The COVID-19 lockdown has severely restricted everyone’s social life, and it’s likely to be a lot worse if you’re in quarantine with symptoms or if you live alone. Social distancing makes even outside interactions strange; usually, one might greet a friend on the street with a hug, but now even seeing them is far less likely. Don’t worry; lockdown won’t last forever, and here are some tips to help you in the meantime.

Last month I talked about why the COVID-19 lockdown was a particularly anxiety-provoking situation and one of the issues that I raised was ‘uncertainty’. We’re uncertain about many things at the moment; 

The Coronavirus has brought a lot of change and challenges into all our lives. We’ve had to adapt to new daily and shopping routines, uncertainty about our jobs and finances, and our children’s schooling. Freedoms we took for granted have been removed and no-one seems quite sure what might happen next. 

Everyone hears their inner critic from time to time, also known as the inner judge; that voice in your mind which tells you that you should or could have done better. However difficult it is to live with, you can think of your inner critic as your mind’s way of trying to help you improve. By pointing out your ‘flaws’, it is trying to help you get past them. The problem is, however good its intentions, criticising and carping at anyone, including yourself, only makes it harder for them to do well.

Thomas Edison is supposed to have said about developing one of his inventions ‘I never failed. I just found lots of ways not to make a lightbulb’! Or words to that effect. Unfortunately, it’s not just inventing lightbulbs that has a high ‘trial and error’ factor – learning anything new comes with failures pretty much guaranteed and sometimes we learn more from them than from our successes. So, why do we worry so much about failing and how can we get past it? 

As you will have seen elsewhere on my site, hypnotherapy is very much about using your unconscious mind and the strength you have there. But sometimes it can feel as if your unconscious is working against you. You might be keen to quit smoking, or be friends with every spider you see (well, OK, that one could be a stretch, but you know what I’m getting at). But down in the back of your mind, where you may not even be aware of it, there could be a part of you that has other ideas. 

Habits are things we do without really thinking about them – a kind of mental short cut that makes life more convenient by freeing up our attention for less routine activities. Stop reading for just a moment and think about how many things you do every day on ‘auto-pilot’.
Are you back now? Maybe you came up with driving, putting the same leg into your trousers first when you get dressed, where you put your keys when you come in, signing your name. I’m sure there were others. 

Most of us experience situations where we’d like a bit more confidence, or maybe you feel your confidence is generally low. Either way, it is possible to give your confidence a boost by following these suggestions, and they’re easier than you’d think. It’s all about doing something rather than nothing, and feeling in control again. 

As Halloween approaches, you may find certain fears being triggered in a way that is less fun than Halloween is supposed to be. Hypnotherapy can help get these fears under control. Here are some examples of unusual phobias which might be more noticeable at this time of year.