Joy or frustration: Are we overwhelmed by the end of the lockdown?

2023 Author: Gabrielle Mercer | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-05-21 12:25

On May 19th, restaurants and co. Will finally open again. Are we ready for it at all? Or are we so used to staying at home that we have forgotten freedom?

We have been living in a global pandemic for over a year now. After many ups and downs, a lockdown end is now in sight in Austria. The trade has opened again for two weeks, now restaurants, fitness studios and various leisure facilities will follow on May 19.

Do you feel the same way? You have the feeling that you have to go somewhere again immediately and maybe even feel it Leisure stress. But how useful is it, just because everything is unlocked again, to go everywhere right away? "Apparently some people have one enormous pressure, Making up for what has been missed, "observes the Viennese environmental medicine specialist Hans-Peter Hutter." They begin to reserve and plan everything possible. It certainly doesn't make sense. Nevertheless, from my point of view it is understandable that you want to do something again after such a long time."

"In principle, you should avoid stress as much as possible."

We are talking about the term FOMO (fear of missing out), the fear of missing out on something. "It's also about self-discipline. Some have more, others less," says Hutter. The question is, how long does it last that you absolutely want to experience as much as possible - and ideally everything immediately. "That sounds a bit like panic at the end of the game to me. But it shouldn't be like that." Rushing from one activity to another makes little sense to the public health expert.

"It doesn't matter whether it's leisure or job stress. Stress means there is one Burden on the organism. Mentally and physically. That is of course easier said than done, but in principle you should avoid stress as much as possible. "His recommendation: Enjoy and relax." Relax and let yourself be gripped by something new immediately! "It is more about a few Choosing leisure activities, but also really them to enjoy actively.

While some cannot get out of reserving a table and planning their vacation, others feel overwhelmed by the end of the lockdown.

Have we got so used to staying at home that we have forgotten "freedom"?

"It's exciting to see what this lockdown is doing to us humans," says Upper Austrian psychologist Silvia Plasser. She refers to the statements of the German brain researcher Gerold Hüther: "There are certain basic human needs, including social ones, such as meeting people. If these are not satisfied over a longer period of time, the brain eventually learns to get along without them or they can no longer be perceived as such. "

She remembers a cartoon from a school book where an elephant is tied to a tree and always treads the same path. When the chain is removed from him and so-called freedom opens up, he still goes the well-known path. "Habits are finally also the comfort zone, which you have to leave if you want to surpass yourself. In order to get into the learning phase, you have to leave the good old comfort zone every now and then, where everything is simple and familiar. That's why freedom is sometimes anything but easy. Shaping your own life independently is a great challenge. I think it's always easier to say that you couldn't have done otherwise, "explains Plasser.

"Many people no longer want to go along with this fast pace of life."

At the same time, it is incredibly important for the psyche to go back out and do things, even if you feel stressed about it: "If you are afraid of something, if you are insecure, or if you feel unable to cope with a certain situation - which does not mean that you are would not be - we humans tend to avoid these things. This behavior is a very common protection mechanism. This might work in the short term, but if we keep getting out of the way, we rarely have the opportunity to realize that something might not be as bad as it was initially thought. "Bicycling as an example you might be nervous when you do it again, but you don't forget it. "Just as little do we forget the deep longing in us to be free and responsible beings who want to actively shape our own lives and society."

We complain about boredom and feel overwhelmed by the end of the lockdown

"I think it was very pleasant for some people to have more time," said Plasser. "You have begun to think more consciously about how you spend your free time. Suddenly you didn't even need excuses when it came to invitations, activities and the like, because there were a lot of things you weren't allowed to do anyway." Suddenly you didn't have to decide: "Am I going to party one, two or ten?" This feeling that it could be more exciting elsewhere no longer existed. That is why the lockdown was accompanied by a reduction in stress. FOMO was gone. Corona has made many decisions for us.

"I suspect that a lot of people no longer want to go along with this fast pace," says Plasser. "It is a Zeitgeist phenomenon of being busy and successful. This phenomenon also harbors dangers: boredom is often experienced as if one were unimportant or not asked. "It is suggested to us that we shouldn't be bored. Only someone with a full schedule is really worth something." And boredom can also be creative potential get in motion - if you let it. "Sometimes that's not that easy. But we had to learn to shift down a gear. That was good for many. That brings us back to Hans-Peter Hutter's advice: Do less, but do these activities consciously enjoy.