How to Cope with Stress: A Guide to Basic Psychological Self-Help

Psychologists and psychiatrists insist that the source of significant stress must be removed—and as quickly as possible. That without professional help is always difficult, and in humanitarian disaster situations you cannot rely on it. We studied the World Health Organization and Ukraine’s Ministry of Health recommendations, interviewed psychologists and psychotherapists, and compiled a guide — how to cope with stress on your own, maintain mental health, and help others do it.

In general, stress is a natural and sometimes beneficial reaction of the body to adverse factors. It helps people survive in emergencies and even not-so-emergency situations. For example, fear and jumping away from a truck speeding toward you is helped exactly by stress, when the sympathetic nervous system mobilizes protective and adaptive processes in the body. This is short-term stress, but it can turn into long-term and even chronic stress. Symptoms of long-term stress can include anxiety, apathy, panic, depression, allergies, sleep and memory problems, headaches, chest pains, etc. Here are a few simple ways to reduce the likelihood and even avoid these symptoms.

How to Help Yourself

Plan: In stressful situations, a person often loses the sense of control over their own life. This feeling can be restored with a step-by-step plan for the day, listing everything from brushing your teeth to reading the news. 

In the World Health Organization’s guide “Important Skills in Times of Stress” (it is available in Ukrainian and Russian as well) they write:

“If your plan seems too complex, choose something smaller and simpler. Remember that even the most insignificant actions matter.”

The key is not to overdo it: not only in the epicentre of war, but in any stress situation, planning far ahead is pointless and even harmful. The inability to implement a long-term plan often leads to even greater stress. 

Stick to routine: psychologist, somatic-oriented therapist Natalia Orekhova advises focusing on domestic trifles:

“Routine saves you from a sense of helplessness that arises with stress. Each of us is the master of our own domestic life; it’s important to remember this in a stressful situation and focus on simple tasks. Clean up, sort papers, make a hair mask. This seems entirely natural in ordinary times, but during a crisis these simple actions help restore a sense of control over one’s life and stabilise one’s psychological state.”

Classical psychotherapist Viktor Frankl, who survived Auschwitz, wrote in his book “Say Yes to Life!”: a psychologist in the concentration camp:

“The first to break were those who believed that it would all end soon. Then those who did not believe that it would end. Those who focused on their tasks survived, without waiting for what else might happen.”

Breathing with the abdomen: in a stressful situation breathing can become disrupted or rapid — it’s important to be able to stabilise it.

Psychiatrist Rodion Shishorin recommends doing this:

“To calm yourself, breathe with your abdomen; this is abdominal breathing. Place one palm on your chest, the other on your abdomen, watch that the chest stays still while the abdomen rises and falls. When we breathe with the chest, we tense various muscles of the rib cage for inhalation and exhalation. Breathing with the abdomen, only one muscle — the diaphragm — is engaged on the inhale, and on the exhale not even it is tensed. At this moment there is stimulation of the parasympathetic nodes along the spine, which are responsible for the calm functioning of internal organs.”

This exercise literally relaxes the body. Sometimes, at first, anxiety increases — don’t be frightened, that is a normal reaction; keep breathing and the relaxation will come;

Drink water: stress can cause dehydration, and dehydration can cause stress. During stress, heart rate increases, which leads to dehydration. Moreover, people in such a state often forget to drink. Lack of water raises cortisol — the stress hormone — in the blood. And increased cortisol in the blood leads to dehydration. To break this vicious circle, drink water.

And tea (even green) and coffee are better avoided until peaceful times — caffeine in them can increase anxiety;

Wash with cold water: the effectiveness of this method to calm down has long been proven by scientists from Humboldt University of Berlin. However, the study concerned more hardening and cold showers: according to their data, when a person immerses in cold water, glutathione in the blood increases, an antioxidant that positively affects the nervous system and overall physical condition. However, jumping into an ice-hole and stepping under an icy shower is not advisable for unprepared people. Psychologists say that it’s enough to simply rinse with cold water or wipe the face with a piece of ice.

Singing: as researchers at the Royal College of Music in London found, this also lowers cortisol, the stress hormone. Scientists measured its amount in the saliva of participants before and after singing—and found that cortisol after singing was lower. You can sing solo or in a choir—the stress reduces equally. However, according to the study, you must sing in a safe environment, otherwise the soothing effect won’t work;

Fidgeting with something in your hands: this works on the same principle as the so-called anti-stress toys, which, according to some studies, briefly reduce anxiety.

