Coping Strategies Against Pandemic Stress and Uncertainties
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The Filipino community at Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish found a way to continue its annual celebration of the Feast of Santo Nino, semi-virtually.
In April 2020, a team of researchers at the University of North Florida led by Filipino American psychology professor, Dr. Teresa Tuason, deployed a rapid study to explore what factors influence our psychological well-being and how to cope well during lockdown. What their study showed is that the most effective coping strategies include intention and purposiveness, finding new things to enjoy in caring for one’s physical and spiritual health, and cultivating relationships with family, friends, and with oneself. The results of their peer-reviewed study were recently published and made widely accessible.
In their article, they wrote: “Our results show the resourcefulness of people to not just cope with the challenges and the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, but to move forward and thrive.” Many of us probably witnessed during the early months of the pandemic our peers sharing on social media about their new hobbies such as gardening, learning how to play a musical instrument, drawing, painting, learning a new language, and doing all kinds of home renovation projects. People were discovering and, in some cases, rediscovering new things (and old) to enjoy, keeping up their well-being, and just trying to move forward despite the uncertainties.
Stories of Thriving, Moving Forward, and Keeping Well
It is hard to find a silver lining to the events of this past year. There are many negative stories and it can be easy to get dispirited by the news headlines; but there are also many positive and inspiring stories, too often left untold, of staying well, thriving, and moving forward. Below are just a few anecdotal stories that support the study’s findings particularly on the role of sense of agency and finding ways to stay well, physically, psychologically, emotionally, and spiritually.
Accidental Monk
Wil Hernandez, director of an ecumenical spirituality center called Center Quest based in California, was visiting the Philippines when the initial lockdowns started rolling out. Wil found himself stranded in a Benedictine Abbey for a couple of months, but he turned the unexpected circumstance he was in into what he called “a significant interlude in his fast-paced existence.” Wil ended up chronicling his lockdown experience, which helped make sense of the struggle, and that basically gave way to his new book, “Accidental Monk, published in March 2021. In it, he writes: “This is home for me now, together with my Benedictine family. To be with this community in this place at this time is God’s lavish gift to me. For this I cannot but be grateful.”
The Abbey of Transfiguration in Malaybalay, Philippines, where Wil Hernandez of California spent over 2 months stranded during lockdown.
Kuwentuhan for Social Justice
The Ateneans for Social Justice, a group founded to address some of the most pressing societal issues today (including Black Lives Matter and anti-Asian American Pacific Islander Violence) started hosting Zoom sessions in the early months of the lockdown. Besides having the space to talk about important social issues, the members and the participants also get the opportunity to stay connected with one another and to continue to build community together. From what I gather, having been a part of these regular virtual conversations myself, there is a fostering of that sense of community, a sense of coming together to do kuwentuhan (sharing stories) with our kababayan in the global diaspora. These virtual gatherings help reassure us that we are not alone in facing these societal challenges. The group so far has had an international reach with participants signing on from cities like LA, San Francisco, Seattle, New York, Toronto, Melbourne, Manila, and Dubai.
The Ateneans for Social Justice held virtual conversations to stay connected with one another as a global community and to tackle important social issues.
Continued Commitment to Service and Community
The Apin family (Gerry, Ana May, and son, Gerric) before the pandemic had always been busy serving as active leaders of their church and its Filipino community. When the pandemic hit, they adapted, reinvented themselves, and kept finding new ways to continue their commitment to the communities they serve. They continued leading and serving as part of the safety team during the Sunday services. Their son, Gerric, serves as one of the technical members instrumental in running the livestream broadcast of the Masses. In a personal conversation, Gerry said: "In spite of the uncertainties of the pandemic, my wife, son, and I continued to serve in various church ministries to help our congregation to continue to worship. This allowed us to experience life together, have stronger family bonds, and be resilient in these very challenging times."
The Apin Family continues volunteer service as members of their parish's safety team.
Sense of Agency
Dr. Tuason and team write in their article: “The key to making this period sustainable may be owning the power, to whatever extent possible, in terms of being one’s own agent and being able to make one’s own choices, especially pertaining to being connected socially with others.”
When things get out of control, we rely on our sense of agency to try and navigate our way through the uncertainties. In these personal stories are accounts of mobilizing that sense of agency to help us continue to find meaning and purpose, to choose to do things with intentionality, and to continue to move forward. When life throws lemons, our sense of agency reminds us that we have the option to make lemonade.
Link to the study, “Thriving during COVID-19: Predictors of psychological well-being and ways of coping” – https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0248591
BJ Gonzalvo
BJ Gonzalvo, PhD, is a psychology researcher, consultant, and writer about faith and culture. He is currently collecting and archiving histories, stories, kuwentos, images, narratives, and reflections on what faith means to Filipinos in America today. Visit http://www.saintlynest.com/ to learn more.
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