How difficult it can be to stay calm in times of crisis! Yet, winning this small, big challenge may be the key to opening the doors to the solution we were looking for.
Last update: June 14, 2019
Staying calm in the middle of a crisis is essential to being able to think clearly and to prevent negative emotions from affecting our decisions; decisions that can be really critical in these situations. Oppression and despair can be bad advisers when it comes to acting with precision, effectiveness and intelligence.
However, calm allows you to choose the right way to take in a turbulent moment and, in this way, the chances of reaching a satisfactory solution can increase considerably.
When faced with a threat, the organism activates a defense mechanism to escape the danger; it is an instinct for self-preservation. Although in this way evolution has given man greater protection from the dangers that nature conceals, it has also given access to other threats.
The alert mechanism becomes acute when the person feels in danger, regardless of whether the risk is real or not.
In these situations, stress mechanisms are activated immediately: it is the latter that prepare the body for a fight or flight. If the individual feels threatened - for whatever reason - will begin to feel the symptoms of stress: palpitations, sweating, irritability and anxiety.
Although this is a natural mechanism, available to the organism so that it can cope with the danger, the ideal is manage crises or unpleasant situations in order to prevent stress from becoming chronic. The latter, in fact, would cause a deterioration of health, if prolonged over time.
Why is it important to remain calm in a crisis?
Staying calm in the midst of a crisis clears thinking, which is vital when it comes to making a decision - it can make the difference between 'hit the mark' and fail. When faced with pressing situations, many people do not respond adequately and they collapse under the weight of anxiety, which usually has dire consequences for their well-being.
Stressful events should put the individual in a position to make useful decisions to reverse the situation. However, more often than not this does not seem to be possible; therefore, they should be employed conceptual tools useful for dealing with the crisis, keeping more control.
The normal stress you may feel when faced with a new or unpleasant situation it can become chronic if not properly managed. An extension such that in the long run it knocks out our strength and our motivation to undertake projects or conclude those already started.
Today the world of work - with its industrial advances, globalization, technological development and virtual communications - imposes on us challenges and conditions that often exceed the limits of our abilities and capabilities. The result is stress, which can cause physical, mental and social disturbances; it can even damage our health, undermine our productivity, and affect our family and social environment.
-Dr. Francisco Becerra, Deputy Director of the Pan American Health Organization (OPS) -
Controlling dissatisfaction, giving free rein to our emotions or not feeding frustration they represent concrete objectives that safeguard our well-being in potentially stressful situations. Another strategy that can help us is to make calculations of probabilities that are realistic, mistaking concern for the future self with living the present self.
The benefits of calm in the middle of a crisis
Staying calm in the middle of a crisis can be beneficial to the body's overall health. Among the main advantages we find a reduction of the state of malaise, which implies a decrease in suffering in the face of emergency situations or that are not in line with our desires.
Staying calm in moments of full crisis makes it easier to isolate the flow of thought of negative emotions they can provoke an inappropriate or counterproductive course of action.
Keeping calm usually allows you to adopt a state of total well-being of the body and mind, which is extremely beneficial for health.
The human being, more often than not, cares about what he has been and what will be. Precisely in this dichotomy between past and future, many times, that malaise arises that confuses us and makes us suffer.
Taking a breath, not thinking about anything other than today and avoiding panic are some strategies that can help us in conflict situations; also they can be useful for reconcile with life, in a world where almost anything - despite the stress - is possible.
