Romanians are very affected by the coronavirus pandemic and most are scared of wave four. Those vaccinated or sick are relaxed.
For many of us, the fourth wave of the pandemic will affect them much more mentally and emotionally, especially those who are not aware of the effects it can have on them.
Most Romanians expected the first wave of the pandemic to last a few weeks, and then return to the normalcy they knew and felt comfortable in. This did not happen, so everyone tried to overcome the psychological effects of the fear of illness and isolation as best they could.
“Romanians managed as best they could the psychological effects of the pandemic, depending on the psychological and emotional elements they inherited or acquired throughout their lives. The fear of the fourth wave of the pandemic, which has been talked about for some time, will be much stronger and will influence us much more deeply because it sums up all the fears we had from the first wave of the pandemic until now “, explains psychologist Stelian Chivu. What is fear really? This is also a negative mental program, but also a low frequency emotion.
What we face
Most of us do not even know in which area of the body the fear is located, what intensity it has and how it influences us, because they have never thought about it. “A small part of us is aware of fear, in the sense that they realize at that moment that they are afraid, and others hide it through denial, and their fear is most profound. They are all majorly influenced by fear and have all kinds of mental, emotional and physical manifestations “, says the psychologist Stelian Chivu.
With the advent of vaccines, the way fear affects us has changed. Romanians who have been vaccinated feel less afraid of the effects of the disease because they feel somehow protected, especially by the serious effects of the disease. Instead, those who do not believe in the existence of the pandemic and the effectiveness of vaccines have an attitude of denial or indifference to what is happening.
“Studies conducted in recent years have shown that most of us are overwhelmed most of the time by negative emotions. These emotions are now amplified by the pandemic, especially the news about it. During the period of isolation, they became addicted to negative information and now they continue to be greatly influenced by it “, says the psychologist Stelian Chivu.
Dependent on fear
All these fears inevitably led to the accumulation of increasing stress in the body. Although it may seem strange, many Romanians have become addicted to fear. “It’s the same kind of addiction as smokers or alcoholics. Although I know that it hurts them, they continue to consume, so to speak, negative news related to the pandemic, even if I know that they do nothing but stress even more “, explains the psychologist Stelian Chivu.
And the immune system suffered a lot, amid the fears we faced during this period. Psychologically, it has been established that when a person is overwhelmed by fear, breathing does not flow normally, and this influences the oxygenation, especially of the brain.
“To all this is added a state in which the body enters when fear sets in, called
How we relate to the pandemic
Each of us can do a simple test to find out how much the pandemic affects him. The question that needs to be asked and that many of us avoid is our attitude toward the pandemic. “It is necessary to be honest with ourselves, and if we do that, the answer we will give will show us the level of engagement in the stress and fears we face during this period,” explains psychologist Stelian Chivu.
Because they did not know how to manage their fears or simply denied them, many Romanians now face all sorts of phobias. We are talking about hypochondria and misophobia (pathological fear of germs, bacteria and contamination), to name just two of them. Fear penetrates mentally and emotionally through ideas or words conveyed in the public space or in the family, but also through the images we see every day.
Healing
Our own emotions can save us or make us sick. If we succumb to negative emotions, it is only a matter of time before the body becomes ill. The biggest fear we face now is the fear of the fourth wave of the pandemic. “It’s basically an unnecessary accumulation of stress about what’s likely to come. If you see people on the hospital bed every day and images with the virus, the mind will inevitably associate them with the disease, and the body will react accordingly “, says the psychologist Stelian Chivu.
The first step each of us needs to take is to realize how much we have been affected by the fear of the fourth wave of the pandemic. Once we do this, we need to detach ourselves from the sources that feed us with negative information. It is equally important to be anchored in the present and not to live in the past or project ourselves into the future in the face of what may be.
“Fear is now an extremely strong emotion both individually and globally, and its effects are much more destructive than those of the virus. Connecting to beauty is the solution. The subconscious mind will create an unconditional reflex and will disconnect from the negative information, and this is the path to healing “, concludes the psychologist Stelian Chivu.
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