Psychologist Tanya Peterson in her book “Inner Calm” suggests always carrying a distracting object with you:

“It is often very useful to distract yourself with something tangible. Put a hair tie on your wrist, a rubber bracelet, or just a small elastic. When you catch yourself thinking about your worries again, gently snap it or simply hold it in your hand.”

Hugging: tactile contact helps reduce stress, so psychologists often advise hugging those nearby, and asking to be hugged. Some researchers say that simply holding hands is an effective way to reduce anxiety.

Exercise: any physical activity triggers the release of the “happiness hormones” — dopamine, serotonin, and endorphin.

Limit news consumption: information hygiene is crucial for maintaining a calm state. Psychiatrist Rodion Shishorin advises:

“Two hours before sleep and during the day, do not read the news. There is a cognitive-behavioral technique “Anxiety Hour,” where you engage in all anxious activities for one hour a day. For example, you read the news during this time, and otherwise you live your normal life. This helps develop willpower over emotions and reduce tension throughout the day.”

Another effective method is to ask someone to retell the news — then it provokes less anxiety.

It’s also important to limit the number of information sources. Choose one or two experts (whose expertise is supported by something like a scientific degree, not the number of followers on social networks) and one news channel. The key is to remember that important news will reach you, and nothing bad will happen if you’re 15 minutes late. 

A full withdrawal from information isn’t on the table — in a humanitarian catastrophe staying ignorant is dangerous, you need to stay alert, have fresh data, and respond quickly if needed. But filtering the information flow is also necessary, otherwise there’s a great risk of being buried under it. 

Keep a diary: the effectiveness of this method during the COVID-19 pandemic was confirmed by scientists at the University of Michigan. Keeping a diary will help set priorities, track stress symptoms, recognise triggers to better control them, organise thoughts, and simply free the mind from excess information. 

Surround yourself with people: Aristotle claimed that man is a social animal, and psychologists have proven this: being in the company of people always reduces stress. This is also the advice of psychiatrist Rodion Shishorin:

“Interact with like-minded people, spend time with them and distract yourself from what is happening. This is also relevant for those in the epicentre of war. Man to one another.”

Pay attention to the things around you: there is the 5-4-3-2-1 technique that helps shift focus from anxious thoughts to real surrounding objects and physical sensations.

Here’s how it works: find five objects around you (even a hand, or a spot on the ceiling); touch four objects around you (be it wood, or your ear); listen for three sounds (sirens, or birds); notice two smells (earth, or soap); try one thing in taste (bread, or gum).

Deal with guilt: war-time psychologist, Major of the Ukrainian Armed Forces in reserve, Aleksey Karachinsky defines this problem as follows:

“There are several categories of people who feel guilt during war. Some Russians and Belarusians because their troops and territory are used for war. Ukrainians who left the epicentre of fighting, while their friends and acquaintances stayed there. Often people punish themselves for this, forbid themselves to live as before, believing that what is permissible in peacetime is impossible during war. To let go of this feeling you need to do something that brought pleasure during peacetime life. Have a coffee, jump on a trampoline, get a haircut, do your nails — but perceive these actions not as entertainment, but as medicine, as a way to recover. Recover so you can quickly return to work and help bring Ukraine closer to victory.”

Help others: helping others as a way to reduce stress is noted by the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Psychiatrist Rodion Shishorin clarifies:

“According to statistics, about 30% of people experiencing acute stress during disasters develop post-traumatic stress disorder; essentially this is a prolonged stress reaction for more than 30 days, in simple terms – panic that repeats again and again. In the International Classification of Diseases there is even a separate diagnosis for this — acute stress disorder. It is precisely in its formation that emergency support measures are necessary. To help a person you must first draw their attention: touch their shoulder, address them directly, look into their eyes, and learn their name. Then address them by name. You can hardly imagine how calming it is to address a person by name. Then you should lead the person to a safe place and learn the reason for their distress. Only then can you comfort and support them. Of course, this can be done only when you act from a position of safety and confidence in your own abilities. As they say on airplanes, when decompression occurs, first put the oxygen mask on yourself, and then on the child.”

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