Adrian Paul G Astorga GE-UTS (Understanding the Self)

BSBA-MM 2 TTH 1:30-3:00

Learning Insights in The Webinar

November 7, 2020, I attended the webinar about Normalizing the New Normal: A
symposium of Mental Health Amidst the New Academic Environment. The webinar
consisted of three sessions with different speakers. The first session was discussed by
Ms. Delgado. The first session talks about the Safeguarding of one’s mental health. In
this session Ms. Delagado discussed that this day’s we people are trapped with our self,
we tend to be exhausted and feeling anxious all the time because of a thing that we
can’t see which is the virus perhaps because of this we succumb to depression. She
also stated that because of the virus we had encountered the “new normal” it is called
new normal because there is a major change that is happening in our society and it had
disrupted the usual ways we do in the society. Most people are depressed and it
depletes our energy because we had lost one of the most important parts of us which
are socializing with our friends personally. Also, people get depressed because they
tend to resist the changes that are happening in our society, they don’t follow the new
protocols but tends to stand with the old ways even if they know that it is already
impossible to do that these days. Ms. Delgado gave us some ways in dealing with these
changes and how we can protect ourselves in depression. First, we must participate in
making change meaning we must accept the changes and participate in it so that we
can help the society. Next is to analyze and understand the nature of resistance
meaning we must understand what it can cause us if we deny the changes and what
would happen to us if we don’t follow these new protocols. Lastly, pause once in a while
take breaks in watching news try to meditate and pray because it lifts our spirit and we
can forget the problem that we had encountered. The second session was discussed by
Ms.Arcenal and the topic is Keeping tab with positive emotions and wellbeing. Ms.
Arcenal said that it's good to feel good because it fills our spirit up and forgets our
problem this feeling is called positivity. Positivity runs deeper it consists of a whole
range of positive emotions from appreciation to love, from amusement to joy. It includes
the positive meaning and optimistic attitudes that trigger positive emotions. Compared
to being negative or pessimistic is not good for ourselves. Being negative is like a virus
it can be pass to other people. For example, inside a household, if one person is in a
bad mood the aura inside the house is somewhat disturbing it's because negative
emotions can be passed to other people that’s why we must avoid if it can be done this
negativity. Ms. Arcenal introduced 3 resources where we can get positive feedback and
helps us increased positivity in ourselves. First is the physical resources this talks about
how we took care of ourselves. If we treat our body well like eating nutritious food or
exercise daily this could boost up our positive feelings. Second is the social resources
this talks about how we interact with others in the society. If we interact with our friends
especially if we talk about good things, we could get feedback on positivity from them or
we could send them some of our positivity to them. Lastly is the Psychological
resources this talks about how we handle ourselves in terms of our hobby. If we took
care of ourselves and we did what we want this could create a positive vibe that could
lift our spirits example of this is when we are sad, we could just play some music that
could make us calm down. The last session was discussed by Mr. Evangalista the topic
is how to manage stress, anxiety, and uncertainties during this pandemic. Mr.
Evangalista stated that there are two types of stress Eustress and Distress. Eustress is
a positive form of stress having a beneficial effect on health, motivation, performance,
and emotional well being an example of this is when we are stress with our school work
well it is still positive stress since it can help us in our learnings and performance. While
the distress is a type of stress we are referring to when we say stress. It is a form of
stress with negative implications like the death of a family member this could form
distress on an individual and it can affect its health and motivation or performance. Mr.
Evanglista also discussed physiology stress this is the biological or psychological
response experienced on encountering a threat that we feel and the amygdala is the
one who helps triggered the fight-or-flight response wither we counter and fight the
event that caused the stress or we flight or run when we encounter it. These are some
of the key points that I had learned from the webinar Dr. Pestano also said that the
purpose of the symposium is to equip ourselves with oozing mental health ammunition
to ward off the pandemic scare.