How to Improve Oneself Psychological Immunity Expert during the Epidemic

At present, the COVID-19 epidemic is still raging around the world, and some people are psychologically affected and have negative emotions. While actively fighting the epidemic, psychological prevention cannot be ignored. In the face of COVID-19, how should we improve our psychological immunity? People's Daily Online recently interviewed Huang Xubing, director of the Clinical Psychology Center at Peking University Sixth Hospital.

"People's mental activities are usually divided into three parts: emotion, behavior and thinking. Psychological problems can also manifest in these three areas." Huang Xue Bing introduced that emotional abnormalities are the initial manifestations of psychological problems. In addition to depression and anxiety, anger is also common during the pandemic. Anger can be expressed in two ways, either externally or internally. External aggression is easy to complain, anger and verbal violence when communicating with others. The internal attack is shown as excessive self-reproach, inferiority and so on.

According to Huang, psychological problems affect behavior in two ways, one is irritability and anxiety because there is nothing to do. On the other hand, some people resort to eating, drinking, smoking and other addictive behaviors to relieve the irritability and anxiety caused by having nothing to do.

"Psychological problems can also affect people's thinking activities, also known as cognitive activities. When isolated or unable to engage in creative activities for long periods of time, people tend to feel insecure about life. At this point, cognitive activities are also affected, such as inattention, memory loss, rumination and so on." "Huang Xuebing said.

How can we improve our psychological immunity during the epidemic? Set goals, Huang advises. Having a purpose in life provides a sense of certainty, security, and a way to avoid emptiness and idleness. Moderately carry out activities, reasonable vent emotions. In the case of limited activities, arrange some activities that can make you feel calm, focused and happy, such as reading books, writing in a journal, doing crafts, etc., to separate yourself from the negative emotional experience. If you have psychological problems that cannot be resolved by yourself, you can call the psychological assistance hotline and seek help from professionals.