New publications on the impact of coronavirus on people's mental health appear almost daily.

Everything is changing - economy, standards, values. New mechanisms of interaction and models are already emerging in almost all spheres of life on planet Earth.

This crisis does not open up new opportunities; it has come to teach us something. Charles Darwin believed that the most adaptive to change survive. And now, those who quickly realize and accept the fact that old skills and experiences no longer work and begin to learn to make the right decisions quickly in new conditions of uncertainty will not only survive but will become flexible, agile, and able to find their place in the new world.

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And it is clear that now all resources should be spent wisely and carefully, not only concerning finances or physical health. The human psyche is also a resource that everyone has by right of birth. And how we manage it now will depend on many things - mood, well-being, family relationships, the chance to find or create work in new conditions. Some will continue to be employees, and new personal qualities will already be required of them, while others will have to create new business models, products, services, and learn to sell them in new realities.

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Therefore, now is the time to understand how the pandemic affects the psyche or mental health and what can be done about it. Many specialists are already worried that the "second wave" of pandemic consequences could be a deterioration in people's mental well-being. Therefore, it is important now to act as in an airplane – first put the oxygen mask on yourself, and then if necessary, on the person sitting next to you. The "oxygen mask" in the context of a pandemic can mean:

1. Emotional closeness. When we are physically distant, we realized how much we missed live communication with those who occupy a special place in our lives: relatives, friends, colleagues, etc. Now we understand how important it is to see friends and family, how great it would be to go to the park, beach, work, or just have coffee at our favorite café. But someday quarantine will end, and everything will be possible. And now it is important to envision this future as often as possible, create small joys daily, and thus change your emotional and hormonal background. Hormones of pleasure and achievement will help eliminate "tunnel vision" and allow you to see chances and opportunities, which are always present: in the air or right under your feet. It is important to realize and accept the fact that we are all experiencing collective trauma now, but by going through it properly we will become resilient or competitive.
2. Mutual assistance. This point assumes that everyone needs something and can offer something: time, emotional support, material resources, or knowledge. Ask, communicate, share experiences, offer emotional strokes, encourage, and involve everyone you can. A person is in a panic when they don't know what is happening. Involved or engaged in mutual assistance, there is no time for panic. Part ways with chronic panicmongers. Don't waste time on people who cannot accept and move towards constructiveness. Especially this is important for leaders to understand. Today professionalism means less than resilience, flexibility, adaptability, efficiency, creativity, and reflexivity.
3. Create history. This is about the fact that now more than ever it is necessary and important to create new rules, traditions, ways of receiving, processing, and using information. This applies to both individual families and business structures. For this, it is important to trust yourself and your feelings (whether you like it or not, comfortable or not, in demand or not, works or not). Simplify and translate everything into an accessible and understandable language to clearly understand and feel each other, the situation, and not waste time in vain.

But if you realize that you are exhausted and have no strength for changes, (maybe this is because there are a lot of grievances, conflicts, traumas that are already in the past, but still poison with their toxins), find the strength and free yourself from these weights, as they will slow you down and make you non-competitive in the future. Now there is time for this – if necessary, seek help from a psychologist. Remember, today resilience, adaptability, efficiency, creativity, reflexivity are in demand and vital. And indeed, this crisis has come to change us.

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