Covid-19 and why it can be hard on our nervous system

I have not always been such an advocate for self care. Not until I began to learn about hormones five years ago and became more familiar with research showing that people who take time to recharge and restore are more creative, happier, and more successful. They have better emotional regulation and are more resilient.

I wanted to share with you today a chart from Gilbert, P. (2009). The Compassionate Mind: A New Approach To Life’s Challenges. London: Constable and Robinson.

Take a moment to look at the circles in the image and try and imagine how big each of the circles is in your case right now.

The chart can explain why Covid-19 can be particularly taxing on the nervous system. Not only the threat system is constantly activated with so much uncertainty to our health, finances or any future planning.

To add insult to injury, our main ‘safety’ cues have been largely dismantled. We are biologically wired to connect and are now unable to socialise, meet friends and hug our closed ones. These are the main ways we humans release oxytocin, “the cuddle hormone” or the “love hormone”, which is the main antidote to fear and ‘cortisol- the threat hormone”.

So, we are out of balance, and this may impact the motivation and ‘dopamine’ so our ability to achieve new goals may be dwindling too. If you find yourself with ‘free time’ and no motivation, this is the reason.

The only way to rebalance is self-care and self- compassion, in whatever way this may work for you.

Replenish and recharge first. Be it through creativity, baking, face time with old friends, journalling or meditation. Connect within and connect with others where possible.

Drop all the ‘shoulds’ , shut down the inner critic and replenish some more. It’s the only way through.

Whilst there is often little we can do about our (crazy) world outside, we can always cultivate new ways to relax deeper and be kinder to ourselves and others.

Chart has been adapted from Gilbert, P. (2009). The Compassionate Mind: A New Approach To Life’s Challenges. London: Constable and Robinson.