The war in Ukraine also scares many in Germany. Images of people fleeing, bombed-out houses and all the negative news are a burden. Psychotherapist gives tips on how to deal with fear in times of crisis.
The morning after Russian troops invaded Ukraine, a message popped up on my smartphone from my mother saying that Putin’s attack made everything else seem irrelevant and World War III was knocking. According to a forum survey commissioned by RTL and ntv, this is a concern shared by millions of people in Germany. Around two thirds of Germans are afraid of a Third World War. Anger, powerlessness and fear are the dominant feelings for many people when news about the war in Ukraine blares over the radio, hits a smartphone as a push message or fills social media feeds. How can we deal with all the bad news, not get lost in a maelstrom of negative feelings and how do we deal with the fear of a third world war?
The psychotherapist Franca Cerutti has summarized the current emotional state and gives her community tips on how to behave healthily in this situation. in the star-Conversation the psychotherapist explains how to deal with all the bad news and fear. Your tips:
Develop a feel for news consumption
Due to increasing digitization, the flood of bad news is not only a problem from a psychotherapeutic point of view because of the current war, says Franca Cerutti. “We have slipped from the climate crisis, through the pandemic, into the middle of a war. In my view, this is so stressful that we have to radically decimate our media consumption in order to get out of it healthy.” The psychotherapist advises: Everyone must develop a good sense of media and adapt media consumption to their individual needs. This can be done by answering the question: “How many messages can I take anyway?”
decimate channels
Anyone who currently feels overwhelmed when opening Instagram, Twitter, Tik Tok, Facebook or news sites should decimate the channels and limit themselves to a few reputable providers. The psychotherapist advises users to avoid the so-called “doom scrolling”, when the majority of media use is consumed by consuming negative news. “We are mistaken here that we would be able to control the situation better if we had more information – of course that is not the case with news about the Ukraine war.” But clicking from one superficial image or statement to the next hits us emotionally. “We have to be aware that all the images and videos we see of the war have an effect. We react to these images whether we want to or not. And at the moment they mostly trigger fear and stress.” Because of the many images of war that we get in our heads, our whole organism reacts as if we were in the middle of a catastrophe, explains Franca Cerutti. “We feel and suffer. That motivates us to do something. But people have to be careful if they no longer feel motivated by the news, but get caught in a negative spiral of helplessness, depression and powerlessness change media consumption.”
set up times
“It can help if we only consume news at certain times and decide for ourselves what we watch and what not, and for some people it can be helpful if they issue push notifications.” It is important to limit media times and consciously set up times without mobile phones, media or news – for example directly after getting up or before going to bed.
Be informed but not burdened
For some of her patients, it is a good method if they consume children’s news in this time of crisis, reports the psychotherapist. “Anyone who gets information from children’s news will still get the essentials, but without seeing too disturbing images.”
Don’t forget downtime
Many people currently feel bad when they meet up with friends, listen to music or laugh because they are wondering if they can have fun while other people may be fighting for their lives, fleeing war or even losing someone to have. “On the one hand, I think it’s nice that people are able to show so much compassion, but now forbidding something for reasons of piety, which in reality would do you best and might help to stabilize, that doesn’t help anyone.” It is important to think about your own self-care.
Don’t scare children
“I grew up with impressions of the Cold War and can remember how depressing it is when you basically get such a subtle idea as a child that everything is on thin ice here and that they might not have a future at all And I would actually keep this kind of dystopia out of the minds of children as much as possible, because nobody benefits from it, even if the next generation is already so scared,” says Franca Cerutti. Better: Parents should watch age-appropriate programs with children and talk about the conflict if the children want it.
Dealing with the fear of a world war
The psychotherapist says that she doesn’t have any concrete recommendations for action if she is afraid of a world war, but she does have a strategy for dealing with her fears. She recommends the five-finger rule. You ask yourself, “Can I solve this now?” It can be counted word by word on one hand, i.e. one word per finger.
Franca Cerutti explains: “On the one hand, sorting things out in my head helps not to be sucked in by fear, and on the other hand, sometimes good ideas come up about what I can do. That’s great because we don’t feel powerless and helpless.”
Source: Stern
