How Hope Can Save Your Sanity During Covid
According to the American Psychological Association (The APA), hope is associated with not only higher achievement, but a lowered risk of death. Hope has the ability to create perpetuate additional happiness as well as lower stress and anxiety levels. For all these reasons, hope can play a crucial part in healthy living during the pandemic.
Hope Plays A Vital Role In Survival
Hope is essential for achieving one’s goals. Getting through tough times without hope can lead to depression or a sense of helplessness. With a small amount of optimism, hopelessness can be avoided even through a major crisis.
3 Reasons Hope Matters Now
- It can motivate us
- It can help us look for positives in other aspects of life
- It can lower anxiety
The Positive Cycle of Resilience
Motivation is key to staying on track when moving forward. If you are experiencing signs of hopelessness, managing reasonable goals can take much more energy. Motivation can perpetuate a positive cycle of resilience that, when felt on a regular basis, can lead to strength in multiple areas of life.
Resilience can give human beings psychological strength needed to deal with various life stressors. While many times resilience is presented in a physical sense (you get knocked down, you get up again), it usually comes from within the psyche. By finding the mental reservoir of strength reserved for difficult goals, we become naturally more resilient.
The more the act of resilience is practiced, the more success we often have. Finding the motivation to continue moving ahead will usually lead to a positive result. This positive outcome can reinforce that the motivation it took to complete the goal, was worth it. Thus, perpetuating the cycle of hope and resilience.
Hope During The Pandemic
It is natural to feel hopeless during a crisis. The COVID-19 pandemic can be especially daunting because of so much uncertainty that surrounds it. We do not yet know the logistics of a vaccine. There are multiple ways the virus can spread. Our jobs and family life are likely functioning in an entirely different way now.
Although handling an uncertain crisis can prove difficult, there are ways to improve mental health. Focusing on how to be hopeful can decrease stress levels and help organize your thoughts.
Feeling a sense of meaning in life can stimulate hope. Whether that meaning or purpose stems from other people, a sense of duty or something else entirely, knowing “why” we do what we do can help propel us forward.
Hope Can Help
Depression and other mental health issues can lead to a feeling of hopelessness. By seeking the right support, this does not have to happen or continue to happen for very long. Depending on the situation, goals may have to be readjusted to find a realistic accomplishment.
The coronavirus has changed many facets of our lives and with such uncertainty, the pandemic can become overwhelming. By learning how to navigate change and recognize strength, the future can begin to look hopeful.
