As of March 21, 2025, MGH鈥檚 main entrance on Coxwell Avenue is closed as the next phase of our redevelopment project begins. Patients and visitors can use the new temporary main entrance on Sammon Avenue between Coxwell Avenue and Knight Street. View our campus map.
In this weekly series, Lois Didyk, MGH social worker shares her 鈥渕ental health moments鈥� to help keep us moving forward.By Lois Didyk, MSW, RSW
Living with the chaos of COVID-19 feels big. We鈥檙e being asked to change and adapt to our new normal, yet no one鈥檚 given us a map for how to do that. No wonder change feels like a threat!
But change is also a really important opportunity鈥攖o learn new practices, to reprioritize what matters and to find connection in unexpected ways. While the disruptions that come from change may be big, dealing with change in positive ways can be done through small, manageable steps鈥攐r moments.
As a mental health counsellor, I talk a lot about moments with my clients: how moments of panic will pass鈥� how moments of psychosis do not define you鈥� how moments of success can be built upon鈥� how moments of pain lead to growth.
Moments remind us that things are always changing and fluid. We aren鈥檛 trapped in our discomfort. A moment is all it takes to go from stuck to moving forward.
Calm through breathing
One of the first coping techniques I review in my practice is breathing. That鈥檚 because this is our most fundamental tool for regulating reactions to threat (in other words, anxiety). Our body has natural calming systems鈥攁lso known as the parasympathetic nervous system鈥攚e just need to turn them back on when we are overwhelmed. The easiest way to do that is through breathing.
I like 鈥�4-5 breathing鈥�. (Fancier names include measured, controlled, deep or rhythmic breathing, but it doesn鈥檛 really matter what you call it.) It鈥檚 about slowly and intentionally regulating our breath to kick start that precious relaxation response. You can do this anytime, anywhere鈥攂ut especially when you need some calm.
Do it right now
Let鈥檚 take a moment and do it together, right here, right now. No one will even know!
Think of breathing with the belly (rather than the shallow chest breathing we do when anxious), and slowly breathe in to a count of four with your belly going out, then breathe out for a count of five with the belly pulling in.
Again, in for four, then out for five.
Last time, slowly in for four, out for five.
You only need to do it three times to have an effect, and that extra breath at the end is what kick starts the calming systems. Of course, if you have a breathing technique that you already use and love, then use that. The point is to stop and take a moment every day to use this tool to let our body help us along. Breathing through change is a small thing, with a big impact.
Lois Didyk,MSW, RSW, is a social worker with Michael 九游体育 Mental Health Services. She has worked for the past 30 years with Community Outreach Services and more recently, with the Mental Health SCOPE Program.