What is it and how to develop your mental immunity –

As if talking about the body’s immunity wasn’t enough in times of coronavirus pandemic, now there is also talk of “mental immunity”. It makes sense: in such a complex period in human history, taking care of one’s own mind has become a new priority, after all, it’s a fact that no one imagined what it would be like to spend more than a year in one’s own home, balancing work, household chores and caring for one’s family. the children and pets.

And, yes, having and developing your own mental immunity is not only possible, but advisable. something like the building resilience and its benefits to make times of crisis less desperate. But let’s start from the beginning:

After all, what is mental immunity?

“Mental immunity is our capacity to accept everything that comes, all the events that the world brings to us”, explains psychologist Fabiane Curvo de Faria, specialist in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. “Being emotionally immune is being able to deal with all emotions, even if they are bad, it is having this ability to continue acting even with the turbulence of life.”

Dealing with positive situations, good news, the changes “that come for the good”, as they say, is simpler. The issue becomes complicated when the scales tip towards what people call the “negative”. In this case, mental immunity implies having the ability to deal with any type of situation, whether positive or negative, so as not to become emotionally destabilized.

By the way, do you remember that we talked about resilience earlier in the text? So, like her, this type of immunity is acquired: from mental training that will have an effect on our ability to act. “We have to train our body by remaining attentive to emotions and training this ability to react to these emotions. It’s always being on alert and reacting whenever those bad emotions come. So, as you do this more and more often, you get stronger”, continues the professional, creator of the aterapia platform, which connects mental health professionals and patients.

strengthen your mental immunity is a similar process. It’s no use just acquiring it, you need to develop it through the same process: be aware of sensations and have strategies and actions to deal with each one of them. An example is to think about what you can do at times when you feel sad, unmotivated, even angry or worried, is to seek prior planning so as not to get emotionally carried away by a complex situation.

How to start immunizing my mind?

It seems contradictory to talk about mind care and planning and strategies, but Fabiana reinforces how this is the main way to start and strengthen your own mental immunity.

“If you know that there are things that are bad in your life, create strategies to react to them”, he explains. “Training looks easy, but it’s not. With these pre-ordained strategies for when the event comes, you already have a manual on how to act. From the moment you do and repeat, do and repeat, this is being introduced into your body, your mind.”

According to the psychologist, with this training your body and mind start to react automatically from this new capacity acquired. Which does not mean, of course, that this is a simple or easy process.

“This emotional immunity is seen a lot in monks, in people who practice a lot of meditation, because they train this capacity in their mind all the time. For us, who are in a more disturbing routine, working, with a child and everything else, it is more difficult”, he says.

This, of course, does not mean that acquiring this immunity is impossible, but it is necessary to consider the current context and the possibility of scenarios that no one could foresee. The coronavirus pandemic is an example. The ideal, then, is to do the best in the available context and seek specialized help if the difficulties are great.

And the benefits? He has?

For sure! Just as meditation has an effect on general well-being, so does mental immunity. According to the professional, what it brings is a more constant feeling of well-being – that is, you don’t get off the easy axis.

“Sometimes, with life’s assignments, the accidents that happen, with the things that change in our routine, it takes us off track. It’s like we’re on a bumpy road. So, when we have this mental immunity, our life becomes linear, flatter, we manage to have more balance, have a fuller and more satisfying life”, he concludes.