Whether or not you physically have this virus, you might have noticed that it’s hard to keep it out of your mind. 

It’s difficult to avoid thinking about, and we need to find ways of doing that in order to stop us becoming emotionally too infected.

I was thinking about how we can use certain defense mechanisms in a healthy way to help us keep sanitising our minds. Like physical sanitising, this isn’t a one off thing, we have to keep practicing this kind of mental hygiene.

Here are some defense mechanisms that you might like to consider:

1. Suppression - consciously deciding not to think about something in the present moment. 

Now that might sound ridiculous, but we do it all the time. We have to in order to create boundaries between different aspects of our lives. Lots of people have told me that they have stopped watching the news and only allow themselves to check trusted sites once a day to keep up with guidance. Others have told me about how they are setting limits of, say, 30 minutes that they allow the virus to be part of the conversation with friends, before consciously moving it on to something else.

Suppression means that we have more choice over when we think about it, which means that hopefully we think about it more when we are able to, rather than all the time.

2. Sublimation - transforming an unhelpful feeling into more healthy actions.

This can be tricky when we’re stuck indoors and unable to access physical activity in quite the same way. But we can turn our feelings into helpful actions. I’ve noticed how people are talking about taking this opportunity to do more home fitness classes, to tidy a cupboard, to learn to cook, to practise their drawing. These are all examples of sublimation.

3. Altruism - doing things for others can really help us. 

We all know that helping others can make us feel good. Even if it’s just sending that message to someone to check how they’re doing, or being part of a group checking on vulnerable neighbours, there are so many ways we can help others right now.

We can also use altruism to help us follow guidance. It can help us deal with difficult emotions if we see our behaviour as looking after others.

4. Anticipation - finding ways to think about possible hardships in a way that helps you plan for them.

Right now, with everything feeling so uncertain, it can be helpful to anticipate certain hardships. We might not be able to cook our usual meals, or use the products we like, or be able to go outside.

The creativity and thought I have seen in terms of how to exercise differently, to cook differently, to educate differently, to shop differently has been wonderful. By using our ability to anticipate, we can feel more in control. 

And finally:

5. Humour - a way of referring to something difficult or uncontrollable in a way that makes it funny to others.

Humour is one of our vital tools as a defense mechanism. You’ll maybe have noticed how you sometimes make a joke about something that feels too difficult to really talk about in that moment. 

Right now, funny memes are being spread far and wide. We’re sharing ridiculous videos. We can definitely make humour one of our tools to sanitise our minds.

You might find that you find some of these easier than others. That’s fine! Just being aware of them might help you feel more able to find ways of using them if necessary.

If you’ve got some great examples of your own ways of using defense mechanisms to keep mentally healthy, please do get in touch and let me know!

Take care. Sarah xx