Metachange and the way out of the crisis.
Considering the symptoms of recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, I would like to share with you a reflection on the phases that occur at the psychological level in crises, the possible exhaustion of the defense resources of the individual or the organization and the way out that opens up when the paradigm is broken and a meta-change is generated.
I remember it as if it was yesterday, we were at my sister-in-law's wedding when they were talking about the Chinese virus that was approaching, then the phone call from my boss, the endless emails, the nervousness, the doubts, the meeting of a group that later became a crisis committee, the decision: starting Monday, everyone in the home office... I remember it as if it was yesterday but 15 months have already passed. Each one of us, surely, has our own milestones, our own reference of that event, that event that happened before starting the quarantine (we thought that in those 40 days or a little more it would end... deluded!).
It is not for free that we can remember it, because it was the beginning of what in psychology is called crisis and, in more than one sense, it has derived in a trauma.
In general, we call crisis to something very punctual that demands a determined and momentary effort as a response*1. The organism (or the organization) responds to this threat with one of the most primal emotions we have: fear. In this case, a fear of an invisible enemy that was transported by the things we consume, by the air, by the people around us. A fear that made us take refuge at home, build barricades with sanitizing mats, gels, alcohols, non-contact deliveries, and made us individualize ourselves, separate ourselves from the community and, therefore, made us more vulnerable.
Boundaries were shortened, references were virtualized and we found ourselves, suddenly, radically compressed in our physical space, in our worldview (filtered by networks and news) and, most importantly, in social referents. The other, my neighbor was the danger, but he is also the only reliable mirror in which I can understand myself (I am but in the other, Carl Rogers would say). In this every man for himself, the stranger, the neighbor, the different one was at the same time the enemy who could (unconsciously) bring me illness and death.
This condition awakened one of the deepest fears of any organism: the fear of the interruption of its continuity, the fear of death. This is an intolerable experience that demands a quick and immediate repair. In other words: The crisis situation, by breaking the continuous flow of existence, forces a vital rethinking, sometimes forcing the construction of a new meaning.
Yes, crisis always brings with it a great creative potential, but on what does it depend whether companies are reborn or collapse or individuals suffer and cannot move on with their lives?
Let us try to analyze the issue, because internal, external and modulating factors are involved in the response to the crisis and in the resilience of the organism.
- Internal factors include personality, previous experience, maturity of the system, affective reserves, among others.
- External factors include the acuteness of the circumstances surrounding the person, the events and their proximity, the losses and gains he/she experiences.
- Finally, modulating factors include the affective state, the possibilities of social support which, although not directly related to the state of stress, do modify the way in which internal and external factors interact. *2
The severity and impact of the stress generated by the crisis depends on the intensity and duration of the external factors. Let me give you an example:
Let's imagine that a small sparrow gets into our house and, because of the height of the roof, we cannot easily get it out. The bird is under enormous stress because it feels threatened and enclosed. Let's imagine that there is a fixed window through which it can see the outside but cannot be opened, it is very likely that the little bird will start fluttering around the space more and more frantically. We may try our best to guide it to the window with a broom, but to no avail. The bird keeps flying and losing feathers and strength, trying to get out where it is impossible.
The bird's instinctive fear, its need to flee are internal stressors. The fixed window that falsely promises a way out is an external stress factor, our broom trying to get it out (failed social support), the noise we make that reminds it of the dangers posed by people, are modulating (de-modulating) stress factors.
If we do not manage to get it out of the house, several things can happen: it may continue frantically until it is exhausted, it may stop to rest and then try again, or it may become exhausted and lose its senses.
I believe that people, faced with the COVID crisis, also encounter false windows, internal threats (imaginary or not) that cause us anxiety, help and advice from the environment (more or less accurate) that contribute to our stress. Sometimes we continue, like that bird trying to pass through a window that does not open, in the best case we stop to rest and in the worst case we get exhausted and lose our vital sense.
Now, the crisis with its stressful experiences can be traumatic and often requires a vital change to move forward. Let's see how a crisis evolves.
According to Caplan there are four possible phases in the development of a crisis:
1. Shock. This is a state of acute shock because something has happened suddenly and irregularly. It cannot be overcome by regular means of coping. This generates stress, confusion, helplessness, helplessness and helplessness. Each person will respond from what he/she is and how he/she normally reacts, but in an accentuated way: with anxiety, irritation, somatization (manifesting it in the body or through the body) or even with enthusiasm and increased energy.
2. Critical disorganization. If the regular strategies used to cope with stress fail and do not solve the problem, the emotional tension increases and becomes almost unbearable. At this stage, different solutions are often tried in order to respond and improve the situation, to escape or at least to relieve the tension. Here it is worth remembering Seligman*4 and learned hopelessness, which is a concept that describes how when a system fails with its own resources to influence events and modify them in its favor, it can fall into a state of disarticulation that leads to inaction. There is a feeling of generalized hopelessness that can be alleviated if the person sees it as inevitable, is convinced that it will pass and keeps it contained, not allowing it to spread to other areas of his life.
3. Resolution. After trying and trying different things, some may succeed and perhaps the crisis is overcome. However, these first attempts often fail, the internal pressure continues to grow and this urgency can bring out creativity and find new and diverse possibilities of coping or new sources of help.
