The world has changed substantially in the last 18 months and will remain so for the foreseeable future. The arrival of Covid-19 into the world has tipped normality upside down and our lives suddenly became more complicated. Yet, for most of us, we may not realise how much so.
If you have any of the following indicators then you have been affected;
Thirsty for most of the day regardless of how much water you drink.
Eating more than usual, often craving sweet treats or fatty foods.
Feeling more tired than ever, even after a seemingly great night sleep. Perhaps you are feeling tired around midday rather than the usual 3pm.
Having mood swings, inwardly or outwardly, with all of your emotions heightened so that you seem to have no control over them. Anger and sadness washing over you in waves. Many of us are having angry outbursts that is not our normal response to what we would previously have simply shrugged off.
Wanting (needing) to go to bed an hour or so earlier than your usual bedtime because you can no longer stay awake. Or, you fall asleep in that comfortable chair when relaxing before bedtime.
When you do go to sleep, you have unusual dreams, mostly a mashup of events from your past. Now, you wake up three to four times a night whereas you once slept through the night.
Maybe you go into such a deep sleep that you didn't think that you dreamed at all and woke up feeling just as tired as when you went to bed.
If you have one or more of these things going on that you never had before, this is the post-covid era. Many of us are making excuses for this 'less than normal' behaviour - it's a busy time at the moment, I have a large project due, I am juggling many balls at the moment. That might be so, but our pre-conscious brain (subconscious mind) is also at play as we are unknowingly worrying about the future as our brain tries to find a safe way forward to what is happening.
Our brain will always take the known pathway when we struggle with anything in life therefore we find the obvious excuse to what is happening. We will find the immediate solution rather than look for the actual cause, that's the unknown so it has no reference. Neural pathways, our regular patterns of behaviour, will always be the easier option.
As a species, we are subconsciously continuously looking for future risk which is always based on our past experiences, out timeline of events. Whenever we face what our brain perceives as danger and we go into fight-or-flight mode, our brain puts a marker in our long-term memory as a reference point for the future should something similar happen again. None of us have been through anything quite like this pandemic before so our brain is still trying to work out a response to this new danger.
Our brain does not enjoy this uncertainty, it views it as adversity, a dangerous situation that it needs to find an answer for. Hence, although not realising it, we are in continual fight-or-flight to a greater or lesser degree which results in the indicators listed above. As a result, it has caused a rise in anger and violence, globally. Fight (attack) or flight (run), fight is our first option because that's how we have survived.
So, what can we do about our current situation that would help satisfy and calm our pre-conscious brain?
Maslow nailed it in the 1930s. Back then there wasn't such a thing as brain imaging to find out what was going on inside of our heads, Maslow studied people instead. He noticed that for us to thrive, we had to get our base layer right first - food, shelter, sleep, water, air, and sex - the later for the survival of our species.
When you face challenges in your life, do you head for sweet and/or fatty foods? Or wine! How many of you cleaned your homes during lockdown like you have never cleaned them before and put it down to the fact that you had time, despite working from home? Maybe you just head off to bed in the hope that a good night's sleep will make it better?
The reason people lined up outside of stores ahead of the lockdown was to ensure that they had food for their family, just like our ancestors did, except we don't have to hunt and gather in the wilderness. How many of you cleaned your home, had a huge dinner, a couple of drinks and off to bed to help increase the population before going to sleep!
When I speak with people who survived an attempt to take their own life, often they would say that they just wanted to restart their lives. If we look at the Maslow model, I suggest that if they want to restart their life then they should focus on:
Food - changing their diet to whole foods.
Shelter - changing or improving where they live.
Sleep - regain a consistent sleep pattern.
That might also be something that you want to try if you have been affected by your pre-conscious brain working overtime. Or might I suggest that you focus on the other two physiological needs, water and air. Drink more water to hydrate your brain and reduce the fight-or-flight response. Also, regulate your breathing to 6-second intervals ensuring that your breathing is always through your nose and is diaphragmatic.
As to the sixth physiological need, I'll let you decide.
Let's talk!