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You’re behind schedule again. The past four days at work and at home have been filled with one challenge after another. Physically and mentally, you can feel the negative stress accumulating, and you’re distracted and mentally fatigued. You haven’t been sleeping well, because you’re worrying about failing, which has you feeling down and less energetic than your typical self.
As you rush to the appointment you’re already late for and reach into your pocket for money to buy a subway pass, you don’t feel your wallet. After a few seconds of body patting and spinning in a circle looking for your wallet, you realize it’s not on you or in sight. An intense shot of adrenalin rushes through your body.
You begin to rack your brain and backtrack your steps, telling anyone who will listen that you’re missing your wallet. After two hours of searching, as well as missing your appointment and informing your family that you won’t be home on time, the pain and frustration of losing your wallet begin to settle in.
Losing your wallet and all your credit cards, driver’s licence, and other identification can be overwhelming. To an onlooker, this may not appear to be a significant emotional event but in combination with all the other stressors of the week it leaves you feeling overwhelmed and depressed. Once you get home, you want to be alone; you feel dejected and ask yourself, “Why bother?” You just want to go to bed and hide from the world.
If you can relate to this situation, then this micro skill may interest you. It focuses on coping with an emotional flu.
Awareness
Physical flu is caused by a virus picked up from the environment. Most of us know what the flu feels like and what can aid in recovering: get lots of rest, eat healthy foods, drink lots of liquids and take some over-the-counter medication to ease the symptoms. A bout of flu has a beginning, middle and end. Most of us, after the flu, can get back into our old routine and feel like ourselves in a relatively short time.
What if, like a physical flu, we experience an emotional flu? The root cause is often how we interact with our environment. We’re struggling already and begin to experience negative, prolonged periods of stress that result in physical symptoms such as sleepiness, upset stomach, headache and emotional symptoms of feeling blue, down or worried. As with a physical flu, energy and ability to perform are impeded.
Accountability
Most of us know that to get past the physical flu we need to slow down and rest. Many times it takes only a few days for our immune system to kick in and to get back to feeling healthy again.
The cure for an emotional flu can look a lot like that for a physical flu. Slow down and get some rest by taking a break from the stressors that are triggering negative emotions. This can provide space and time to think and to consider your options.
It can also help lower the feeling of intense emotions. Often when we do this our conscious mind can start to explore options for coping with and managing our situation so that we’re not as likely to feel overwhelmed.
One key tenet for recovering from either the physical or mental flu is allowing time for self-care and healing.
When provided time and a break from the primary sources of stress, our minds can often find a resolution to help us feel better, cope with the stress, and move forward to heal from the emotional flu. We can get out of feeling trapped in emotions, are able to think clearly, and make good decisions that can range from taking action to fix ourselves to asking for help.
Action
By acknowledging that there may be times in our life when we become emotionally overwhelmed and don’t like how we’re feeling or thinking doesn’t necessarily mean that we’re having a mental-health issue or are experiencing a mental illness.
Like the physical flu, there’s never a good time for an emotional flu. However, when we have a frame of reference and don’t judge ourselves as being weak or broken, with a bit of time, self-care and self-compassion we realize that, like getting the physical flu, there’s no shame in coming down with an emotional flu, and with help and time we will recover.
Important considerations with respect to the emotional flu are frequency, duration and intensity. If after a few days of self-care and family support, emotional flu symptoms don’t settle down, see your family doctor or mental health specialist who can assist in creating a treatment plan to help you achieve a full recovery.
Bill Howatt is the chief of research for work force productivity at the Conference Board of Canada, and former chief research and development officer of work force productivity with Morneau Shepell.
You can find other stories like these at tgam.ca/workplaceaward.