Nine tips to help you cope during turbulent times

2 hours ago

The BBC Science Features team

Getty Images Two mountain goats balanced on a small ledge on a rock face (Credit: Getty Images)

In our chaotic, uncertain world, it is normal to feel anxious or overwhelmed. These science-backed techniques can help you build your resilience and find some calm.

There are times when the events unfolding around you can feel overwhelming. Whether it is the relentless cycle of bad news and seismic change taking place around the world, a tragedy at home or the daily pressure of keeping your head above water, the uncertainty that comes with such moments can leave you anxious and stressed.

To help you cope in such moments, the BBC's science team have dug out some of the tips we have learned in recent years about dealing with adversity. From worrying constructively to watching horror films, here are nine ways you might find some resilience and calm amid the turbulence.

Tap into some untranslatable emotions

The words you speak can powerfully shape your inner life. Multiple studies have found, for instance, that using more precise terms to describe your feelings can help you to cope with life. Rather than simply saying that you are "stressed", for example, you might identify frustration, anxiety, worry, or existential despair.

This capacity to differentiate between different feelings is known as "emotional granularity" – and it can bring benefits for both physical and mental health.

Some scientists believe that we might even benefit from learning about the ways other cultures name their feelings, many of which do not have a direct English translation. Take the Finnish concept of sisu, for example, which is a sort of "extraordinary determination in the face of adversity".

"You can think of the words and the concepts they are associated with as tools for living," said neuroscientist Lisa Feldman Barrett at Northeastern University in Boston.

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Turn your anxiety to your advantage

The word "anxiety" has its origins in the ancient Latin and Greek words for "choked" and "uneasy". For anyone who's experienced an anxiety attack, it is easy to see why. So, it might seem farfetched to think that the experience could be beneficial for you.

But that’s exactly what the research seems to suggest. Outside of the extreme, debilitating state that accompanies anxiety disorders – which are recognised mental health conditions – the emotion of anxiety can serve a source of motivation that activates our drive for reward and social connection. When we’re anxious, we’re also more creative and innovative. Our brains respond with greater focus and efficiency. It can lead us to be more productive.

So how do you tap into this positive side of anxiety? As the two articles below explore, it requires a mindset shift. "Negative" emotions are often natural responses to difficult events, and people who can find meaning in the full spectrum of human feeling tend to have more robust mental health.

Instead of seeing anxiety as a distress call that you must eliminate, try to see it as communicating important information and a means of preparation. People who are taught to think of their anxiety as a signal that they are ready to rise to a challenge rather than a sign of distress perform better under pressure, for example.

Some of the techniques that can help to turn anxiety into a positive force include approaching its source with curiosity and using it to set useful goals. Actors, for example, use this strategy to help them deal with nerves and research also shows it can help with difficult exams or public speaking. In the long term, it can also help to reduce the risk of burn out.

Getty Images Thinking differently about your anxiety might help you turn the emotion into a positive force (Credit: Getty Images) — Thinking differently about your anxiety might help you turn the emotion into a positive force (Credit: Getty Images)

Learn to worry constructively

Since our worries tend to fixate on the future, rather than the past, it can also be used to focus our attention on preparing and problem-solving. It can also motivate us to take action.

Research has shown worrying can help with everything from being more prepared for wildfires to attempts to quit smoking. And when the worry is about something you can't do much about, understanding this lack of options can help to defuse it. According to Kate Sweeny, a health psychologist at the University of California, Riverside, a good process for channelling worry and redirecting it if necessary is:

Label the worry.
Run a mental checklist of possible actions to deal with the problem.
If all possible actions have been taken, try to get into one of the states that reduce worry, like flow, mindfulness and awe.

Boost your mood with a book, music or your surroundings

The right book can change your life for the better. It can take you somewhere completely different simply by opening its pages – to other countries or even other worlds.

People who regularly read for pleasure tend to be less stressed, depressed and lonely, while also more socially connected and confident, research has shown.

The growing practice of "bibliotherapy" involves tailoring a book recommendation to a person's mood or mental health concerns. The goal is to "help relieve, restore, and reinvigorate the troubled mind – and can play a part in relieving stress and anxiety", according to one study on the subject.

But a book isn't a cure-all and often works best in conjunction with other therapies, practitioners note. It's also important to choose carefully – reading the wrong book at the wrong time can end up making you feel worse.

