meQuilibrium Offers Five Ways to Build Resilience During Mental Health Month

BOSTON, April 23, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Mental Health Month has been observed for over 50 years, but this year it's especially important to raise awareness of ways to improve mental health and increase resilience. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, 19.1% of U.S. adults experienced mental illness in 2018 (47.6 million people), however, the worry, isolation, and anxiety associated with Coronavirus is something that literally everyone may experience.

Resilience is a crucial skill we need to thrive in uncertain times, says meQuilibrium, the leading digital employee resilience solution. Resilience represents the ability to rebound productively in challenging situations and it has a strong protective effect against anxiety. meQuilibrium's scientific research has shown that highly resilient people are 28% more able to adapt to changing circumstances.

"People are experiencing heightened levels of uncertainty and anxiety from COVID-19," says Andrew Shatte, Ph.D., Chief Science Officer, meQuilibrium and a world-renowned resilience expert. "The human brain is wired for the negative and it's natural for us to be worried about the future. However, instead of anxious feelings getting in the way, we can take productive steps to be in problem-solving mode rather than worry and stress mode."

Learning to recognize responses to stress, emotional strain, and exhaustion provide the foundation for resilient self-management. Even small improvements in individual cognitive performance can have a positive impact. meQuilibrium offers these steps to build simple resilience practices in your daily routine:

Keep your emotions in check. Coronavirus has our brains pinging on "future threat" driving anxiety and shared fear. Stay calm and work to keep your emotions in check, particularly anxiety, which will take center stage. Work to catch those anxious thoughts before they spiral, and reframe them into more realistic, probable outcomes.

Remain realistic. People will begin to catastrophize in this extreme situation. It's a natural response that's rooted in self-preservation. But when you focus on the worst-case scenario, you allot your energy to worrying about something that has only a small chance of happening and not devoting any resources to the negative things that are very likely to happen. At the same time, there may be other possible outcomes and choices at your disposal that you're not seeing.

Adaptive is key. Make informed adjustments based on the information you have. Limit the amount of energy spent on speculation. Use mindfulness to stay in the moment. Every day, take a moment to pause, breathe deeply, and focus. We can exert most control over today, this moment. Simple breathing mindfulness techniques or meditation will serve to bring us back to the present, calm the mind, and reduce the high stress levels that we are feeling now.

Practice gratitude. Coronavirus is a new threat and coping with new threats requires strength and energy. Give yourself some credit. Remember to end each day with a measure of gratitude that you successfully navigated the world around you, and let this positivity build on itself. You have the power to care for your physical and mental health; don't let anxiety control your well-being.

Prevent. When individuals recognize their own habitual patterns and begin to manage stress in healthier ways, healthier behavior and interactions spread, in a positive network effect. We become better equipped in our interactions, even under stress.

"Resilience helps people respond to change more effectively by managing their minds and emotions in high stress, adverse situations," explains Dr. Shatté. "People who can quickly switch gears from threatened to productive, can navigate this challenging time more effectively."

Visit meQuilibrium to read more about how to address uncertainty and anxiety with resilience.

Media contact: 
Beth Brody, BrodyPR 
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908-295-0600

SOURCE meQuilibrium