How to Live in a Constant Crisis

At this moment, it’s hard not to feel overwhelmed by the state of the world. We are facing an unprecedented climate catastrophe , the consequences of which are already causing droughts , famines , floods , wildfires and mass extinctions . The political situation at the national and global level seems to be constantly shaky. And we continue to suffer from a seemingly endless pandemic that has killed more than 680,000 Americans and 4.5 million people worldwide to date.

To put it mildly, things are not going well , and some crises, such as climate change, are bound to intensify in the coming years . And going through a period of perpetual global turmoil is not a picnic, even for those privileged enough not to be personally harmed – just a constant stream of bad news can have a paralyzing, anxiety-provoking effect.

“We currently live in a time when chronic threats are grabbing our attention on a daily basis,” wrote Dr. Chelsea Ratcliffe , assistant professor of psychology at Sam Houston State University, in an email. “These threats are often public in nature, which means it may seem like there is little one person can do to eliminate or eliminate the threat. It can make us feel tired, depressed and even hopeless. “

Many of us are fortunate enough to live in places currently untouched by crises like war and the most tangible effects of a warming planet, making something like “feeling overwhelmed” seems like a rather silly comparison. But the human brain can think and plan for the future, and now we understand that we may not be lucky in the coming years.

“Right now, we are awash with information about major threats like the ongoing pandemic and climate change, and our brains have evolved to focus on threats so that we can avoid them and survive,” says Ratcliffe. “Unfortunately, in our time, the threats we face are often long-term in nature, and we cannot individually ‘plan’ our way from them. When we feel that we are concerned about the state of the world, our brain just does its job – looking for threats and focusing its attention on them to keep us safe. ”

As Ratcliffe explains, the reaction is physical. When you face a perceived threat, your amygdala – the part of your brain that detects danger – sends a message to your sympathetic nervous system (SNS) to trigger a fight-or-flight response. Stress hormones like adrenaline can speed up your heart rate and slow your appetite, which is helpful when you’re fleeing an immediate danger, but when faced with a long-term threat like climate change or a pandemic, it can manifest itself as constant anxiety.

And overwhelming anxiety is difficult to overcome over a long period of time. Bruce Poulsen, Ph.D. , a clinical psychologist in private practice, says it can affect people in several ways. “That leaves us one of two things. We can throw everything out of our hands and [live] as if, for example, there was no virus. It’s the same with climate change. If we don’t admit it, it’s psychological alchemy in which we feel like we’re making it go. ”

Of course, we’ve seen what happens when we pretend that what we don’t like doesn’t exist . On the other hand, if you spend too much time on your anxious reaction, Poulsen says that you can “completely immerse yourself in it to the point where you feel paralyzed, as if nothing we do or can do has no value. “

However, you can make a difference, even on a small scale, without letting anxiety overwhelm you. Here are some tips to help you avoid panic attacks.

Get involved locally

Since feelings of helplessness exacerbate crisis anxiety, a good way to mitigate them is to take action. Poulsen recommends volunteering or participating locally as it is easier to see the direct impact of your work on a specific cause.

“I think on a personal level, we sometimes need to feel that what we do really matters,” he says. “I once had a patient who successfully convinced the local community to put plastic bag elimination on their agenda. We may be catastrophic in our interpretations of the future, but while there is cause for concern and even concern, there are also some real promises that in fact certain steps to be taken can actually make a difference. ”

Balance the amount of news

You don’t have to completely close your eyes to the news, but spending all your time on the news is bad for your brain. The human brain is not designed to consume disturbing information all the time, but social media, smartphone notifications, and 24/7 internet connections make it easy to reject bad news to its fullest.

If you find it necessary to read the news, look for some positive stories as well . Follow animals, tweet for virus experts for encouraging news about vaccines, read stories of people showing kindness to one another. As Poulsen says, “We have to work a little harder to balance our news consumption if we’re going to consume news,” he says. “It’s not that bad.”

Exit completely

In general, limiting the scrolling of news is a good idea . “For many, it can be helpful to just take a break from the news,” says Pusen. “Maybe you’ll get into the headlines and read the opinion here or there.”

Set boundaries on social media

Watching people brawling online all day does not greatly diminish anxiety about the crisis. Michelle Young, founder of Untapped New York , writes that she ended up unfollowing or leaving all of her Facebook groups, and removing people she didn’t know in real life from friends after realizing it was negative it affects.

She writes. “I have also unsubscribed from many brands and media pages as I can get this information elsewhere if I need it and I have blocked advertisers that I am not interested in.”

The result, she said, was soothing; now she sees content only from people with whom she is interested in communicating. However, she retained her membership in one group: “One group that I have not left: modern cats of the middle of the century, and it was amazing. My feed is filled with things from real friends that I care about, and a lot of cats that I also care about. “

Do grounding exercises

A good way to reduce anxiety of all kinds is with grounding exercises like meditation, which can calm your sympathetic nervous system and reduce the aforementioned fight or flight response.

“We can deliberately pay attention to the here and now, instead of thinking about the mistakes of the past or the dangers that the future may pose,” says Ratcliffe. “The process of turning off the autopilot is called mindfulness, and it has many benefits for people, even when their present moment is rather painful.”

You can meditate for 5-15 minutes a day on your own, or try a guided mediation app such as Calm or Headspace.

Maintain a daily routine

It turns out that routine is good for our brains, especially in times of crisis and anxiety. “The rituals in which you participate become a signal for our parasympathetic nervous system to maintain a sense of calm and equanimity,” says Poulsen. Taking a bath every night, walking the dog and making morning coffee “are ways to prevent panic and maintain a baseline, so when you hear something or start thinking about something, you may be less likely to panic. ” He says.

Good exercise like this includes literally exercise that releases calming endorphins and making daily to-do lists. When you’re anxious, dividing the tasks you need into smaller chunks and crossing out each task when you’re done can help make your day-to-day work less tedious.

“Last week I started making smaller to-do lists using only the things I can actually do in a day, and I pasted a larger to-do list / long-term to-do list on the wall for reference. for smaller lists, ”writes Ben Firke, playwright and producer.

Practice gratitude and make time for the things that bring you joy.

Even in the most dire circumstances, people can find something that makes them happy. This is important to remember when things are going particularly badly.

“Making time to do something that brings you a sense of joy or meaning each week (like gardening, volunteering, or calling your loved one) can also help improve your mood,” Ratcliffe writes.

And remember, it’s always worth taking stock of what you have.

“The practice of gratitude is another simple yet powerful way to expand our understanding from a narrow circle of threats to include the many rich aspects of life,” writes Ratcliffe. “When the pandemic just started, my wife and I began to share things we were grateful for every day, to fight some of the troubles and darkness that we often discussed. It was so helpful! “

Go outside

When the world is feeling overwhelming, it is helpful to remember that there is much more than this collection of yours.

“If you’re feeling panicked and inside, it can be really helpful to go outside and look up at the sky,” says Poulsen. Go for a walk, get your dog out, throw away trash and recycling, and look out at the big blue space.

Remember that we have yet to go through this

Crises that threaten society create the feeling that we are at the edge of the world. That, well, to some extent we could be like that. But even so, we must go through day after day and we must continue to live.

“We have to be honest with ourselves. We can’t look away, ”says Poulsen. “But we still need to get the kids to school, we still need to go to work, take out the trash and all that. I think it’s a matter of keeping the so-called normality as much as possible. “