A new reality has long come for all of us. How not go crazy and cope with the enormous emotional tension? The editors of the online magazine “Lisa” and our readers tell.
Glory, Editor-in-Chief of Lisa Online Magazine
In the first days of the war, I calmed down with my work. In order to somehow keep in touch with reality and not catch panic attacks one by one, I sat down and started working – raking up spam comments on the site, cleaning mail, writing articles, selecting illustrations for them.
Now I have a whole selection of personal reassurances:
- Soothing tea. Soothing herbal tea from any drugstore at night. Helps to fall asleep if very difficult.
- Trucrim podcasts. I used to listen to podcasts about maniacs in stressful times, but now I listen around the clock just to calm myself down and switch my brain to other information. She closed Russian podcasters, discovered a sea of English-speaking and Polish ones.
- Scary stories. Horror is my main anti-stress, and I used a lot of creepy content before the war. I don’t currently have a stable connection to the Internet to watch movies, but I have a complete collection of Lovecraft’s works with me. I read myself a fairy tale at night.
- Scottish morning show. For the past week, I’ve been listening to Good Morning Scotland every morning, and for some reason I’m very reassured.
- Arestovich is reassuring. No comments.
- Toronto Television. Humor is important. If you don’t laugh, you can go crazy.
- Soundtrack from your favorite game. I’m a big fan of The Elder Scrolls. In my current playlist, only the soundtracks of the two favorite games in this series: “Oblivion” and “Skyrim”. She is calm, atmospheric, without words, and still reminds me of a turbulent childhood, when she ran after school to complete quests, earn money, craft weapons and buy houses.
The main life hook is to read news channels only twice a day. Now I check the news only in the afternoon, most of the news channels in the Telegram are without sound. I put the push only on the local news channel to know when to go down to the basement.
Suzanne, editor of Liza.ua and moirebenok.ua
From the first day of the war, I was the main panicker in the house. I read the news every minute. But now – everything is different. Now I know exactly how to protect myself at home (the rule of 2 walls – I hope it will save). In order not to panic, I don’t watch TV, I don’t react to horror messages from acquaintances who have been told something by their acquaintances or who make accusations about a bad situation without giving a source.
Of course, sometimes I have fits of fear, but I quickly return to a calm state with the belief in victory. And all because I read information only in official sources – the headquarters of the Armed Forces, the Office of the President, Volodymyr Zelensky himself, the Kyiv City State Administration, etc. I also study the news through the media – Public, NV, Today.
No matter how bad the news is, I try to keep my mind cool. Despair will not make sense, because the main goal of the enemy is to break and subdue the Ukrainian people. Well, when it seems that everything is gone (although this is rare for me, even when the windows are shaking from the “explosions”), I turn on my sedatives – Alexei Arestovich, Vitaly Kim, and Eugene Karas. With a calm voice, they give an analysis of events on the front lines. Each video of these men helps to raise awareness, soothe, encourage and lift the fighting spirit.
Anastasia P., our reader
They help me calm down and be distracted:
- Food and something delicious (delicacies).
- Watching cartoons (“The Simpsons”, “Bob’s Burgers” and “Sponge Bob”) by the way, it’s funny that all these cartoons are about burgers.
- Talking on the phone with a sister who lives abroad.
- Communicating with friends, including those who also stayed in Kyiv and left.
- My furry friend and his younger brother. Watching them is another pleasure. My cat is as soothing as Arestovich, but the younger one is a pest.
- Uncle and his brother who defend our country, and call us every day.
- Cry because it’s normal and important.
- I play “Sims 4”.
- I make face masks (because I plan to marry someone from the Armed Forces or Terborona and beauty must be maintained).
- Going outside, at least to the store, seeing people, walking down the street a little calmer.
- Tiktok, now there is a lot of cool content.
And for my family, it’s me. I now live with my mother, grandmother, aunt, and two cats. And I feel like a mother, because each of them reads a lot of news, worries, and I have to calm them down. That’s how I get distracted.
Irina A., our reader
It is not uncommon for me to think that I want to run away from the news and all this, but I literally do not want to run away, because I am at home, on my land. That’s why other worlds that our favorite authors give us help. I read books that I can immerse myself in. It helps best if reading magically turns into watching a movie.
Surprisingly, jokes still help. A short conversation with a loved one with whom you can share your experiences in the context of a joke. She not only spoke but laughed. Positive emotions are now absolutely necessary to keep yourself and your condition “in your hands”.
Embrace. When I find myself growing up in anxiety, I just hug a loved one or ask them to hug me tightly. Warm hands clinging to you, calm breathing, heartbeat – as if bringing me back to reality, and saying “I’m here, I’m around, we’re safe.”
Julia K., our reader
I have always been a very sensitive person and I pass through various life circumstances. For several years I suffered from panic attacks, once it was something very scary and uncontrollable. Later I learned to live with it, accepted it and it let me go.
- When I feel that a wave of horror is fast approaching me … the main thing is not to let her take you away and not to lose control. I convince myself that all bad things will end. Everything now is temporary. I will not live in this moment forever, a few minutes and the emotional system will return to normal. Suffer. Close your eyes, remember the moments that give strength. Breathe.
- If I lose control and fear takes me away .. I open a book with a text that is inspiring to me and read it, many times, I try to focus on the words of their meaning (to focus from the excitement to the book) I read the text to the moment until the excitement lets me go. I think it’s something like meditation. The text can be a favorite, a poem, a prayer, a mantra, a song, etc ..
- My doctor also advised me that if you feel anxiety that comes on suddenly, you feel a slight dizziness, or the reality becomes somewhat distant. You need to change your physical sensations if it is hot – put your wrists under cold water and hold for a few minutes. If it’s cold all around, under hot water. Also carry essential oils of mint, it can help calm and restore calm breathing.
Julia S., our reader
You know, in the first days of the war I was not afraid. Fortunately, she took a course of sedatives, so she still had a “stock” of nerves. But then the trash began with panic attacks, trembling hands, and terrible headaches. Especially after the daily monitoring of news and explosions near his hometown
I heard somewhere that you need to “ground”, to feel in real-time, to feel alive. So the first thing I started doing was grounding: endlessly counting the fingers on my hands, mentally describing the interior of my room, and dictating what color my cat’s stripes were. It doesn’t work right away, but it does.
After a few days in the apartment, I realized that I needed to leave the apartment somewhere. Now I help my mother in the household chemicals store several times a week. There is a huge flow of people and a lot of work – there is not enough time to worry.
I started eating a lot of chocolate: it helps me be energetic and focused. Even coffee does not have this effect. Well, today the psychological state is more important than the waist and inches on the sides.
She also bought a hook and a ball of thread. Now in the evening, when anxiety is especially holding my spleen, I knit a long ribbon that is unlikely to become anything.
It is still difficult to read books or listen to music, but I have also cleaned and updated the playlist. I get used to the sounds gradually. I dug up very old songs, from the very bottom, that once brought me back to life. Now it also helps.
