What we need to cope effectively, and even soar, amidst all of these stressors is psychological flexibility, or our willingness and ability to be agile in the ways we think, feel, and respond to stress.
Decades of research indicate that psychological flexibility plays an important role in buffering the negative effects of stress and a broad range of mental health disorders like depression and anxiety. Psychological flexibility has been shown to have beneficial effects in a number of distinct populations from health care professionals, and police officers, to children with juvenile arthritis and their parents, and trauma-exposed veterans.
Understandably, the people I had the pleasure of working with were hypervigilant, always scanning their environments for danger and ready to respond with clenched jaws and fists. When someone is in such a stance, it makes sense that their judgement is clouded by terror and their responses are often knee-jerk reactions. When people are in such chronic states, their attention and decision-making is greatly constricted.
I never want anyone I work with to think that I’m telling them their thinking, feeling or acting is wrong. I tell them that I am human, just like them. And I have blind spots and implicit biases just like everyone else. I often share with my patients a quote that is attributed to the American business icon, Henry Ford: “If you always do what you’ve always done, you’ll always get what you’ve always got.” In other words, when we only rely on our prior knowledge and experiences, we are restricted and constrained.
In moments of acute stress, I try my best to maintain a broader perspective and I encourage my patients to do the same. It’s essential that we are not wedded to one way of thinking, one style of responding, or one way of feeling.
This is in line with what a small group of researchers from Switzerland found in 2017 when they examined the role of psychological flexibility and its relationship to stress and physical and mental health outcomes in a representative sample of the Swiss population. People who can flexibly respond to stress had better outcomes across the board. The researchers explained that since psychological flexibility can be taught, the world should be exposed to the techniques to promote it: being mindful and accepting all emotions as they come.
I agree. It’s hard not to grasp tightly how we think the world is or how things should be. There can be comfort in familiarity and believing we are always right.
But if we are going to survive and even thrive in these challenging times, we need to be able to shift, to acknowledge that we are all a work in progress. It is in our best interest to expand our repertoire. We can learn to navigate the world as explorers: open to adventures, seeking various perspectives, and embracing a broad range of experiences.
Hence then, the article about why psychological flexibility is the key to good health was published today ( ) and is available on Time ( Middle East ) The editorial team at PressBee has edited and verified it, and it may have been modified, fully republished, or quoted. You can read and follow the updates of this news or article from its original source.
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