Silence
How to calm your mind in the middle of chaos?
Breathe slowly, name what you feel, reduce stimuli and focus on the next step. If the anxiety doesn't pass, go to a UBS, a CAPS or call CVV at 188.
bairogonzalez.com team, drawing on Bairo's story · Published
When everything falls apart at once, the mind speeds up: thoughts tripping over each other, a racing heart, trouble breathing deeply. It's the body in alarm mode. You can help it out of that state, and this page shows how, honestly, about what works and about when help is needed.
What to do now
- Breathe more slowly than the anxiety wants. Breathe in through your nose counting to four and out through your mouth counting to six, for two or three minutes. A long exhale helps the body slow down.
- Come back to the present through your senses. Name to yourself five things you see, four you can touch, three you hear, two you smell, one you taste. It pulls your mind out of the storm of the future.
- Name what you feel. "I'm afraid of losing the house." "I'm angry at my partner." Naming the emotion reduces its intensity.
- Reduce stimuli. Close the message group, turn off the news, step out of the noisy room for a while.
- Choose only the next step. Chaos makes it seem as if everything has to be solved now. It doesn't. Write down the next concrete step and do only that.
- Take care of the basics. Water, food, sleep, movement. Too much coffee, alcohol and sleepless nights feed anxiety.
- Talk to someone. Saying out loud what is happening, to someone you trust, usually turns down the inner volume.
- Recognize when it's time for treatment. Frequent panic attacks, anxiety that keeps you from working or sleeping, thoughts of death: these are signs that you need professional care, and it exists in SUS, through primary health units (UBS) and psychosocial care centers (CAPS). To talk right now, CVV at 188, free and 24 hours a day. In an emergency, SAMU at 192. Don't use alcohol or other substances to "calm down"; they usually make things worse.
When it happened to Bairo
Bairo Leandro Gonzalez Martinez went through phases of complete chaos: a business collapsing, many people depending on him, people he had helped walking away. He says what helped him get through was a combination of faith and silence.
In a Christian congregation, he found the strength of testimonies from ordinary people. And in silence he found a symbol he still carries: 1420 MHz, the hydrogen frequency, protected by international agreement so that no one transmits on it. For him, it is the image of a place inside himself where the noise doesn't get in.
That is where, he says, he came away with enough clarity to start over.
The path
The chaos outside doesn't always depend on you. The rhythm of your breathing, the next step and asking for help do. Bairo found his own silence in the middle of the worst phase of his life. It didn't erase the problems; it gave him the clarity to face them. Start with the next minute. Then with the next step.
After the crisis passes, think about what helped and what made it worse. Maybe the walk worked, or the conversation with a friend, or turning off the phone. Write it down. That record becomes your first-aid kit for next time. No one escapes chaotic days, but whoever knows their own resources gets through those days with less suffering.