“PLEASE” Try This COVID-19 Coping Strategy for Your Physical and Mental Health [Practice 7]
With COVID-19 being discussed everywhere, it is important to focus on both physical health and mental health.
It isn’t always obvious that there is a connection between the two. When we find ourselves experiencing more anxiety or depression, it may not be instinctual to focus on the physical body. Yet our physical wellbeing directly affects our mental health, and vice versa.
Dialectical behavior therapy (DBT) has done an excellent job with presenting the significance of taking care of our bodies in order to take care of our minds. One way DBT has done that is by introducing the “PLEASE” Skill to combat disease and emotional crisis.
Here’s how you can use the PLEASE Skill to cope with changes during (and after) the coronavirus pandemic.
What Is the “PLEASE” Skill?
According to Marsha Linehan, DBT’s creator:
“An out of balance body increases vulnerability to negative emotions. Taking care of one’s body increases emotional resilience.”
To help remember the different ways to increase your emotional resilience by taking care of your body, think of “PLEASE.”
PL – Treat Physical Illness
Take care of your body, See a doctor when necessary. Take any prescribed medication.
Being sick lowers our resistance to negative emotions. The healthier we become, the better able we are to regulate our emotions.
E – Balance Eating
Don’t eat too much or too little. Eat regularly and mindfully throughout the day. Stay away from food that makes you feel overly emotional.
A – Avoid Mood-Altering Substances
Stay off illicit drugs, and use alcohol in moderation.
S – Balance Sleep
Try to get seven to nine hours of sleep a night (or at least the amount of sleep that helps you feel good). Keep to a consistent sleep schedule, especially if you are having difficulty sleeping.
An increasing amount of research suggests that lack of sleep is related to a wide variety of emotional difficulties.
E – Get Exercise
Do some sort of exercise every day. Try to build up to 20 minutes of daily exercise.
Aerobic exercise, done consistently, is an antidepressant. Additionally, regular practice increases our feelings of accomplishment.
Build Up Your Emotional Armor
A key component of mental health is our ability to be emotionally resilient.
I imagine emotional resilience like armor. The more armor we have, the better equipped we are to defend ourselves from overwhelmed negative feelings.
So, by taking care of our body, we are creating more emotional armor.
Want to create even more emotional armor? Explore our pandemic resource hub. Here, we share our best practices for coping during the COVID-19 pandemic, including our new tele-health online therapy sessions.