This is the core of the crisis, here decisions are made that will lead to the creation of new resources, accelerated internal growth or to the installation and consolidation of maladaptive mechanisms of avoidance or withdrawal. It is the person's awareness of his situation and of himself that helps to overcome (or not) the crisis.
4. Final withdrawal. If the crisis is not resolved (for better or worse) in the previous phases, the final phase of exhaustion and final escape or self-destruction of the system is reached.
When considering these phases of the crisis, one can appreciate the importance of becoming aware of one's own situation and asking for help in time.
It will be then that the crises demand from the system a change out of the current paradigm, they ask to change the framing of the situation and raise the level of understanding of reality towards a referential scheme of higher order. It is like that exercise that asks us to join the dots with a continuous line, but in order to solve it, it is necessary to exceed the imaginary limits of the margin*3.
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This process of mental accommodation* in which the system must displace previous knowledge and beliefs implies a risk for the ego as it has to let go and every loss leads to a mourning process.
The crisis with its early or late solutions requires a sacrifice. As Jordan Peterson* would say, sacrifice is not optional, the only thing we can do is to choose what to sacrifice, that is, to make the sacrifice meaningful*4. It is therefore absolutely true that there is no change without exchange, without letting go, without letting go. And in important changes, losses are also important.
In Dr. Kübler-Ross's cycle*5 we can appreciate the stages we go through in the face of losses:
This cycle that occurs between denial and integration accompanies the stages of crisis. It could be said that the faster we become aware of the change, of our own process, the more quickly we can navigate the frustration and begin to let go and experiment with new patterns of behavior or generate radical changes if necessary.
In the end, the organism that survives is not the strongest or the fastest, it is the one that can best adapt to new circumstances. It is the flexibility of the bamboo, which bends in the face of the storm, but does not lose its roots, it is the paradoxical vision of knowing we are small and vulnerable that makes us strong, it is the possibility of giving or asking for help that can take us out of our own limitations and help us grow.
Let's go back to the little bird and our vain efforts to help it. Now let's imagine that instead of joining in its frantic attempt to escape, we calm down and wait patiently for it to stop. Then, with the utmost gentleness we approach it, put the broom aside and slowly and tenderly show it the way out. This would be a meta change; a human, which the bird had learned was a threat, now becomes a support. We, who urgently wanted to help it to get out (responding to our own anxiety) managed to transmit serenity to it and so we were able to find together a new path to freedom. This is the art of helping: giving others what they need, not what we want to give them.
The official alert level is decreasing (the famous epidemiological traffic light in Mexico), the countries that have made the most progress with vaccination are returning to daily life without masks or social distance. Our Latin American countries are moving more slowly towards openness, but they are advancing.
It is very important to take a break and reflect on how we overcome this personal crisis. Think about what and who supported us, about the losses (often terrible) that we experienced and at what point in the cycle of change we are. It is necessary to realize if something is stuck or we have not been able to overcome it and ask for help because it is certain that neither the changes nor the crises are over.
In the articles I cite in the bibliography, it is said that the adaptation period to a crisis is between 8 and 12 weeks. This means that we are already adapted. We have made the necessary adjustments and we have moved on... with the conditions that exist. However, we must consider that these conditions are about to change again. Many companies are already considering reopening (if they have not already done so), schools are going back to on-site classes, life wants to get back on track. Let us keep in mind that this reopening will bring new crises and losses for everyone and, therefore, will require new sacrifices and exchanges.
The voice of life asks us to let go again in order to move forward, it will require us to let go of things and people (at least partially) to allow us to get back on the train of events. This is not optional, but the suffering caused by resistance is. Knowing ourselves better, consciously choosing what we are willing to let go of and what we are not, and promptly letting go of what is a burden will put us in a better position to face this new change and the crises that may come later.
With love,
Francisco Monterrubio
June 18, 2021
If you want to talk or if you need help or a push, write me at fmonterrubio@icloud.com
*1 Fouce, J. G. (2018). Psicología en tiempos de crisis. Psicología y Derechos Humanos. Psychologist Papers, 39(3), 228-235. https://doi.org/10.23923/pap.psicol2018.2871
2* González, J. L. (2001). Psicoterapia de la crisis. Revista de la Asociación Española de Neuropsiquiatría, (79), 35-53. https://scielo.isciii.es/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S0211-57352001000300004
3* Academia internet. (21 de marzo de 2020). ¿Puedes unir 9 puntos con cuatro líneas rectas? | Solo para genios [Video]. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NFPFqz0w3Ig
*4 Peterson, J. (2021). Más allá del Orden. Grupo Editorial Planeta. 2021
5* Bucata, G. (2016). Organizational Change Management: Part of the management strategy. Revista Económica, 68(5), 149-157. http://economice.ulbsibiu.ro/revista.economica/archive/68513bucata.pdf
Rogers, C. R. (1961). The process Equation of Psychotherapy. The American Journal of Psychotherapy, 15(1), 1-179. https://doi.org/10.1176/appi.psychotherapy.1961.15.1.27
Actualidad en Psicología. (27 de septiembre de 2017). ¿Qué es la asimilación según Piaget? https://www.actualidadenpsicologia.com/que-es/asimilacion/