How Gratitude Helps Us Cope With Pandemic Stress

Published on June 6, 2020

Mental health is always important, but it is especially important during a time as tense and stressful as the COVID-19 pandemic.

The Washington Post recently revealed how the country is on the verge of another major crisis related to psychological trauma. According to Mental Health America, prioritizing your mental well-being it is vitally important to staying well during difficult times. Their Tools to Thrive program suggests helpful methods and practices for individuals to cultivate a daily practice of gratitude and personal affirmation.

The global Covid-19 pandemic has been a sudden, jarring, and unforeseen disruption to the entire world. Yet, in the midst of the whirlwind of tragic news and scary statistics, the pandemic has brought unique opportunities for each of us to pause and be grateful for what we once took for granted. There are many unsung heroes in our communities that we take for granted.

Growing With Gratitude During Adversity

This time of introspection, reevaluation, and recentering has afforded me an opportunity, as the chief legal officer for Workhuman, to see the bigger picture. The mission of Workhuman is to help businesses create corporate cultures driven by gratitude. I help oversee all legal, regulatory, and compliance affairs. We have spent a great deal of time during the pandemic ensuring that we “recognize the good” in not only our staff but also those on the front lines of COVID-19.

Our team developed a simple yet effective way for individuals around the world to practice expressing gratitude through the #recognizethegood healthcare worker thank-you program. On our website, people from around the world can share a message of hope and thankfulness to the world’s frontline healthcare workers. What Theodore Roosevelt said a century ago remains true: “People don’t care how much you know, until they know how much you care.” Since the launch of the initiative, over 5 million messages of gratitude of poured in:

“TURN IT UP! “Clap Because We Care” 👏🏼 ❤️ “

“Dear Healthcare workers, I want to thank you sincerely for the wonderful, selfless work you do. Thank you for the bravery you show and the sacrifice you are giving for the benefit of so many strangers.”

“A #HospitalWeek song dedication to our own #HealthcareHeroes: thank you for all that you’ve done and continue to do on the front lines.”

By offering a digital thank-you to strangers whom they are unlikely to ever meet, individuals can bring a moment of peace to those who are struggling to work through the wide  range of emotions caused by COVID-19 illnesses and shutdowns. There are so many individuals – young, old and every age in between who deserve some gratitude. Like 7-year-old Cavanuagh Bell in Flint, Mich., who launched his Love > COVID-19 campaign. He has enlisted people to do everything from buying groceries for the elderly to making sure people have clean drinking water. The helps the process of building resilience and strength to overcome one’s own struggles in these uncertain times.

As the messages continue to come in through the #recognizethegood initiative, millions have learned to add gratitude to their daily lives.

5 Steps To Gratitude In The Midst of COVID-19

Developing a method of becoming both emotionally and emotionally strong in the midst of difficult times is paramount. The Psychiatric Times reports that “the practice of gratitude helps us become more optimistic.” Gratitude begins with a daily focus on five practices:

1) Meditating

2) Listen more than you talk

3) Do an internal honesty audit

4) Shift your perspective

5) Remember to always breathe

With these five simple, yet life-changing tactics, many may find that it helps in balancing daily life from the distracting and distressing moments brought on by nearly any unexpected occurrence.

Gratitude Is A Treatment For COVID-19 Stress & Fatigue

Gratitude practices are a healthy way to center yourself and give to others. As I’ve become more ingrained in the #recognizethegood initiative, I’ve learned that practicing gratitude can help each of us stop in the midst of our daily routine to notice that we are alive, thankful for our family, our children, our community. I have embraced the importance of gratitude in our daily lives as a way to continuously reinforce that we have so much to offer the world, and that sharing gratitude is one key antidote to the world fighting the invisible enemy of COVID-19.

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