How to protect our capacity in uncertain times

By Dr. Phoebe Long Franco

Photo by Boba Jovanovic on Unsplash

Everything seems uncertain

I’ve been tied to the news lately, trying to stay up-to-date on the latest executive order or local shifts in decision-making within my circles. It feels like the early days of the pandemic again, in that uncertainty is around every corner.

In healthcare, we’re wondering how new policies could affect healthcare accessibility, if medical researchers will have funding, if clinics serving vulnerable populations will have to close their doors.

In Resiliency Training, we use the metaphor of a boat carrying cargo to illustrate our finite physical and emotional capacity. Too much cargo (e.g. stressors, tasks, and mental load) can overload our boats, making maneuvering in the water more difficult.

Right now, I feel like I’m on a boat in the middle of an ocean, caught in a storm. There’s nothing I can do to stop the storm, no certain land to move towards, no way of knowing when the waters will be calm again. The world is rocking against my will and I am seasick.

Uncertainty as a survival threat

Our nervous systems treat uncertainty and change as a threat, kicking our survival response into gear.

My body tends to shut-down, initiating a freeze response. I have an impulse to hide in a dark room beneath heavy blankets, while my brain goes spacey and numb.

Other people may want to fight or flee, their bodies and brains moving quickly to take action against an undefined, but ever present perceived threat.

These states of numbness, fear, and anxiety can make us see the world around us as mostly threatening or against our value systems. But that’s not the full picture.

Being in survival mode zaps our energy. It’s harder for us to think clearly and creatively about how to respond to something we perceive as being against our value systems. When we’re regulated, we’re better able to act skillfully and for a longer period of time. So how can we protect our capacity in these uncertain times?

How to protect our capacity

Connect with community

Positive social interaction settles our nervous system and reminds us we’re safe. A lot of us turn to social media to get our social needs met, but that can dysregulate us even more. My plan is to take a break from social media and spend more time with real, physical humans who share my interests.

Upregulate joy

Experiencing awe and other positive emotions broadens our perspective and improves our ability to solve challenging problems in new ways. Connecting with our creativity can also help us feel autonomous and competent, inspiring our sense that we can contribute to positive change. I’m limiting the amount of time I listen to the news and increasing the time I listen to music, read, create, and act.

Protect our compassion

We can feel depleted of an ability to care when we’re constantly exposed to the suffering of others. Researchers call this “empathy fatigue.” In our Resiliency Training, we teach the following phrases from Neff and Germer’s Mindful Self-Compassion Program to help people protect their capacity to care for others who are suffering:

“I am not the cause of this person’s suffering, nor is it entirely within my power to make it go away, even if I wish I could. Moments like this are difficult to bear, yet I will still try to help if I can.” 

Empathy fatigue can be immobilizing, limiting our ability to respond to others’ pain. Most of us don’t have the sole power to change national or local decisions. If I can acknowledge that reality, I’m more likely to have capacity to actually do the things that are within my power to effect.

Small, daily gifts to ourselves and others

In what ways can we uphold and showcase our values in little ways throughout the day?

This could look like small acts of kindness to our friends, family, or people we pass on the street. Or it could look like making a phone call or writing a letter to someone with a different level of power.

I plan to be more involved in events with my family and my community, to include my daughter in experiences that have value to me, and to make some of those phone calls.

Settling our nervous system is a big deal

Using resilience tools may feel like a small thing to do when so many big changes are going on around us. But being able to settle our nervous systems can help us more skillfully engage with the world around us.

We can protect our capacity by connecting with our communities, intentionally experiencing joy, protecting our compassion, and upholding our values in small ways throughout the day or week.

As healthcare professionals, we don’t do hard things in isolation. We work together, we support each other, and we maximize on the diversity of our skills, roles, and perspectives to support people who are suffering, including ourselves.