Autogenic Training Improves the Subjective Perception of Physical and Psychological Health and of Interpersonal Relational Abilities: An Electronic Field Survey During the COVID-19 Crisis in Spain

Abstract

Currently, humanity is facing one of the most critical situations of this century, the COVID-19. The adverse effects of the pandemic on the mental health of the population are well known. Fear of illness, confinement, lack of financial resources, or poor social support can influence people’s mental state. Despite these risks, several psychological resources may help address this situation. The present study investigated the effectiveness of a self-relaxation techniques known as autogenic training. Autogenic training is a well-known method in Europe for the treatment of anxiety and stress disorders. The practice of autogenic training is also reported to improve neurovegetative and immune regulation. This study focuses on describing how autogenic training is helping its practitioners to cope with the pandemic. Specifically, they report strong beneficial effects on their physical, psychological, and relational health. In total, 75 autogenic training practitioners (41 women), age 22–71, participated in the survey. An ad-hoc questionnaire was developed to collect information on sociodemographic variables, health status during the pandemic, characteristics of their AT practice, and response to the pandemic as outcome variables. The questionnaire was distributed through Google Forms in the first week of September 2020. The results show that there was an increase in the practice of autogenic therapy during the pandemic, especially among women. In addition, the majority of participants (88%) remained healthy during the pandemic. Furthermore, the results show that autogenic training is very useful for physical and psychological health and for a better understanding of others. Therefore, the practice of autogenic training is recommended to people who live moments of anxiety, are afraid of illness, or feel that they have to improve the quality of relationships with others.

Psychological readiness of football players for the match and its connection with self-esteem and competitive anxiety

“…Adequate implementation of techniques that eliminate the high level of the cognitive component of the variable can, according to our assumptions, help athletes increase their performance in a given type of sport [ [1] , [2] , [3] , [4] , [5] , 88 ]. This is also in line with research dealing with increasing psychological readiness using yoga exercises [ 66 ], meditations [ [67] , [68] , [69] , [70] ], or using Schultz's autogenic training or Jacobson's progressive relaxation [ [71] , [72] , [73] , [74] , [75] ].…”

COVID-19 in China: A Rapid Review of the Impacts on the Mental Health of Undergraduate Students

“…Because the COVID-19 pandemic has not yet ended, the government, universities, and families need to pay close attention to the physical and mental health of undergraduate students. Interpersonal issues, as well as mental symptoms, require appropriate interventions, which may minimize the unavoidable psychological impact of the pandemic ( 31 ). It is necessary to carry out health education and provide undergraduate students with relevant information on mental health, physical health, academic skills, fitness and other factors that will improve their lives in a timely manner.…”

“…Personality characteristics such as suspiciousness, sensitivity and timidity affect an individual's cognitive evaluation of things ( 16 , 17 ). Personality can create unrealistic psychological conflicts, setbacks and other psychological stimuli, preventing people from choosing effective coping methods to eliminate the psychological stress response ( 31 – 33 ). It is mentioned in the social cognitive theory that mental health problems caused by stress are more likely to occur in people who choose to escape psychologically and regard the stressors as a long-term catastrophic threat.…”

“…It also has a strong psychological function and helps an individual maintain a good psychological state and positive emotions. Under the pandemic, because most undergraduate students' communication with each other has been limited to social tools and massively multiplayer online games mediated by the internet, there has been a lack of sufficient offline communication ( 31 ). At the same time, the frequency of communication between classmates who have no close relationship is almost zero.…”

Effects of Mind-Body Interventions on Adolescents’ Cooperativeness and Emotional Symptoms

“…Other studies showed the effectiveness of AT in reducing anxiety and stress disorders [ 37 , 83 ]. A recent study [ 84 ] focused on how AT could help youth to cope with the pandemic; it reported strong beneficial effects of this practice on adolescents’ physical, psychological and relational health, recommending the practice of AT to people who experience anxiety, are afraid of illness, or feel that they have to improve the quality of their relationships with others.…”