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Not everyone finds it easy to communicate with a large number of people. Are you having a big meeting or corporate event? Or maybe friends were invited to a celebration, or is it just time to return from the dacha and plunge into the bustle of the city? This can cause stress. We will tell you how to prepare for the event.
Pir kes
People. Huge crowds of people. In the subway, in the park, in the mall. If you have been working from home for a long time or living in the country, going on vacation, or just not going out to crowded places unless you really needed to, you may have weaned from this and now experience great excitement when you find yourself in a crowd.
Organizational psychologist Tasha Yurikh faced such a problem when her mother and stepfather invited her and her husband to spend the weekend in a country hotel. Already at the reception, Tasha, who had not been out in public for a long time, fell into a state of stupor.
There were people everywhere: guests chatted in line for check-in, hotel employees scurried between them, picking up luggage and bringing soft drinks, children played on the floor …
For some people, the necessity of any visit to public spaces causes anxiety.
In it, this picture activated the «fight or flight» mode, as happens in case of danger; the psyche assessed what was happening as a threat. Of course, there is nothing wrong with falling out of habit into such a stupor once. However, for some people, the necessity of any visit to public spaces is now causing anxiety, and this can already have a negative impact on mental and even physical health.
What to do in this case? Tasha Yurich has spent two years researching how stress can make us stronger. Recovering in the silence of a hotel room, she remembered one practical tool that can help in such situations.
Distraction beats stress
For years, researchers have been looking for a way to quickly subdue stress-induced emotions. The following technique has shown the greatest effectiveness: to focus on a task that is not related to the source of our stress. For example, try to remember any sequence of numbers — one that you see on a billboard or on the cover of a magazine or hear on the radio.
The trick is that, concentrating on the task, we forget about what upset us so much … And therefore, we become less sad!
You can, of course, try to distract yourself simply by reading or watching a video, but scientists say that the maximum effect occurs when we put mental effort into the task. So, if possible, instead of watching videos on Tik-Tok, it’s better to guess the crossword puzzle.
This way, you can not only better plan your next outing, but also practice self-compassion.
Research shows that distraction works best when paired with reflection. So, remembering the number or guessing the crossword puzzle, ask yourself:
- What emotions am I experiencing right now?
- What exactly in this situation plunged me into such stress? What was the hardest?
- How can I do it differently next time?
This way, you can not only better plan your next outing, but also practice self-compassion. And this is an important skill that helps us cope with stress and failure, as well as more easily endure adversity that falls to our lot.