How to Face Peer Pressure After the Pandemic

The development of the Internet helps us update information quickly, but that also partly affects our psychology. The lines of sharing about success, the happy life of others, and pressure from social norms, judgments, and complaints from people around us make us easily fall into a state of stress and envy. Especially, when the COVID-19 epidemic makes life stagnate, that pressure becomes even greater, making it easy for us to fall into a state of depression, losing confidence in ourselves.

How to overcome peer pressure after the COVID-19 pandemic? Let’s find out with ELLE.

What is peer pressure?

Peer pressure is when we are influenced by people in the same social group (friends of the same age, colleagues, people in the same professional field, same social status…) and have to change. their behavior and attitude to conform to social standards and easily integrate into the community.

In fact, peer pressure is not quite as bad as we often think. It is said that “near the ink, it is black, near the lamp, it is bright”. If you regularly interact with positive people, peer pressure will help you form good habits, motivating you to develop and improve yourself. However, when you have tried your best but have not achieved the expected success, cannot meet the standards of society, or if you have different views and directions from the majority, you will easily feel overwhelmed. feel lost, frustrated and gradually develop the mentality of comparing yourself to others.

The link between COVID-19, peer pressure and mental health

Peer pressure is always present in our lives, right from the time we are children, facing the obsession of “other people’s children” until adulthood, facing work pressure, problems love, marriage, family.

When COVID-19 hits, we tend to spend more time on social platforms, so the worries are often getting worse. Life is stalled, all plans and plans are postponed, unemployment, salary reduction … make us feel bewildered, stressed and jealous when we see other people’s success on social networks. . This situation will cause lasting health adversely affect morale , forming psychological inferiority, depression, self-doubt, reduce motivation and job performance.

How to deal with peer pressure?

1. Stay away from negative influences

First, you need to determine the cause that affects your mental health, which can be articles, debates on social networks, news about the epidemic situation, pressure from family, reviews. price from people around… to limit contact or stay away from them if necessary. Instead of worrying about other people’s words or achievements, you can spend time doing things you enjoy to clear your mind and regulate your emotions.

2. Focus on yourself

Have you ever wanted to learn a new skill, make time for a new hobby, but because you’re too busy, you still can’t do it? Although COVID-19 has put our lives on hold, it is undeniably the right time to invest in ourselves. First of all, you need to define your goals, know your strengths and weaknesses to have a suitable personal development plan . You can sign up for a course to improve your professional knowledge or try a new field you’ve always dreamed of. When you find joy and find yourself improving, you will no longer feel sad or depressed.

3. Spend time with people who positively influence you

We can’t please everyone all the time. There will be times when your choice encounters many mixed opinions of people around. When you are confused and confused, seek help from those close to you. Talking to people who understand you will help you untangle your inner turmoil and gain more confidence in your decisions. In addition, you can also follow positive inspirational figures on social networks to get more motivation to step towards your chosen goal.

4. Know that everyone has their own path

Each of us has different goals and directions. You shouldn’t let other people influence your life or ask everyone to agree with your decisions. It is important that you recognize your worth , trust your own decisions, and respect the views of others. Believe that as long as you do your best with the path you have chosen, you will surely reap the worthy results.