{"id":36869,"date":"2021-05-07T02:23:20","date_gmt":"2021-05-07T09:23:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/?p=36869"},"modified":"2021-05-07T00:27:46","modified_gmt":"2021-05-07T07:27:46","slug":"covid-and-other-challenges","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/2021\/05\/07\/covid-and-other-challenges\/","title":{"rendered":"COVID and other challenges"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dr. Judith Moskowitz\u00a0<\/strong>(photo from Judith Moskowitz)<\/em><\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

Anxiety and stress can be debilitating even in the most normal of times, but, with COVID-19 and all that it encompasses, we have all been presented with a whole other level of challenges.<\/p>\n

In this context, the Jewish Independent connected with Dr. Judith Moskowitz, a professor of medical social sciences at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, in Chicago. She is also the director of research for Northwestern\u2019s Osher Centre for Integrative Medicine. Trained as a social psychologist, with expertise in stress and coping with emotions, Moskowitz started her career in the early 1990s, helping men caring for their partners suffering from AIDS.<\/p>\n

\u201cBefore there were more effective treatments available, it was essentially a terminal illness,\u201d she said. \u201cCaring for a loved one with AIDS was really one of the most stressful events a human could experience.\u201d<\/p>\n

Initially, she said, \u201cWe\u2019d ask them, \u2018What is stressful about this?\u2019 Then, we\u2019d help them cope with it, really focusing in on the negative part the whole experience and, shortly after the start of the study, the participants started saying, \u2018You\u2019re not asking us about the good things in our lives\u2019 … which surprised us, because we\u2019re coming at it from a very much stress and coping way.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo, we listened to them and started then asking, \u2018OK, tell us something positive that happened in the last week.\u2019 And, almost in every single interview, even if their partner had just died, they could talk about something positive … often something small … having to do with something else going on in their lives not necessarily directly related to their care-giving.\u201d<\/p>\n

This new perspective helped direct Moskowitz onto a path looking at the positive things within stressful life events, allowing positive emotions to be expressed along with the negative.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis isn\u2019t about pretending things aren\u2019t happening,\u201d she stressed. \u201cRather, it\u2019s about knowing that, even when times are really dark and you may be experiencing a lot of negative emotions and a lot of stress \u2013 maybe even depression or anxiety \u2013 you also have the ability to experience positive emotions as well. So, if you can experience the positive alongside those negative emotions, you\u2019ll be able to cope better.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moskowitz and her team put together a program that includes eight to 10 skills, depending on the target group, toward helping participants increase their daily experience of positive emotions \u2013 stopping to notice, savour and capitalize on those good aspects.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhen things are stressful, it can be hard to see the positive things going on,\u201d said Moskowitz. \u201cWe help people realize there\u2019s usually something positive happening … you just have to be able to notice it.<\/p>\n

\u201cThings might be really horrific, but your dog is sitting next to you, really loves you, and it\u2019s very sweet. So, just taking a moment and petting your dog, and then maybe telling someone about it \u2013 that would be noticing something positive in your life and savouring or capitalizing on it,\u201d she explained. \u201cWe\u2019ve been able to show that people who learn these skills and then practise them have better emotional well-being. They\u2019re less likely to be depressed. In some samples, we were seeing some physical health effects. So, through clinical trials, we showed that the program seems to be helpful.\u201d<\/p>\n

When COVID first hit, Moskowitz was inundated with questions about how to cope better with stresses associated with the pandemic. The bottom line is that these skills transcend any particular stressor and can help no matter what the situation.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor COVID, my advice is the same as it is for coping with breast cancer, diabetes, depression, or being a high school student,\u201d said Moskowitz. \u201cLearn these skills, try them out, see which work for you and, then, keep doing them. It\u2019s like a physical activity, something you need to keep on doing. You can\u2019t just do it once … similar to gratitude, noticing the good things, being thankful … it doesn\u2019t work for you to just be grateful once and then be done with it. You need to take it up as a habit, and that can help you cope with COVID-19 or adapt with whatever kind of life stress you\u2019re facing.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moskowitz also teaches the importance of doing acts of kindness. The idea is that, when you do something nice for someone else, it helps you feel better, too. Such an act can be as simple as paying for the coffee of the person in line behind you. Or looking someone in the eye and thanking them, making them feel appreciated and seen. And there are many types of acts that can be done without the receiver knowing the kindness came from you, if you\u2019d rather remain anonymous.<\/p>\n

\u201cDoing these acts helps you feel better in a situation where you might think, I\u2019m suffering here, I\u2019m having a really hard time … but, knowing you can do something to help someone else can help your own well-being,\u201d said Moskowitz.<\/p>\n

Another skill she pointed to is \u201cpositive reappraisal.\u201d When something stressful happens, take a moment to reframe it or think about it in a way that makes it seem not so bad or even like it\u2019s positive thing \u2013 find the good in it.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes, it takes the form of actually learning something about yourself \u2013 like you find that you are stronger than you\u2019d thought you were,\u201d said Moskowitz. \u201cMy favourite positive reappraisal is, \u2018Well, that could have been worse! It\u2019s bad, but it could have been worse.\u2019<\/p>\n

\u201cAn extreme example of this happened when we were doing some work with a gun-violence prevention group here in Chicago, teaching them these skills. They work with young men who are at high risk of either being victims or perpetrators of gun violence. The people they work with often are involved in a shooting. [The group members] will talk about it and will say, \u2018One of our clients was shot and is in the hospital, but he\u2019s alive.\u2019 Having one of your clients shot is pretty bad and very stressful, but they\u2019re able to say, \u2018You know what? It could have been worse. He could have died, but he\u2019s still alive.\u2019 So, that\u2019s a very vivid example of positive reappraisal.\u201d<\/p>\n

Moskowitz stressed that there is no one technique that works better than all others. She said, with regard to various anxiety- and stress-reducing methods, it is very much a matter of what fits best for each individual in a particular circumstance.<\/p>\n

For more information visit moskowitzlab.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Rebeca Kuropatwa<\/strong> is a Winnipeg freelance writer.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr. Judith Moskowitz\u00a0(photo from Judith Moskowitz) Anxiety and stress can be debilitating even in the most normal of times, but, with COVID-19 and all that it encompasses, we have all been presented with a whole other level of challenges. In this context, the Jewish Independent connected with Dr. Judith Moskowitz, a professor of medical social […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":36870,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[5858,9717,9784,2864,20552,1997,20551,20550],"class_list":["post-36869","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-world","tag-anxiety","tag-coronavirus","tag-covid-19","tag-health","tag-judith-moskowitz","tag-mental-health","tag-positive-reappraisal","tag-stress"],"blocksy_meta":{"styles_descriptor":{"styles":{"desktop":"","tablet":"","mobile":""},"google_fonts":[],"version":8}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36869","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=36869"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/36869\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/36870"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=36869"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=36869"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.jewishindependent.ca\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=36869"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}