How to Overcome the Sinking Feeling of Dread

“Have you ever had anxiety come on suddenly? Either triggered by a relatively minor event or completely out of the blue, “free-floating anxiety” is anxiety that has been unleashed. It feels like it takes over your mind and body, making you feel ill at ease most of the time. The threat may be so severe that it is debilitating. A sense of dread may be due to an abstractly internalized experience of external volatility called “disembedding”. Disembedding refers to our ability to interact with one another without having to make face-to-face contact. With a few clicks through a social media feed, scrolling through Twitter, or even just opening your web browser to search for something, your brain becomes a dartboard for world news. Ontological security—often experienced as a kind of emotional stability—is usually unconscious, so when disrupted, it often occurs outside of conscious awareness too. Polarizing events such as pandemics and political elections can make this worse.

However, there are some strategies to overcome it. The first thing is to restrict information inflow and to keep your communications with people you trust. Also, revisit older, more trustable times. Go to a place with live music of Frank Sinatra, or steep yourself in some resemblance of the Gilded Age if that comforts you. Rather than resist the ever-changing world, accept that it is. Then build islands of non-change in these volatile waters. Meaning-making and a sense of purpose can also protect you. Whether it is simply making money or preventing world hunger, your meaning must truly resonate with you. For some, this meaning-making may come from cultural or religious traditions. Since fear of death is also intrinsic to this anxiety, having children as an extension of this life may also help to reduce your anxiety. But remember, there is no one-size-fits-all solution.

If all this seems too much to remember, remember three things: order, meaning, and value. What brings order to your life? What brings meaning to your life? What do you value? Let those three things be your navigator’s components as you make your way through these wild waters. When you do, your free-floating anxiety will likely lessen significantly or even melt away.”

Read the whole article at Psychology Today

#Mind #Anxiety #Meaning #Order #Values

💬 What strategy do you use to combat anxiety/overwhelming emotions?

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