkton, Vermont Although behavior therapy and contingency management remain the most effective means to initiate changes in unhelpful behaviors, more generic approaches offer some promise.  See the steps noted below to change an […]

More RESPECT Needed for People Being Served Recently, I read a post by William White, the well-known Recovery advocate.  The post dealt with the troublesome area of language used to describe, refer to people suffering from various conditions – addictions being only one.  While some may respond to his post by thinking it is simply […]

Today’s Troubled World Needs More Self Compassion and Compassion This is an interactive activity on contemplation between your executive brain, your conscious mind, and your emotional brain areas. Looking at the world today any aware person must admit the human race is in serious trouble.  This reality impacts the developing, industrial, and post-industrial cultures of […]

Mindful Happiness Tags

COMPASSION VERMONT MEDITATION MINDFUL TRAINING ENLIGHTENMENT THICH NHAT HANH ACTIVITY MEDITATION PRACTICE WISE MIND THERAPY. BUDDHISM MINDFULNESS TRAINING WALKING MEDITATION CONSCIOUSNESS MBSR DR ANTHONY QUINTILIANI BRAIN SELF COMPASSION VIPASSANA MEDITATION ACTIVITIES ADDICTION BREATHING MINDFUL MEDITATION CLINICAL SUPERVISION HAPPINESS TRAUMA MINDFUL HAPPINESS PSYCHOTHERAPY ANTHONY QUINTILIANI SELF MEDICATION MINDFUL EXERCISES VIPASSANA SELF ESTEEM EMPTINESS JOURNALING SUFFERING PRACTICE MINDFULNESS TRAINING COVID-19 PRACTICES SELF ELEANOR R LIEBMAN CENTER SELF CARE

Mindful Categories

Mindful Happiness Pages

  • About
  • Contact
  • Dr. Anthony Quintiliani
  • Mindful Expressions Meditation CD
  • Mindful Happiness
  • Site Map

Copyright © 2022 · Mindful Happiness