By Professor Tharina Guse, Counselling Psychologist and Head of Department (Psychology)

It is more than 100 days since our daily lives changed drastically due to measures to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. During this time, our hopes about various matters have waxed and waned. Hope to be able to exercise, hope to see friends or family, hope that we may be spared the brunt of the virus. Now, at the peak of the virus infection rate, we may feel less hopeful than ever before. Hope ebbs when we experience threats to the way we live our lives. Due to the pandemic, we experienced several of these threats. We had to change the way we work and the way we socialise.  There is also the threat of contracting the disease. We may experience threats to our economic well-being and become despondent about our children’s education for the rest of the year. We lost experiences we looked forward to, like holidays or graduations. Yet, we need hope – we need to have a picture in mind of the end of these challenges to help us endure and move forward.  

But what is hope? Hope is not about unrealistic positive thinking or looking at the world through rose-coloured glasses. Hope is having an end goal in mind, and believing that we have the means to reach this goal. In the current pandemic, we can be hopeful that there will come a time when infections are under control, even though we are still dealing with many daily challenges; a time when we can start to get back to living our lives more freely, as already seen in some European countries. Hope is also about the belief that things will work out in the end, despite adversities.  It is about feelings of trust and relatedness to others and can include our spiritual beliefs. Recent research suggest that having hope is one of the crucial factors in maintaining psychological well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic.  Why is hope important? Having hope supports both mental and physical health. Hope can also contribute to recovery from mental illness.

In other words, remaining hopeful is an important psychological resource in times of crisis.

How can we maintain or strengthen hope in times of crisis? You may want to consider the following strategies:

• Reflect on the path that led you to this point in your life, and the personal strengths that helped you navigate the challenges you have experienced. Notice instances where you were resilient and resourceful. How can you use these strengths now?  
• Set short-term, realistic goals for the next week or month. What would you like to achieve despite the current restrictions?  These can include work-related or personal goals, such as exercising or completing a project at home.
• Identify a “hero of hope”, someone who can inspire you to stay hopeful.  President Nelson Mandela was imprisoned for 27 years, yet persevered, remained optimistic and founded our democracy.
• Share your hopes with others, in particular, loved ones and close friends. This means that you will be supported in staying hopeful and reaching your goals.
• Focus on what is going right despite the negative news. For example, notice the rate of recovery and the fact that the mortality rate in SA is lower than in many other countries.
• Keep a journal to identify three good things that happened during the day.

Research among South African adults and adolescents suggest that we have high levels of hope in general. This could buffer the effect of stressful events, such as what we are experiencing now.

History shows us that humanity has endured several pandemics, yet our ancestors survived. We, their offspring, need to draw on our resilience and positive vision for the future to pave the way for future generations. The world will look different after the pandemic, but as the poet Rumi wrote: “Where there is ruin, there is hope for a treasure.”