MAARIF school of Bucharest opened its gates in September 2019.

There are two school counsellors who are

playing an important role in supporting the more than 300 students. This is done by:
 psychological assessment
 identifying those with learning difficulties, emotional issues and challenging behaviours
 helping the students with SEN to integrate
 providing individual or group counselling sessions
 holding class sessions

Between March - June 2020 (due to Covid lockdown) we held online counselling sessions for students, parents,
teachers. One of them was "Coping with Stress During Infectious Disease Outbreaks".

We started by talking about some of the well-known SF movies that dealt with similar situations.

Then we answered the question "How can you keep yourself up to date regarding the outbreak ?"
 by relying on what mass-media is communicating
 by talking with family members, co-workers, friends and neighbours

Continuing our presentation we asked "How could you feel when you are hearing about an outbreak ?", "What
other changes can occur in a stressful situation ?"

The elements that can be affected are:

 the level of energy: going up or down
 the body: getting or losing weight, headaches, stomach aches, sweating or chills, tremors and muscle
twitches
 the emotional balance: sad, scared, nervous, stressed, invulnerable
 the sleep: less or more, waking up more tired than before going to sleep
 the appetite: eating less or more, starting to drink or drinking more alcohol
 the thinking process: difficulty in taking decisions and focusing attention, feeling confused
 the behaviour: difficulty in having fun / in doing activities that previously were enjoyed
 the communicating and listening abilities are hindered: stopping being talkative or a good listener
 the level of irritability: arguing for small reasons, crying much or getting angered easier

Then by discussing about "How to relieve stress ?" we identified several solutions:
 eating healthy food
 drinking enough water
 sleeping enough
 abdominal breathing ratio 1:4:2:4 (breath in - retention - breath out - retention)
 relaxing: listening to music, meditating, having hot baths in the tub
 engaging in hobbies: playing games, reading, writing, gardening, DIY
 doing physical exercises: stretching, dancing, walking, running, cycling
 talking with: members of the family, friends, co-workers, neighbours, psychologists, priests, imams.

As conclusions we highlighted that they must:

 pay attention to their body, feelings, and spirit
 acknowledge the first signs of stress
 accept the idea that it is common to be angry, depressed, stressed
 remember their past experiences
 try to use more or less the same strategies that helped them to overcome the previous stressful situations
 combine the old ones with the new ones that were presented
 take time to renew their spirit, to meditate, to pray, to help the others who are in real need
 share reliable information
 enjoy conversations that are not related to the pandemic.
FEAR IS NOT REAL
Since 1999 the mass-media has bombarded us with several death scenarios: Y2K, Anthrax, West Nile Virus,
SARS, Bird Flu, E. coli, "The bad economy", Swine Flu, Mayan “End of the world”, North Korea, Ebola, ISIS,
Zika, "Fake news", Measles, Coronavirus "will gonna kill us all". We analysed the following lines:

“The only place that fear can exist is in our thoughts of the future. It is a product of our imagination,
causing us to fear things that do not at present and may not ever exist. That is near insanity.
Do not misunderstand me, danger is very real but fear is a choice.”
"After Earth"