Dear Friend: Hello! As a mental health worker, I sincerely hope that I can be of help to you during this special time of your life. People often want to seek psychological help when they encounter stressful times in their lives. This is common abroad, but we are just all not quite used to this yet. Being in isolation may well be our first, or perhaps our last, experience, and it will be a very special time in our lives to learn to live with this special time. Whoever is in such a time will feel more or less stressed, this is very natural, after all, this is an infectious disease, is a certain risk of infectious disease, therefore, no matter how panic, how anxious you feel, we think it is natural and understandable, fear of danger, fear of death, this is our human nature, face the danger and do ” Fear of danger, fear of death, this is our human nature, in the face of danger and to do “fearless” that is only a pursuit of the realm! Second, “isolation” also means that our contact with others is limited. We humans have an innate desire to interact, to belong to certain groups, to be accepted by others, to be part of various interpersonal networks, and when we are isolated we may have negative emotional reactions such as loneliness, helplessness, depression, and panic. In addition, isolation also means that we are perceived as a source of danger, and we may feel intentionally distant and avoided by others. Although this is a protective response, we may feel shame and even consider ourselves as ominous as a result. Therefore, due to all these reasons, we will more or less have certain psychological stress and will have various negative emotional reactions. So how can we cope with these stresses, make ourselves less negative emotions, and concentrate on fighting the disease more rationally and wisely? I would like to come together and discuss with you. 1, to understand the real and reliable information and knowledge when we foresee some kind of danger, the less information we know about the danger the more room we leave for our imagination, but then the imagination is generally worse. The uncertainty of danger is more threatening. Therefore, this is the time when we can collect as much authoritative information about the disease as possible, learn in detail about the disease, have a clear understanding of the real epidemic, the possibility of contagion, the damage of the disease to the body and the mortality rate, etc. This helps us to be psychologically stable, but we must collect authoritative and certain information and not listen to some gossip or even rumors. Although medicine itself inevitably carries uncertainties, there are relative certainties in uncertainties, such as most of the prognosis is good, strict isolation can effectively prevent transmission, and the majority of serious and fatal cases are elderly people with other underlying diseases. 2, understand and accept their own reactions Due to various stresses, our psychological, physical and behavioral reactions will be generated, we need to recognize them and learn to get along with them. First of all, there will be a variety of negative emotional reactions, such as fear, nervousness, irritability, loneliness, aggression, anger, self-blame and shame, paranoia, depression, etc., and even pessimism, self-blame and guilt, anger, complaints about others, the government, etc. In these emotional states, we will also appear other psychological and physical symptoms, such as mental retardation, confusion, inability to focus, memory loss, insomnia, fatigue, appetite and libido The symptoms include dullness, confusion, loss of concentration, memory loss, insomnia, fatigue, loss of appetite and libido, dizziness, bloating, diarrhea or constipation, menstrual disorders, etc. All of the above reactions can make us feel painful and uncomfortable, but we must understand that these feelings are our reaction to stress, we all appear more or less at such times, and these will slowly subside over time, they do not indicate that there is something wrong with our brain or body, do not be too afraid and do not accept because of these uncomfortable feelings, which leads to The vicious cycle of tension, learn to live peacefully with these symptoms, and do not force yourself not to react emotionally, completely do not stress. 3, accept the situation of isolation Isolation will make us hard, it is natural, but we have to sublimate this pain into the motivation to fight the virus, our isolation is to better protect ourselves and others, is necessary to fight the virus, is to contribute to win the war, the human struggle with various diseases, disasters is eternal, in each of these struggles, for the sake of society as a whole and the public In every such struggle, there are always people with a deep sense of responsibility who have to sacrifice their interests, their rights, their freedom, and even their lives, who are representatives of human civilization! In the state of isolation, we especially have to face the intentional avoidance and alienation of others, which may make us feel inappropriate shame that we are “ominous” and “annoying”, but we have to understand that it is not us who are avoided and alienated, but the infectious virus. We should not equate ourselves with the virus, and of course, we have to deal with those who complain of anger against us because they are too afraid of the virus. 4, seeking resources to deal with stress Stress often accompanies our growth, everyone will grow up to form their own ways and resources to deal with stress, we can think about in our past when facing stress which of our ways and resources are effective, and what new resources can be used, such as making full use of interpersonal resources, more communication with their relatives, friends, colleagues, organizations, etc., although not Face to face, but completely through modern means of communication such as telephone, SMS, e-mail, online chat, etc., each other to confide in each other’s feelings, mutual greetings, comfort, support and encouragement are beneficial to us, feel alone in the face of pain we will be very lonely, feel that many people in the face of difficult times with us we will feel more powerful. Reading famous books, quotes, and enjoying music are also effective resources for some people to cope with stress. 5, actively cooperate with scientific and effective treatment Although there are no effective drugs for the new coronavirus, it is important to follow medical treatment methods, ensure adequate nutrition, maintain the function of various body systems, prevent complications, and psychologically positive and optimistic attitude towards the disease is also very important, fully believe and appreciate our body’s self-coordination and recovery efforts. 6, as much as possible to retain the contents of normal life life is often affected in many ways, work, study, entertainment and leisure, diet, etc., but we should do the necessary scientific treatment and protective measures under the normal life as far as possible, on the one hand, so that our losses are reduced to a minimum, on the other hand, will also be our emotions as soon as possible to recover, normal life will have a normal emotion, we leave ourselves free The more we leave ourselves free, the more fearful thoughts in our heads, the more negative emotions. 7, devote to constructive things People in a state of pain when the most mature method than the painful emotions sublimated into a constructive motivation, often said “grief into strength”, a famous psychologist in the Nazi concentration camps wrote a psychological monumental work, the poet Goethe in the days of lost love completed “The Trouble with Young Werther”, the virus makes us suffer from disease and isolation, we have to participate more actively in the struggle with the virus, and try to cooperate with isolation and treatment, and keep our work or creative work when possible. 8, looking for the positive meaning of adversity There are positive and negative sides to everything, adversity and pressure are necessary for our human growth, disaster will make the nation, group cohesion, will make individual growth faster. Being isolated can make us temporarily away from the hustle and bustle of the crowd, calmly think about the problems we didn’t have time to think about before, read the books and entertainment programs we want to read, listen to the music we like, enjoy the short time alone and parting, as long as we have a positive heart, we can laugh at the storms of life. 9, make good use of professional psychological help Seeking professional psychological help is a manifestation of civilization, and there will be more and more resources in this area in the context of the national construction of a social psychological service system, such as popular science articles, media-related programs, hotline psychological counseling, Internet counseling and face-to-face psychological counseling and treatment under safe circumstances. In the journey of life, everyone will inevitably encounter various stresses and crises, and we believe that you will make full use of your resources and potential to successfully pass this special period and grow in the stress. We will always be by your side, so let’s overcome the difficulties together and welcome a better life tomorrow. Content Source: A Letter to Home Isolates from Peking University Sixth Hospital