While thinking about the ways we’ve responded to our pandemic (mask vs. no mask, cooperate vs. resist), I ran across a Twitter post on shruggers vs. stockpilers and then watched the first part of the latest Trolls movie, where trolls split up by music genre. After, I saw an article declaring we’ll soon have two “classes” of individuals: the protected and the vulnerable. Ack! So much division! It inspired me to come back to my blog to share some tips for responding to uncertainty. They are from D. Mosquera and K. Steele out of the Institute for the Study of Trauma and Personality Disorders (sigh…more categories…so many categories).
Tip 1: Avoid listening to/reading news constantly and especially before bed.
Instead schedule a time to update, once or twice a day (max), and stick to facts vs. sensationalism.
Tip 2: Set up a daily routine
Sleep, Hygiene (you’ll likely feel better), Healthy Eating, Exercise, Outside Time, Connection (but maybe avoiding the Neil Diamond kind), Mindfulness, Hobbies
Tip 3: Focus on tasks that depend on you and consider that staying home may be heroic (I’d add without judging others who do otherwise as bad)
Tip 4: Stay present-oriented
One day at a time, One week at a time. Find humor, playfulness, interest, and meaning where you can.
I hope these tips help. Here’s something to remember that also may, especially when our minds want an “us vs. them” of one sort or another…that I got from Tara Brach:
The Buddha said, “Our fear is great but greater yet is the truth of our connectedness.”
Tonya Lippert 
Why the sigh? As a fellow therapist, we have to be careful not to stigmatize personality disorders because that can make treatment more difficult. Not a judgment, just an observation.
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Hi, Daniella, I appreciate your responding and sharing feedback. My sigh was about yet another way we divide up into categories. Because I was just writing about the divisions when I got to this, I sighed thinking ah, here’s another way we do this. I had the opposite intent of stigmatizing, and I hear your suggestion as a need to be clear. If I misinterpreted anything you said, please let me know. For now, I’m going to hope a little revision clarifies. : )
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That is very well put and spot on! Thank you for clarifying and acknowledging :). I remind myself that actions have different meanings and to check the facts. I have actually found that complex PTSD (ICD-11) and PTSD under DSM-V fits many clients who were previously diagnosed as borderline personality. There seems to be a fair amount of co-morbidity between PTSD and ADHD. I’d be curious to learn more about the research on co-existing ADHD and PTSD.
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