Authors :
Renita Keisya Abidin, Selly Augestari Binha, Tatu Zakiyatun Nufus
Psychology faculty of UIN Syarif Hidayatullah Jakarta, Indonesia
Abstract
The butterfly hug is one method to reduce anxiety. As the name of the method, it is done by patting both hands on the shoulders like a butterfly. The research method is library research using a qualitative approach. The data used in this journal comes from primary and secondary data. The result of our findings is that the butterfly hug has a significant effect on reducing anxiety in people of different ages and situations.
Keywords: Butterfly hug, anxiety
Introduction
According to the American Psychiatric Association, Anxiety is a mental state characterized by tense, worried thoughts as well as physical symptoms like elevated blood pressure, sweating, trembling, dizziness, or an accelerated heartbeat. People with anxiety disorders frequently deal with intrusive thoughts or worries. They may avoid certain situations because they are afraid. Fear and anxiety are not synonymous terms, but they are commonly used interchangeably. Anxiety is perceived as a future-focused, long-acting reaction focused on a diffuse threat, whereas fear is a suitable, present-oriented, fleeting reaction to a specific and well-defined threat (APA Dictionary, 2018).
Anxiety can come on suddenly and become a habit. Therefore, we chose this topic because we feel it is important to know the first aid that is easily done by oneself when anxiety occurs. In our opinion, the butterfly hug method is very easy for anxiety sufferers to do when they start to feel anxious.
(Girianto et al., 2021) conducted research on 18 elderly people who concluded that the butterfly hug treatment for 3 meetings could affect the anxiety level of the elderly. Half of the elderly experienced a decrease from high to moderate anxiety and the other half experienced a decrease from moderate to mild anxiety. Likewise, a study of 10 elderly people living in health facilities showed that butterfly hugs reduced their anxiety  levels (Cagaoan et al., 2023). Then, (Caturini et al., 2023) conducted research on nursing students who experienced long distance relationships with their parents. The study was conducted for 6 days with 8 meetings each day which resulted in the conclusion that the butterfly hug was effective in reducing their anxiety. (Hawke, 2023) also conducted a study on ED nurses who in fact experience high levels of pressure related to their work. This study was conducted by teaching 139 ED nurses to do butterfly hugs for 12 pre-shift meetings at different times for one week which resulted in the conclusion that nurses who did butterfly hugs experienced a decrease in stress levels. (Kurniawan & Ngapiyem, 2023) in research also showed that the butterfly hug is effective in relieving anxiety in parents of special needs children.
Discussion
