If you’ve found yourself in an argument with your family members or housemates during the quarantine period, say aye.
Chances are, a lot of us have already found ourselves in such situations. Even the smallest things may get on our nerves, like the way someone chews too loudly or eats messily. While for others, it may be family members’ conflicting political opinions, meddling or nagging that upsets them.
Family therapist Helen Park of Manhattan’s Ackerman Institute for the Family, a mental health clinic, tells USA Today that getting upset at family members easily during the pandemic is due to underlying issues, which all families have, that are easily triggered by the world’s current situation and can bring potential toxic interactions.
“It’s just so much more pronounced now because the climate for everybody is such an acute, pervasive level of anxiety,” says Park.
Despite pandemic anxiety being a factor in people feeling agitated quickly, we also have to personally make an effort to take control of our emotions, keep ourselves calm and clear our mind before expressing our thoughts.
[READ: Pandemic anxiety is a thing, and here’s how you can deal with it]
But sometimes, simply taking deep breaths—no matter how many—don’t really work. Fortunately, there are several grounding techniques that can help you clear your mind and keep yourself in check when your emotions overwhelm you.
Grounding chair
Among the techniques shared by British psychologist Dr. Sarah Allen is the “grounding chair,” which requires you to sit down comfortably. After inhaling and exhaling thrice, you should direct your attention to your body by thinking about how you feel physically while sitting down as well as how the material of the chair feels like.
Allen then advises to push your feet into the ground afterward and imagine the heavy energy going down from your mind to your body and finally passing through your feet into the ground.
5-4-3-2-1 technique
I’ve been practicing the 5-4-3-2-1 technique during times where I feel a wave of strong emotions, and it’s been really helpful in calming me down. In addition to taking deep breaths, this technique asks you to find five things you can see, four things you can feel, three things you can hear, two things you can smell and one thing you can taste.
By doing this, your mind concentrates on something else instead of the things that made you upset.
Distraction and diversion
One way to distract yourself from overwhelming emotions holding or looking at an object or a certain space and putting all your attention to it. To do so, you can analyze its patterns or designs, feel its form and texture or look at its colors.
Australia’s Living Well counseling service also suggests picking an object in your line of vision and tracing it as you look. Another technique would be reminding yourself of who you are by listing your name, age, location and your finished and pending tasks for the day.
[READ: What 3,000 minutes of guided meditation taught me]
These self-soothing techniques, however, are merely quick fixes for keeping your emotions in check. After calming down, the best way to smooth quarantine quarrels would always be to talk things out properly. Stepping out for a bit and giving each other space may also help in clearing your mind before doing so, especially if the argument is really serious.
Header photo by Christian Erfurt on Unsplash
Get more stories like this by subscribing to our weekly newsletter here.
Read more:
How to take care of your mental health, according to WHO and CDC
Mental health check: How digital psychotherapy helps us cope with pandemic anxieties
Here’s where you can get a mental health checkup online or on the phone