Recent conflict and ongoing uncertainty in the region have placed significant pressure on individuals, families, schools, and workplaces. From an occupational therapy (OT) perspective, times like these directly affect people’s ability to engage in daily occupations, such as working, learning, parenting, resting, and connecting with others.
From the first day of distance learning, we offered complimentary webinars to teachers, families, and corporate organisations. These sessions focused on practical, evidence-based strategies to support regulation, participation, and daily functioning during prolonged stress.
Why Uncertainty Disrupts Daily Life
Occupational therapists understand that stress impacts not only emotional wellbeing, but also attention, energy, sleep, routines, and role performance. Prolonged uncertainty activates the nervous system, making it harder to plan, initiate tasks, stay flexible, and respond calmly. These are skills central to everyday functioning (AOTA, 2020).
Understanding this response helps people reframe reduced productivity or increased irritability not as failure, but as a nervous system under pressure.
Co-Regulation: How Calm Supports Function
OT practice highlights co-regulation, particularly in families, classrooms, and teams. Stress spreads through tone, pace, and behaviour, but so does calm. When one person uses grounding strategies, moves slowly, or creates predictability, others are more able to engage and cope (Porges, 2011).
This is especially important for children, whose regulation depends heavily on the adults around them.
Practical Regulation Tools for Daily Occupations
The workshops focused on simple strategies that support participation in daily life, including:
- Breathing and grounding to support task engagement
- Movement breaks to reduce sensory overload
- Structured routines to increase predictability
- Environmental adjustments when working or learning from home
These tools are core OT approaches used to support both adults and children functioning under stress (Case-Smith & O’Brien, 2020).
Working, Parenting, and Learning Under Pressure
Many families are balancing employment, home learning, and caregiving at the same time. Occupational therapists support realistic task grading, role flexibility, and routines that prioritise function over perfection. The sessions encouraged:
- Shared family routines
- Clear role expectations
- Flexible work setups
- Reduced cognitive load
Small adjustments can significantly improve participation and reduce burnout.
Reducing Doom-Scrolling, Increasing Stability
Constant news exposure can disrupt sleep, attention, and emotional regulation. From an OT lens, reducing doom-scrolling and replacing it with stabilising routines such as morning structure, sensory breaks, and evening wind-downs helps restore occupational balance and wellbeing (WHO, 2022).
Knowing When to Seek Further Support
The workshops also clarified when additional support is helpful, including ongoing sleep disruption, emotional shutdown, panic, or difficulty managing daily tasks. Early intervention supports long-term occupational health and resilience.
Why These Workshops Matter
Occupational therapy focuses on helping people do what matters, even in difficult circumstances. These workshops supported functional coping, connection, and daily participation across homes, schools, and workplaces. By offering accessible support early, we reduce isolation and strengthen community resilience.
When daily routines are supported, people cope better and communities stay steadier together.
References
American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA). (2020). Occupational therapy practice framework: Domain and process (4th ed.).
Case-Smith, J., & O’Brien, J. C. (2020). Occupational therapy for children and adolescents (8th ed.). Elsevier.
Porges, S. W. (2011). The polyvagal theory. Norton.
World Health Organization (2022). Doing what matters in times of stress.
