Psychologist in conversation:

“Inflation is an invitation to do without”

(Bild: krone.tv)

In a krone.tv interview with Jürgen Winterleitner, Christine Hackl, renowned psychologist and author, provides insights into the psychological challenges that times of crisis bring and shows how we can become more mentally resilient through resilience and the right coping strategies.

The psychologist emphasizes the importance of personal responsibility and actively dealing with crises for mental health. She explains that crises arise not only from a critical situation, but also from a feeling of helplessness. Hackl says in the krone.tv interview: "A crisis really divides a life into a life "before" and a life "after". And the "after" can be good and beautiful again. But it does have certain characteristics and effects when a person directly experiences and lives through a crisis."

Christine Hackl, renowned psychologist and author on krone.tv

(Bild: krone.tv)

How do political decisions affect the psychological resilience of different social classes? Hackl says: "If I can put it very simply: the more dependent someone is on political decisions, the greater the impact this has on them. In other words, if I am dependent on social benefits, i.e. unemployment benefit, unemployment assistance, other support, then of course it has a much greater impact on me."

Inflation: one of many crises that put people under psychological strain
Many people also feel under economic pressure due to inflation and rising prices. This also affects the psyche. From Christine Hackl's point of view, inflation is an invitation to do without: "If you take away the aspect of stress, then this time can really be seen as an invitation to make conscious purchasing decisions and to consciously approach life again, including buying food consciously and wasting less. Because if you think about what is still being thrown away, even though it's getting more and more expensive, then something doesn't add up. So that's where we need to look," says the psychologist.

To get out of this permanent state of crisis, Hackl recommends focusing on social values and common goals instead of getting lost in differences of opinion. A key aspect of this is social connectedness, which serves as an essential resilience factor in times of crisis.

You can see what other solutions Christine Hackl recommends for people suffering from mental stress in the video above.