During the last week, as I’ve met with individuals and groups to support people’s mental health and wellbeing, one topic has come up above any other - the situation in Ukraine.
All of us have watched in shock as events have developed this week. We are filled with compassion and concern for the situation on the ground and the people affected. We want to stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people. But many of us have also felt worry and anxiety about what might happen. Given the events and worries of the last few years, this has been difficult for some people, and that’s understandable.
If you’ve been feeling anxiety and concern in recent days, it’s important for you to be kind to yourself and realise these emotions are totally normal and understandable. If you feel that way, what might you be able to do? Here’s a few ideas for dealing with these anxieties.
Be honest with yourself
The beginning of caring for your wellbeing and mental health always starts with self-awareness and self-compassion. Take some time to be honest with yourself and allow yourself to feel the emotions you feel, we may feel some odd emotions - fear, worry, shock, guilt or even anger. It’s important for you to take notice of these emotions and not try to deny they exist.
Once we can see honestly how we feel, then we can take action or care for ourselves. If we’re worrying, let’s start to be honest that we are, and noticing then what we can do to help settle those worries.
Reach out to others
If you are feeling anxiety, worry or fear - do talk to your family, friends or to those who can support you. This is always a good step when we’re struggling with our wellbeing. Picking up the phone, having a cup of tea and a chat or reaching out to supportive agencies or services will help you. Expressing those worries helps us understand them and receiving love and support will lift you and provide support.
You can also reach out to Space to Breathe through our Wellbeing Check-In’s. These conversations are free to access and available to anyone. Feel free to get in touch.
You may also want to make use of those wellbeing tools which help you to be settled and grounded when you feel anxiety. Stress relieving tools like breathing exercises will prove really helpful. You can check out a few ideas here.
Focus on what you can control, not what you can’t
It’s understandable that we may worry about world events. However, for most of us, we are unable to control the events happening and that kind of anxiety can be troubling to us. Feeling out of control leads to anxiety that feels like being stuck in the groove on a record. We can wonder about all kinds of outcomes, yet cannot affect any of them. We will be anxious about many ‘what could be’s’ … many of which may never happen.
Try to focus on being present and practice this. These ideas might help with that.
You might also find it more helpful to focus on things you can control, rather than those things you can’t. You may not be able to control world events, but we can control our individual responses and the kind of small, local actions that can make a difference.
If you feel a sense of wanting to do something with your worries then you could:
Help others with their worries. This is really helpful and important.
Reach out to people near you affected by the conflict in support. It’s estimated 70,000 Ukrainian people live in the UK. Maybe some live or work near you.
We can channel our emotions into standing in solidarity with Ukraine, through protests or vigils, through prayers if we are people of faith, even through things like social media. This might feel very small but is a way to respond none the less.
We can donate to organisations like the British Red Cross who have established appeals to help with the humanitarian crisis.
Taking this small actions that we can control is a much more healthy and helpful way to deal with our worries, rather than letting anxieties about what we can’t control get ahead of us. Remember that we can only live in and affect the present - the past and the future are places we can have no affect on.
Think about what’s helpful and what’s harmful
Lastly think always about what is helpful for you, rather than what is harmful.
Living through world events like this with the accompaniment of 24 hours and social media can mean we can watch and read things which sometimes aren’t helpful. So called “doom scrolling” can be a anxiety inducing activity which will often make us feel worse.
Think about choosing your moments to check the news and how you use social media at this time. Remember that things like notifications on your phone are in your control and for your benefit. Try not to let the news dominate you, but instead access news and social media in ways that are helpful to you.
You’ve got this far
In December, when news of the Omicron variant of COVID was dominating the news, we heard from many people who were worried and concerned. With that in mind, Ben shared this video called “Managing Uncertainty” which looked at four ways to handle worrying times. This video is below. Watching it today I was reminded how so many of us have already got through stressful and worrying times. You’ve got this far. Do try to remember what’s helped you so far and lean on these things again.
Although Ben’s video was created to address a different situation, all the helpful tools and ideas apply today. Why not take a look.