Everyone in this modern era faces a lot of stress problems, mental burdens, and many disturbing emotions in adults and even children. Communities that take health measures, such as physical distancing during COVID-19, make people isolated and isolated, resulting in loneliness and increased and dangerous anxiety and stress.
Traumatic events experienced by people will result in a strong reaction, which is even very difficult to get rid of. It is very necessary to find healthy ways and overcome problems, don’t forget to receive treatment, the best support will reduce feelings of anxiety and mental symptoms of stress.
Recognizing Trauma Signs and Coping
The symptoms that arise can be emotional or physical disorders. Common reactions experienced as a result of stressful events include:
- Disbelief
- Fear, anger, shock, worry, sadness, frustration and numbness
- Changes in appetite, reduced energy, weak desire, and lack of interest
- Sleep disturbances and nightmares, difficulty concentrating, and difficulty making decisions
- Reactions to the person’s physical condition, for example, headaches, pain throughout the body, stomach ache, and skin rashes
- Experiencing chronic health problems that are getting worse
- Mental health conditions are increasingly declining
- Increasing tobacco consumption, uncontrolled alcohol consumption, and consumption of other dangerous substances
- Increased stress, sudden feelings of anxiety, sadness, and worry that another traumatic event will occur, for example, a mass shooting crime, a sudden natural disaster, or a pandemic disaster, which is normal.
The following are things you might do so you can help yourself, those closest to you, and your surrounding community to maintain stress levels.
The Best Way to Manage Stress
Feelings of nervousness and excessive emotions that cause eating and sleeping disorders are known to be common reactions due to excessive stress. To deal with stress, you can do the following things to help you:
- Take a break from reading, watching, and listening to the news, one of which is by taking a break from social media. Finding information is very important, but many ongoing and circulating traumatic events can disturb our emotions.
- Try to limit your intake of information or news per day and try to reduce sources of information from cell phones, television, and computers for some time.
- Be smart about taking care of yourself by consuming healthy food, exercising diligently, sleeping regularly, and resting when you feel stressed.
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Tips to Taking Care Your Body
- Regulate your breath by taking deep breaths, doing lots of exercise and stretching, or meditating.
- Arrange your pattern with a healthy menu and a balanced time.
- Be diligent in scheduled exercise.
- Improved sleep patterns.
- Do not consume alcohol, burn tobacco, and abuse excessive and dangerous drugs.
- Scheduled and routine preventive measures as a follow-up step, including vaccination, checking for cancer dangers, and many more. Do everything suggested by the health services around you.
- Obtain complete COVID-19 vaccination as soon as possible; It is necessary to get a booster injection for people aged 18 years and after.
- Take a certain amount of time to do things you enjoy and relax. You can play games, travel or have fun sports activities.
Establishing Positive Communication
Have casual and positive conversations with other people. Have a conversation with someone you trust and who is considered capable of accepting and making you comfortable sharing your complaints and at least making open input. You can share your problems and try to find a solution with friends, parents, doctors, counsellors, or religious leaders.
Try Joining A Community Or Religious Gathering.
Don’t do drugs or alcohol. This will only help temporarily, but it will only add to the problem and increase stress later. Identify when you think you need better help. You could experience more serious problems and even think about suicide, see a psychologist if this happens, and see a social worker and professional counsellor.
Help Others
You will be able to help others after successfully taking care of yourself. Helping other people with stress problems via telephone or chat will make the people closest to you feel valuable and not ostracized or isolated?
Help Children and Teens Cope with Anxiety
Children and teenagers are prone to mental problems and anxiety. Adolescents are especially vulnerable to difficulty dealing with anxiety resulting from traumatic events such as disasters, the loss of a girlfriend or family member, school shootings, and violence in the community. Every caregiver, parent, and educator in the institution must take steps to maintain stability and provide support that will help children and adolescents feel better.
Tips for Caregivers and Parents
It is normal for children or teenagers to feel afraid and anxious due to experiencing something frightening, traumatic, and causing a great sense of loss. Try to have a heart-to-heart conversation with your child to be able to place and deal with the fear or trauma more wisely and in a balanced way so that they feel that this fear can slowly disappear. Always monitor what your child hears and sees related to traumatic and stressful events that occur at some point in their life. There are several tips you can do to help your child overcome this problem, including:
Keep a Routine
Maintain the child’s normal routine. Help children wake up regularly and with discipline, sleep when it’s time, and eat with a regular pattern and menu which will make them more stable.
Good Communication
Listen, encouragement, and expressive communication. Listen and understand the child’s feelings and wishes, and try to balance them with your views and feelings sincerely. When a child has just experienced something traumatic, it is necessary to reassure the child that it is okay for them to share their feelings without worry and that they have you who can and will understand their worries and anxieties.
Listen and Pay Attention
Listen and pay attention to what they want. Behavioral changes that may occur must always be monitored. If you find a change in attitude and character, it could be a sign that something is happening that is disturbing them mentally.
Things that increase a child’s stress can make everything uncomfortable for him. What must be done is to ensure that they remain safe and prosperous at this time. You can discuss the best way out in your opinion, try discussing it with the school, and provide understanding to the community so that they can take the appropriate attitude to maintain the safety and comfort of children in their environment.
Interconnected
Establish relationships with many people. You can open a discussion with the homeroom teacher and other parents at your child’s school to discuss the causes and possible solutions. This will provide enormous benefits for all parties starting from teachers, parents, and related health institutions in taking a role in maintaining children’s mental health at an age full of stress.
Tips for Children or Teenagers
Experiencing a traumatic event certainly makes you feel worried and worried about your safety and security. Even though you are not directly involved with the incident, or even if you are in a location far from the incident, feelings of worry and anxiety may still attack you. So that you are not too afraid, you can follow some of the tips below to overcome it.
Don’t be too closed and try to be open and communicate with lots of people. Find people you can trust so you can share your concerns fully and find solutions. When it’s difficult to find a suitable person to talk to, you can contact a national hotline or crisis intervention center near you to make it more comfortable.
Be good at taking care of you by maintaining a good and correct sleep and eating pattern, maintaining an exercise pattern, and always maintaining a normal routine.
Try to limit the information you get. Information and images related to disasters can increase feelings of worry and anxiety without control. It is important to limit yourself from news and excessive internet use and avoid discussions related to disasters so that you can be calmer in going about your day.
Tips for Educators in Schools
Educators at school can help each student gain security and restore comfort by talking a lot with the child to overcome his fears. Tips that educators can do at school include:
Meet and communicate to find opportunities and invite students to talk and discuss, provided there is no element of coercion. Educators can position themselves as inspirers and provide views so they can find the best and most appropriate solutions.
Listen and pay attention to their complaints, and find out whether they experience a change in attitude. Notice whether students don’t want to gather and isolate themselves. Such changes can be a significant sign that shows whether they need support and the role of educators to help.
Keep your routine normal by maintaining a comfortable and safe school schedule and routine. Stimulate students to do extracurricular activities and do assignments, don’t force them if you see they are overwhelmed enough to do it.
Make them aware that they can take care of themselves that you don’t have to pay too much attention to their surroundings, and try to convince them to take care of themselves before anything else. Eat healthy and arrange a rest pattern so that their mental condition is maintained.
