Learning to deal with uncertainty is crucial to survive the threats that surround us. One is the war in Ukraine. If we know the factors that intervene in this uncertainty, we can overcome it
The outbreak of the war in Ukraine, the extreme brutality of its development and the ensuing socio-economic consequences are of great concern to the world.
Suddenly we are aware that every day we can go to bed in peace and wake up in a war where everything is allowed but human lives. This is a threat that we cannot face individually. Everyone, in their most literal sense, is waiting because it is unpredictable to know where we will come with this barbaric war.
Worrying is a common cognitive process that can sometimes be pathological. Scientific research shows that more than 38% of people worry more than once a day. The worrying process represents an attempt to solve mental problems about a topic whose outcome is unpredictable.
The unpredictability of the consequences of the war in Ukraine stands in the way of human tolerance for uncertainty. In fact, uncertainty, worry, and their disturbing consequences are the basic ingredients of generalized anxiety disorder.
Psychology, as a scientific discipline, has generated knowledge about something as important as uncertainty, to the point that they created the Uncertainty Tolerance Scale and its relationship to cognitive processes, anxiety, and depression.
It’s time to deal with (not to worry about) managing uncertainty to avoid a potential anxiety disorder.
Dealing with uncertainty is not an easy task, but we can start by knowing the factors involved.
The most important point is knowing how to distinguish between information and uncertainty. They are two different concepts, but very related to each other. People tend to change the level of information we have about the war in Ukraine, and we can feel more confident or insecure about the level of information we have.
It is no coincidence that the war in Ukraine is not only an armed conflict, but also an information war. From the western side, we do not believe how Russian citizens support this barbarity. Will they all be influenced by a psychopathic personality? No. They simply have access to information that makes them feel safe.
On the other hand, the information that much of the western world deals with makes us insecure about the mental turns of an individual – Vladimir Putin – who, based on the information we have, we perceive as an isolated and disturbed person. . creature, capable of any barbarity.
Emotions are very important in dealing with uncertainty and are derived directly from everyone’s desired level of information about the causes and development of the war. Risk awareness has less to do with personal experiences, or even with the statistical risk of war. The sense of risk is directly related to the unpredictability of an uncertain future.
The fear and fear of threats against which we do not feel safe pose a great challenge to humans. The worst is the feeling of losing control. We know that we cannot control the war in Ukraine and that we could fall victim to it at any moment. Moreover, it is a “political risk” that is difficult to estimate in time (how long did we think it would last?) and in space (did we suspect it would extend beyond Ukraine’s borders?). Therefore, it is an almost impossible event to explain with logical causality rules. As Aristotle said, ‘the improbable is likely to happen’.
In this way we can get two kinds of reactions:
Neutral Response: If a person does not have the level of knowledge he desires about the war in Ukraine, but he does not care, he will not seek further information.
Positive, Negative or Mixed Answer: If a person does not have the level of knowledge he desires about the war in Ukraine, but is interested in more, he will seek more information.
We cannot separate the sense of vulnerability from the subjective perception of personal risk. The magnitude and variety of the effects of war depend on several factors combined. We feel vulnerable because of macro values (concern about the consequences of war in a globalized world) that influence our perception of national security more. In contrast, microvalues, such as caring for our physical and material needs, influence the sense of personal vulnerability.
We will feel more or less threatened by the knowledge of deliberate events such as war crimes, rapes, torture, looting, etc., which, through a mechanism of identification with the victims, make us feel like we are in your situation at any moment. And the basis of the sense of danger is based on chance events, such as a possible mental disorder of Putin or that Russia and the West do not know how to cope with an “and you more”, entering a symmetrical escalation of unpredictable limit.
It is not only the war in Ukraine that causes uncertainty for us. So will the pandemic or climate change and we will have to deal with the loss of control that implies we cannot anticipate a serious threat.
Here are some strategies for alleviating the psychological effects of uncertainty:
Find the information you need or can tolerate. Learn to document yourself from proven and reliable information sources. Remember that, in the age of information and communication technologies, the war of the story aims to do even more damage than the war on the ground. Run away from fake news.
Do not try to predict medium or long term. There is no point in investing mental energy trying to prepare for the infinite future scenarios. It is mentally more sustainable to prepare for the here and now. Of course, in the midst of so much uncertainty, there is something that will not change. The way of being of each. Examine your creativity and your ability to adapt to small unexpected events in everyday life and you will discover that your uncertainty is more tolerant than you thought.
Reframe the threat positively, even if it is not an easy task. Ask yourself what you learn from this tragic war. Has your value system changed? What should we as a species learn from it?
Make your plans so you can change them at any time. Uncertainty does not stand in the way of planning. Uncertainty simply requires our willingness to get off the script quickly and efficiently. Flow and be flexible.
Share your insecurity. Excessive fear paralyzes us. Make sure it doesn’t just affect you and talk to others about how they are dealing with it. They may give you ideas you never thought of, and vice versa.
Do something and think positively. Put your grain of sand in mitigating the effects of this war and do not focus solely on human cruelty, for before it arises, human solidarity grows and develops. Surrender to fulfilling your altruistic needs. Give what you can to feel that you are not untouched by barbarity.
This article was published in ‘Het Gesprek’.
Source: La Verdad
I am an experienced and passionate journalist with a strong track record in news website reporting. I specialize in technology coverage, breaking stories on the latest developments and trends from around the world. Working for Today Times Live has given me the opportunity to write thought-provoking pieces that have caught the attention of many readers.
