De-sensitization defined. It’s a process that diminishes our ability to respond to a negative adverse or positive stimulus after repeated exposure to it. And I think it’s safe to say we all maybe are desensitized right now after all we’ve been through after more than 3 years with this pandemic.
We remember switching our focus to take a look at some pictures of gorgeous faces and when we looked at the images, the people appeared differently with various emotions. Some people were wondering and pondering. Others were looking up, while others were looking directly at us in an interested and curious way. Some people were laughing, even cracking up and some gave looks of surprise. Sometime were self-reflecting. Others had an amazing inner peace or calm about them. The last facial close-up we looked at was picture of a woman that reminded us that the eyes are the windows to the soul because they were downright piercing. We would never have known by just looking at these pictures without any reference point that all these people were actually suffering an immediate mental health crisis when their images were captured. We’d never know that any one of them were in the midst of upheaval and chaos. We observed that when people don’t want others to know what’s going on, on the inside, we’re very good at putting on a mask and having others think that were okay when in truth we’re really not okay.
Different people react differently. Some may have apathy or seem not terribly motivated, and others may demonstrate rage or become very reactive. On the other hand, others they may become overly happy and disguise their anguish completely. Nonetheless it’s always appropriate to generally reach out to somebody and ask them, “How are you feeling today?” and to tell them it’s perfectly okay not to be okay.
Want a deeper dive? Check out Chapter 6: Chief Servant Leader of ‘Rise Above: A Playbook On How-To Keep Energy Flowing.’
Photo Collage Courtesy of the Mental Health Association
Dr. Jaime L. Pula is the author of her newly released book titled, ‘Rise Above: A Playbook On How-To Keep Energy Flowing.’ She can be reached at jpula@artofhealthsciences.life. And she enjoys connecting on LI at: www.linkedin.com/in/drjaimelpula001/.