Mental Health: Navigating Through Turbulent Times
- Elmen Lamprecht
- 1 day ago
- 6 min read
“Our anxiety does not come from thinking about the future, but from wanting to control it.” – Kahlil Gibran
We live in an era fraught with stress and uncertainty. While every generation likely perceives their time as particularly challenging, the early 2020s will undoubtedly be remembered as one of the most difficult periods in modern history. In the past few years, we have endured a global pandemic not seen in a hundred years, resulting in millions of deaths and causing a deep global economic recession. Post pandemic, we were greeted by severe supply chain issues, coupled with other macro-economic issues, instigating a prolonged period of stubbornly high-inflation, leading to cost-of-living crisis even in developed economies. And now tariffs has been added to this equation. An open war erupted when Russia invaded the Ukraine, drawing NATO into a de facto war. The violence between Israel and Gaza escalated into war, which has since spread to Lebanon, Yemen, Iran and Pakistan. We are seeing a sharp rise in far-right politics, not seen since before the 2nd World War, with authoritarian leaders gaining prominence even in Western democracies like the USA. This is causing widespread violence and discrimination against all types of minorities (race, ethnicity, gender, sexuality) and many of the hard-fought protections for minority groups have either already been rolled back or is under serious threat.
Given this backdrop, discussing mental health has never been more crucial. Fortunately, the stigma surrounding mental health is diminishing, and society is becoming more open to acknowledging and addressing mental health challenges. The internet has played a significant role in this shift, providing easy access to information and resources, as well as enabling connections with mental health professionals.
Distinguishing Mental Health and Mental Strength
For the purposes of this blog, it is important to distinguish between mental health and mental strength, often used interchangeably to describe resilience. For the purposes of this discussion, we define these terms as follows:
Mental health: Refers to elements related to the mental dimension, including activities and habits aimed at maintaining (rest, recuperation, and re-energization) and strengthening (growth and development) mental well-being.
Mental strength: A much broader term and includes several theories, activities and habits related to both the mental and emotional dimension, hence referred to as Mental and Emotional Strength in this context.
Maintaining Mental Health
Our ability to manage environmental threats is intrinsically linked to our mental health. The stronger our mental health, the more resilient we are. The concept of resilience, borrowed from engineering, describes the capacity of a substance to return to its original shape after experiencing stress. Similarly, individuals require strength and flexibility to bounce back from life's challenges.
Resilience is tested when life takes unexpected turns, such as the end of a relationship, sudden unemployment, or the loss of a loved one. Daily pressures from work, school, parenting, family, love, and politics also continuously test our resilience. The ability to endure and adapt in the face of both acute and chronic challenges is essential for maintaining mental health.
Stress Management: A Crucial Skill
“It is not the stress that kills us, but our reaction to it.” – Hans Selye
Stress arises from our environment, but it is fundamentally a mental phenomenon, stemming from our perception that environmental demands exceed our available resources. Thus, individuals in the same environment can experience vastly different levels of stress. Some people are prone to letting cognitive processes run rampant, like a hamster on a wheel, leading to mental exhaustion and decreased effectiveness, while other thrive under pressurizes circumstances.
Therefore, it is essential to differentiate between pressure and stress. Pressure, characterized by short bursts of moderate stress, can be beneficial. It heightens alertness and concentration due to increased adrenaline levels, providing a sense of energy and improving focus and reaction times. This enables us to meet immediate challenges effectively. In contrast, stress, characterized by prolonged feelings of being out of control, is always detrimental. High levels of cortisol, the stress-related hormone, negatively impact memory, organization, visual perception, and attention. Stress also compromises fine motor skills, complex thinking, and creativity.
The Inverted U-Curve Theory
The relationship between pressure and performance is illustrated by the Inverted U-Curve Theory, developed by Yerkes and Dodson. This theory posits that peak performance is achieved when the level of pressure is optimal for the task at hand. Too much or too little pressure leads to a decline in performance. Yerkes and Dodson identified four influencers impacting the synchronization between individuals and their environment, affecting performance. I have added a fifth influencer to reflect the impact of expectation on performance.
Influencer 1: Skill Level
An individual’s skill level influences their attitude towards a task and expected outcomes. An experienced goal-kicker will feel less pressure than an amateur, so in a high-stakes championship final, the experienced goal-kicker will perform better. Conversely, when something is new, and you’re interested to learn, motivation comes naturally. Therefore, the amateur might perform better in practice since they will have a higher motivation that the professional.
Recognize this cause of possible stress and manage it constructively by identifying stress-inducing tasks and improve your relevant skills. The better you become at the task, the less stressful it will become. Conversely, if you find a task boring and tedious, make it more exciting through personal rewards or setting stretch goals.
Influencer 2: Personality
Personality traits influence performance under pressure. Depending on your personality, you might perform better under the external stimulation of pressure (e.g. extrovert) or when yo have more time to complete a task thoroughly without pressure (e.g. introvert). Other aspects such as your beliefs, culture, religion also plays a role. For example, many cultures/religions have strong gender roles, causing anxiety for people who need to perform tasks that border or even go outside of these roles, having a potential negative impact on performance.
Manage stress by playing to your natural abilities. Align your daily tasks as much as you can you’re your personality, culture, and background.
Influencer 3: Trait Anxiety (Confidence)
Confidence, especially related to a specific task, impacts performance. Naturally, as you get better in a task (skill level), you will get more confident. But your mental state and Internal Talk also has a huge role to play here. If you believe you are in control of task outcomes (victor mentality) and you have a positive Internal Talk (e.g. saying to yourself “I got this”, or when you fail saying “It’s okay, I will get better), performance will increase. If you do the opposite, (e.g. believe outcome is outside of your control or criticise yourself), performance will decrease.
You can successfully manage stress through cultivating positive mental states, developing the habit of positive thinking and using visualization techniques.
Influencer 4: Task Complexity
Simple tasks can be performed under high pressure, while complex tasks require a calm environment. The balance between task complexity (level of concentration, attention and effort required) and levels of pressure has an influence on task performance.
Reduce your daily stress by adjust the environment based on task complexity. When the task is more complex and you require focus and concentration, work in a quiet place (e.g. book a small meeting room at the office or if you work from home, try and do these tasks when the kids are at school) or put some earphones on and listen to soft, calming music.
Influencer 5: Expectations and Significance of Outcome
Expectations from ourselves and others influence pressure and performance. High expectations can lead to increased stress, impacting performance negatively. In some cases, we might have the skills, personality and confidence to perform a task (high or low complexity), but the expectations to perform at a very high level impacts performance. For example, in practise, a pro-golfer would easily make a 2-foot putt. However, making the same putt to win the Masters, under the tremendous expectations of the crowd, millions of people watching on TV and the pro-golfer himself, coupled with the significance of the moment, is a different story.
When you find yourself in scenarios where the expectation to perform is high, control what you can such as detailed preparation and using positive Internal Talk. In the moment, calm yourself by managing your body's reaction to stress through deep, rhythmic breathing.
Last words
Navigating the complexities of life requires a robust appreciation of mental health and effective stress management techniques. Understanding the five influencers of performance under pressure —skill level, personality, confidence, task complexity, and expectations—provides guidance to managing stress and enhancing performance in a challenging world.
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