I just came across this new word that is put in our new collective dictionary. That book with new words and concepts is growing fast! Language is of course always evolving, I am under the impression though that our dictionary is growing faster this year. The question is whether you allow these kind of new words and concepts in your personal dictionary…and with that in your daily reality, for thoughts are forces and energy follows attention. If you did not have a television or internet, would you have known about the virus? Would you have been fearful for the virus or maybe for the measures?
Anyway, I assume, we all know about this virus, one way or another, and I suppose we all know about burn-out by now. I had not seen it put together before though. This virus situation we are in globally, can cause stress for various reasons, stress can lead to burn-out and this virus and all of its rules and regulations can lead to trauma.
For those of you who did not see my blogs on stress, burn-out and trauma (you can find them in the archives), it is simplified, as follows:
What is stress? In short: stress is nothing more than tension or pressure. If you have been under stress for too long and your body cannot recover from the stress, your reserves get exhausted bit by bit and a burn-out is lurking. Trauma is any experience of threat, disconnection, isolation or immobilisation that results in physical/emotional injuries that dysregulate the optimal functioning of one’s body, emotions, brain, spirit or health. And mind you, your body keeps the score!
For over 7 months now, we have an invisible enemy: this virus. In my opinion, we have an even more dangerous enemy which hits at our conciousness and at our body. Can you guess? I am talking about FEAR. Stress/burn-out/trauma can be caused by fear or the other way around. Therefore, let’s have a look at that nasty little bugger called fear.
Fear is an emotion which triggers a reaction in the brain when there is imminent danger (real or perceived). This leads to an automatic fight/flight/freeze reaction. Let’s have a closer look at the workings of our brains.
- The thalamus regulates conciousness in case of fright or fear.
- The prefrontal lobe regulates the awareness of how to act in case of fright or fear.
- The amygdala is the emotional center of fear.
- De hippocampus is the memory center of fear. This area of the brain is important for memory and associations. Traumatic memories are burned there, as it were, under the influence of adrenaline.
The hippocampus and the amygdala can influence each other. They can thereby evoke or ampify fear. Of course, the power of repetition of the fear message and subliminal programming plays a role in this.
In short: it comes down to this: fear disrupts the nervous system, the hormonal system and suppresses immunity.
Now it is time for some good news!
How can you break the cycle of fear? By using the same tactics, being:
- By focussing on gratitude.
- by noting what makes you happy.
- By thinking happy thoughts.
- By going in nature (since you are nature).
- By moving.
- And repeat!
Let me end this blog by saying: don’t worry, take good care of yourself and be happy!
I am curious how you feel about this subject. Feel free to let me know.