And if you don’t have time to open a book, try playing one of your favourite songs – music has the ability to push our emotions around and can have an instantaneous impact on mood. Again, be careful as while the right kind of music can make you feel better, the wrong kind can even lead you to do bad things. Find what works for you.

Mindfully curating your environment, by surrounding yourself with plants or even just images of green spaces, or browsing photos of loved ones, has also been shown to make a difference.

Watch a scary film

Jump scares, grizzly zombies and ghostly figures lurking in the shadows might not sound like the right antidote when you are already feeling on edge. But watching a horror movie can "be a salve for our worries".

Watching a scary film from the safety of the sofa serves as a kind of play. It gives us a way to explore dangerous situations, mentally preparing us for threats we might encounter in the real world. Research shows that fans of scary stories cope better in difficult times and experience reduced anxiety in their everyday life.

So, whether you enjoy the buzz of a spine-chilling horror or prefer to hide behind a cushion – remember it is a work out for the part of your brain that moderates stress in stressful times.

Getty Images The best hope is the kind that requires you to roll your sleeves up to play a part in making things better (Credit: Getty Images) — The best hope is the kind that requires you to roll your sleeves up to play a part in making things better (Credit: Getty Images)

Count your blessings

Some of the best advice eventually becomes so widespread that it morphs into well-worn phrasing. "Count your blessings" is one of them.

You may also know it as "three good things" or a "gratitude list" but the concept is the same: taking a moment in the evening to write down three good things that happened to you during the day. It's a small but positive step that can have powerful effects. And there is good science to back it up.

A study in 2005 showed that people who wrote three good things lists showed signs of higher happiness levels and fewer depressive episodes after just a month. Those positive effects lasted the full length of the six-month study. The placebo group, who were just measuring their happiness, only saw a small bump in happiness levels, and it didn’t last.

These lists don't even need to be life-changing events, such getting a promotion or passing an exam – it could be something as everyday as catching up with a good friend.

Recognise what you can and can't control

When we're living in uncertain times we can turn to ancient philosophers for advice that still feels relevant and useful today.

Epictetus, born around AD55, lived a life of adversity and experienced political upheaval. These early experiences shaped his later philosophical teachings in the school of Stoicism.

Our chief task in life, he stated, is to distinguish between what we can control, our thoughts, choices and actions – and what we can't. The Stoics argued that much of our distress comes from resisting the inevitable, or pinning our hopes on outcomes never fully in our control.

Hope is most effective when it is linked with action, both our own and alongside others

Epictetus advised practising this distinction, even with small things, so that when we experience any turbulence in our lives we are better prepared. It's worth also remembering, as he reportedly said: "It is not events that disturb people, it is their judgments concerning them".

If we recognise that change and adversity are expected, and that we can learn from each difficult event we experience – war, a pandemic, health or financial difficulties – we will be stronger for doing so.

Read more on our ancient guide to turbulent times in this article by Amanda Ruggeri.

Harness hope in the right way

Some experts believe that wishfully hoping things will get better gives people excuses to retreat from what’s uncertain and scary around them without doing anything about it.

But after researching hope in the face of climate change, BBC reporter Diego Arguedas Ortiz, discovered that finding the right kind of hope is important.

Rather than pinning our hopes on others or waiting for positive news, hope is most effective when it is linked with action, both our own and alongside others.

"Hope is meaning-focused coping," says Maria Ojala, a psychologist at Örebro University in Sweden – it can help people make sense of the difficulties in their world and offer a path forward.

Psychologists, in fact, believe hope emerges from both personally determined goals and the journey to reach them.

How to talk to children about adversity

Dark times don't just affect us. They can impact our loves ones too, and particularly children.

Yet it can be difficult to talk to children about traumatic experiences and how we do so can make a huge difference to their wellbeing, research shows. How a caregiver talks to their child can even shape their memories and behaviour, which could help them put more thought into actions without lashing out.

In one study, a team found that parents who asked more questions during conversations about their child’s experiences helped improve children's attention and self-control.

Exploring difficult feelings seemed particularly powerful, helping children learn to understand and regulate their emotions. This is referred to as "emotion coaching" and involves identifying and validating feelings, discussing them openly and guiding children toward healthy coping strategies.

The same process helped buffer the effects of stress during the pandemic. Acknowledging what a child has been through is also important – and could help them cope better during times of stress, as well as equip them with broader emotional skills.

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