How does this new situation affect us and how do we cope with it?

At first we saw this situation as external, distant, and something that could not reach us, but we were wrong.

We humans tend to be reluctant to change, and these changes provoke different states in us.

The emotional stages in the face of change

The stages in this type of situation tend to be:

• DENIAL:

We may think "This isn't going to happen here, we are in a developed country", "we are very far from China"

• ANGER:

We tend to think "Why didn't we act sooner?", "why weren't preventive measures taken?".

• FEAR:

Ideas may come to us such as: "what if I get sick", "what if I infect my loved ones", "what if there are no doctors or everything is overwhelmed"

Fear is an unpleasant emotion but a very normal one these days. At the same time we can consider it necessary, since it helps us adapt to this new situation and helps us react and look for alternatives and solutions. Fear is a very basic survival system: if I flee the situation I will save myself; the problem comes when we cannot flee, which causes us to have more fears and this in turn frustration.

• FRUSTRATION:

"I wish I could do something", "I want to go to my second home", "I feel like meeting up with my friends"

• ACCEPTANCE. But we must come to terms with reality!

It is normal that at some point in this situation we have all gone through a moment of *sadness and feeling down. This may be due to the consequences of seeing what is happening right now or to anticipating what may happen, whether on an economic or social level… but we must come to terms with reality and understand that staying home is the right thing to do for everyone.*

What can we do?

What can we do then?

• PLAN FOR THE NEW SITUATION

Although some people continue with their work from home, others have stopped their work and social activity, and we all have to reorganize our lives.

Create new habits

What can we do with so much free time? CREATE NEW HABITS

• We have the opportunity to learn all those things we had pending: languages, computing, work-related topics.. on the internet there are countless courses and tutorials.
• Other pending topics could be: tidying up the house, learning to cook…
• There is time to take care of ourselves: eating healthier than what we used to do with the daily rush at work, we can do exercise from meditation, yoga or dance
• Keeping in touch with our loved ones by phone, video calls, among others.

So I encourage you to plan these days in order to handle this situation as best as possible!!