I think DU is getting to me, re: anxiety.

[Beware the Beast Man]

Basically, my anxieties stem from control issues (but never controlling others, at least I think anyway). If I feel as if I'm not in control of a situation, that's when it starts. Anyway, it seems as if it's become acutely worse as of late, and a lot of it has to with current political "climate." Since the re-selection of Bush is not within my sphere of control, I begin to fret on it. I don't think spending my days on DU is helping any. It's nice to hobnob with like-minded individuals, but I think the constant barrage of information and all the negativity and uncertainty over the future is starting to get to me. Maybe I'm just having a particularly bad day, but I think I need a break.
Just wanted to share, in case anyone else feels this way, too.

[vi5]

1. I feel 100% the same way....

I become absolutely crazed and stressed when things are out of my control. And unfortunately I tend to worry about and focus on too many things outside of my control.

The sad conclusion I came to though is that the only thing that allows me to come down is to some degree adopting an extremely cynical attitude. I worry about my own family and my own well being and that's the beginning and end of the list. It's sad to have to be this way to stay sane, but it is true at least for the time being.

[Magrittes Pipe]

2. Sit. Relax. Have a drink.

Talk to some friends.

[Beware the Beast Man]

3. I don't have any friends.

No good friends, anyway. :P

[Magrittes Pipe]

4. Talk to some bad friends.

Some very, very bad friends. :evilgrin:

[autorank]

5. More music, more time in The Lounge, look at events as unfolding drama

over which you have some input. You're music is excellent BTW. The Lounge helps with all sorts of things. I never feel anxious there. No one attacks you or if they do it part of some little game that never goes too far. Just trying to figure out what's going on can be amusing and it is totally divorced from any reality but its own. Hob nobbing with like minded people should also be anxiety reducing. Why now? You want to hang out with the other side. Seriously, but nor really seriously, The Lounge is the pure LSD of interactive forums.

[Beware the Beast Man]

7. Thank you.

That's the magic of it all; I obsess over things I cannot control. It's pretty absurd when I step back for a moment and actually analyze the way I think sometimes.

[autorank]

9. OK but it can also be fun...how about meta-analysis?

Looking at the way you think and: being amused, intrigued at how you got there. You could also just do or think about something else. Lots of people do this. If the anxiety bothers you and you're anxious on top of that about having anxiety, you're doubling the anxiety (or something like that). It's normal to be anxious in crazy times.

[McKenzie]

6. You are not alone. That's the trouble with caring unfortunately.

And, I think there is a general malaise amongst many people that seems to feed off itself. Current world events are at the heart of it methinks, at the risk of stating the patently obvious.

Best we all stick together with this though. Have a drink of whatever and chill. Things might get worse; they might get better. If we stop trying it's over...hang in there...or here.

[RandomKoolzip]

8. Hey man:

I suffer from severe anxiety and depressive episodes myself. For a year or two before 9/11, I was having massive, debilitating panic attacks; they were getting so bad I was starting to get agoraphobic. Anything could set them off, but usually they'd happen when I was stuck in traffic, or going to a movie, or eating ina restaurant......when I wasn't HAVING an anxiety attack, the anxiety of wondering IF I was going to have one was constant and it was starting to take over my life.

The last one I had was on 9/11/01.

The upshot of it was that before I started having anxiety attacks, I was doing lots of drugs, smoking a pack and a half a day, drinking constantly, drinking as much caffiene as possible, and generally abusing my body: I think it was a case of overstimulation when the first one occurred.

The Bush years have made that constant free-floating anxiety go through the wormhole into depression....I'm on Lexapro right now to combat it.

Beastman: take a break. It helped me out a lot. When you get back, we'll be here for you, man.

[Geek_Girl]

10. I felt the same way after the election

Then I started to think in a more philosophical way. America is going down a dark path but things are just going to have run there course. Until the majority of Americans wake up to the realities of what is going on there is very little that we can do. I've tried waking people up to the realities and to be honest they just rather believe what they are told to believe. So what can you do?

Take care of your own and prepare for the worse that's all you can do at this point.

[Lerkfish]

11. yup. behind ya on that one.

its disrupting my sleep patterns....but I look at this way:
Its disrupting my sleep patterns because I come here to find the TRUTH.
Everyone else is lying to me, trying to lull me to sleep.

[Quakerfriend]

12. Beware the Beast Man , we all know how you feel

I sometimes get to feeling overwhelmed by it all myself.

Funny thing happened just the other day...as I was going thru some old papers that had belonged to my grandmother. There were letters from their local school detailing what to do if air raid sirens went off...a poem she had written about the effects of the Depression on her friends and family. It was a reality check for me. Things are sometimes very tough for people. Time goes on. We WILL get through this- despite *co. and all of his evil intent.

Take a break from DU, but don't stay away long. We all need each other right now.

And, get some exercise outside. It will do wonders for you!

[Donailin]

13. i hear ya

I also think that - strike that - KNOW that years of negative information affects my emotional, spiritual and physical well being. I see it happens in cycles too, always according to the particular news and events. Whenever Bush goes public, for instance, it takes me days to recover. I'm just settling down from last weeks Press Conference and his absolute inability to be compassionate, let alone articulate or truthful. The biggest day of casualities and he jokes around about seniors, BS's about SS, and is just an asshole in general. And then you think, "this guy is the fucking president??? how can this be??!" It boggles the mind. really.

I have an offline friend that I literally spend hours on the phone with day in and day out and in the last four years we have not talked about much of anything other than wtf is going on down the road ( we live right outside DC) and how can we afford to move to Europe. We rant/vent and we both realize that there is no consolation to be had so long as * is in power.

I went through a period of believing that these discussions we had and still have may be contributing to my semi-depression, that if we stopped talking, I wouldn't be half as concerned. But that's not true. One only need listen to the news for a few minutes or glance at the headlines on the papers in the grocery store to be reminded that we have a huge problem: there is a cloud over the whole planet due to this guy. PEOPLE ARE DYING, GETTING RIPPED OFF AND BEING LIED TO. BIG TIME!My father told me the other night that I should not worry, that there will always be bad presidents and war, but he doesn't know what I know, what we here at DU know. Why doesn't he know, though? Because he doesn't have the curiosity and desire for all information that we do. He trusts that people are basically good and that no one person could get away with too much here in America. But he's wrong there, just as folks in Nazi Germany we're wrong in their estimation.

If you have an insatiable need to know more than most people, it's because you were born to be an activist. Hey, somebody's gotta do it.