About Toyo University Professor's Scoop:Eiko Matsuda(Professor, Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Sociology)
The academic world is continuing to undergo an extensive, in-depth evolution.
What view does a Toyo University faculty member devoted to education and research have on the contemporary world?
Due to the prolonged impacts of COVID-19, mental stress and the effects of this stress are increasing day by day.
We asked Professor Eiko Matsuda of the Faculty of Sociology, who specializes in dreams that express people’s mental states, about maintaining a healthy mind.
Professor, Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Sociology
Eiko Matsuda
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Professor, Department of Social Psychology, Faculty of Sociology. She is working as a clinical psychologist and has been in her current role since 2015. She specializes in clinical psychology, personality psychology, and health psychology. Professor Matsuda is focused on enhancing mental health through improving sleep quality. Under the research theme of “therapeutic intervention through understanding the mechanisms of nightmares and cognitive behavioral therapy,” she is working towards integrating basic research with clinical practice. She is the author of books such as “The Psychology of Dreams and Sleep,” “Understand Psychology Through Illustrations.”
The Stress of Not Being Able to Spend the Student Life They Envisioned.
There is no end to sight to the COVID-19 pandemic that has persisted since last spring, and this is continuing to have a major impact on students’ lives. During the pandemic, there has been an increase globally in people who have nightmares known as “Coronavirus Pandemic Dreams.” Students have dreams where they feel guilty for getting infected with COVID-19, and some students have anxiety about not being able to earn credits as expected in online lessons expressed in their dreams.
In psychology, change equals stress. Regardless if the event is positive or negative, people feel a lot of stress to respond to change. Stress is increased further by unexpected events or those that are entirely out of one’s control. That is likely why many students feel a lot of stress because they cannot spend the student life they envisioned. I am also concerned about students’ readjustment when returning to normal life after the COVID-19 pandemic. Once students have somewhat gotten used to student life in the COVID-19 pandemic, they will return to normal life. Students will have to get used to commuting to university and in-person lessons in their 3rd and 4th years, something they would have gotten used to in their 1st and 2nd years. During the same period, job hunting will start, and many significant changes will come at once in a short amount of time. Therefore students will have to anticipate and prepare for their lives in the near future.
Knowing the Stress Responses Felt by Your Body.
For us humans, we will feel stress as long as we are alive. Stress has some aspects that lead to growth. However, prolonged stress can cause distress responses. Stress reactions can be divided into the four categories of thinking/cognition (blaming yourself, only thinking about negative outcomes, etc.), emotional (irritability, depression, frustration, etc.), behavioral (disturbance of life rhythm, dependence, etc.), and physical reactions (sleep disorders, overeating, etc.). However, of the four, thinking/cognition can be said to have a significant effect on the other three stress reactions. There are considerable individual differences in how stress is felt, so first it is important to know to what extent you can handle stress and how you respond to it.
To this end, let’s compare current and pre-corona life rhythms, changes in indulgences, how free time is spent, and whether there has been any emotional instability. For example, if there has been an increase in the amount of time spent using the internet or watching TV or YouTube. In this case, let’s assume that you distance yourself from SNS with its overwhelming information or media that unnecessarily inflames people’s anxieties. Then, if you can understand what makes you feel stressed by reflecting on the changes before and after taking action, and whether you felt this was positive or negative from an external perspective, you will become able to choose to avoid the factors that cause you to feel stressed.
Become Mentally Strong by Controlling Your Lifestyle.
COVID-19 is a difficult matter because it is not a personal health that can be solved at the individual level. Nevertheless, how to deal with stress responses caused by the pandemic is important. We should organize our life rhythm, increase our activity through housework and exercising at home, and consistently wake up at the same time. Also, with refraining from going outside, communication with others is reduced. If this situation continues, everything may start to feel bothersome, especially for those who live alone. Even if it is online, I think it is good to consciously attempt to communicate with others, such as talking with family and friends and joining communities. On the other hand, it is crucial to secure time and space to be alone for those who live with their family. Students have less time to themselves with remote lessons continuing and no commuting to school. As a result, time for reading books or listening to music on the train, or time to think about things alone may be decreasing. Let’s start by trying to control our daily life to the extent possible.
In addition, remembering how you overcame difficulties that you faced in your life up until now is one approach that applies to the current situation. It is sometimes the case that hardships which we once felt helpless about were actually temporary in retrospect. It is essential not to overthink the consequences of the troubles that you are currently facing. Some people may notice that they are strong to this kind of change.
Humans Feel Stress While Growing.
If there was no COVID-19 pandemic, would your life have been free of stress or worries? You may have faced a different kind of stress, such as difficulties with relationships due to the closer distance to people than now and tiredness from competing towards goals.
Stress is necessary for human growth. If we consider this as a monumental period in the large paradigm of humanity, it can be said that the current moment is a major process for the evolution of us humans. This is the same for individuals. How you overcome this never before experienced event, and the stress it brings is likely to be a valuable experience for you when considered in the long term of life. For those who feel stressed and anxious about the current situation where you receive negative information daily from the news, there is no need to blame yourself whatsoever. It is natural to feel anxiety and stress, which arises when people try to live better lives. Therefore it can be said that those who feel this way have high growth potential. The future society will enter an era where no one will be able to anticipate what jobs and demand there will be. I want you to accept the current situation as a chance to change yourself and to place importance on a growth mindset.
The online article where we asked Professor Eiko Matsuda about the meaning of nightmares and the impact of sleep debt is currently available on LINK@TOYO.（English unavailable）
