I have been in this headspace for 5-10 years as I could see this moment of collapse coming, I have lost most of my friends or a great distance has opened up between me and them where more and more whenever I am vulnerable and share how I feel I get some form of "it is useless being negative, you have to be happy and let it go!".
Wish all those people didn't take so long to have a mature realistic outlook, but whatever, their old self is being obliterated by the new status quo, so in a very real way those people are already gone or at most a lingering ugly remnant of the past.
What if the dead plants are the friends we made along the way.
dead plants should be the reactionaries we meet along the way
Maybe it helps to get a roommate, both with the plants and the anxiety?
This is an entirely different approach than most people are used to. My advice from a couple of combat deployments is to cultivate a task oriented mindset. What does that mean? It means worrying about the task you are doing right now and nothing else. That doesn't mean you never look at the bigger picture. But if you're at dinner, then you're at dinner and you enjoy that. You can check when the next protest is, after dinner. You take each day like this and before you know it we'll be voting Trump out of office.
Only worry about what you can control.
Great advice.
Wow, so this is basically the technique I started when a close family member was dying of cancer.
"But if you're at dinner, then you're at dinner and you enjoy that"
I just want to add to this, give yourself permission to fully enjoy it and be happy in the moment. Don't beat yourself up for feeling joy when you know others are still in crisis.
Make a list on paper or digital and let all the problems wait while you enjoy the moment. It's okay to enjoy the moment.
before you know it we'll be voting Trump out of office.
No offense, but this is a weird comment. How are we going to vote him out of office? Are we just accepting that he's going to run for a third term? We can't let him do that.
Depressive realism sucks... and the shittiest people are immune to it.
They are not immune. Being shitty is their way of dealing with the situation. Shittiness and depression is caused by the same corrupt society.
This is actually touching on a real new approach to mental healthcare, which is just accepting that "life is shit" and you're kinda on your own to find meaning in it, or get to the next high-point that makes it worth living.
We have to stop expecting things to be stable, normal and comfortable. We had a good, smooth run, things are going back to normal now.
Grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change, the courage to change what I can and the wisdom to know the difference.
Excellent psychological advice in the form of prayer. The fact that life is shit is one of things ypu cannot change. The wisdom to know the difference is the real skill.
Putting it this way kind of makes it sound like modern therapy has reinvented Buddhism.
Shit man. This hits home way too hard.
Humanity having enough power that their mistakes can destroy the world isn't normal. Our failure tolerances were calibrated in a world where the damage we did to nature was temporary. That's not true anymore; we either get our act together now or go extinct.
Humanity having enough power that their mistakes can destroy the world isn’t normal.
As someone born in the cold war, I can't relate. It's always been this way as long as I've been alive, so if something has been a way as long as anyone can remember, I think it's pretty safe to call it "normal" at least for our species. This is what we do, this is how we operate.
I really believe if we accepted that our human nature gives us a lot of very bad baggage and our entire conscious experience is often an illusion assembled by millions of years of evolution, and that we may never rise above our instincts, we actually might start making progress towards a more equitable future.
Kinda like when you're an alcoholic or other kind of addict, if you finally accept that you have a problem, you learn eventually that you can't trust yourself so you make measures ahead of time like hiding your wallet, disabling your credit card, etc. It's wild that a lot of people consider very successful tactics like this to be a "cop out" and live in this delusion that we "should be better" and can somehow rise above our own natures. Like telling a fish it can fly if it really, really tries hard enough. It's setting you up for failures and frustrations.
We ain't going "extinct" and people quite frankly need to realize that "extinction" is an incredibly low bar to clear. Billions will die and millennia of suffering lay before us, but the human species will be a-ok, especially if our industrial civilizations collapse. It's a fire that'll burn itself out, and thus history will continue.
The human species isn't people, but a term to describe our shared code; code that isn't you or the people you love. We are more than just our long term machinery. If we only focus on the forest, we miss the well being of the trees. I'd rather all our bloodlines end and us live lives focused on ourselves, than have an eternity of worshipping constructs that force us to live for them.
I hate to say it, but now isn't the only time it's a problem.
This whole "you just need to practice more CBT skills" has been bullshit for like twenty fucking years or more.
I can "check the facts" all I want, if the facts are that things are irreparably and totally fucked and that this irreparability is hurting me directly I can't "happy thoughts" my fucking way out of it.
I'm really tired of being told "you can't change other people, so you need to work on yourself" when other people are allowed to be giant assholes their whole lives who never have to put one ounce of work into themselves and it's me and everyone else who is a halfway decent person who has to spend their lives fucking working on ourselves.
The system is god damned broken and has been god damned broken when we practically reward the worst of us with never having to try to do better while telling the best of us that we just have to do better.
I'm really, really over it.
There are many, many reasons to be upset about the state of the world, but the purpose of CBT is similar to the purpose of stoicism. It is not meant to teach someone how to interface with society, but with themselves. Managing one's emotional state by managing their cognitive state. This is a valuable skill to have even if in the midst of the apocalypse.
Even if you can change other people, generally speaking you can't do it right here right now, so CBT is best served to interrupt or redirect cyclical thought processes that can't actually motivate someone toward any positive outcome.
Having the thought - "This is fucked and I'm going to do X, Y, and Z" - is healthy.
Having the thought - "this is fucked this is fucked this is fucked this is fucked this is fucked" - on repeat in your head when you can't currently do X, Y, or Z, is not. CBT is meant to help someone break out of the latter, not the former.
There are many, many reasons to be upset about the state of the world, but the purpose of CBT is similar to the purpose of stoicism. It is not meant to teach someone how to interface with society, but with themselves.
Nobody cares for the most part about the intended purpose at the end of the day, they care about the actual impact which is that CBT is a convenient framing to exclude the non-individualist reasons people are miserable.
CBT was designed for people who had severe behavioral issues.
The idea that it should be done by everyone is because extracting profit by selling cookie cutter solutions is the perversion of capitalism.
Overthrowing capitalism is a pretty effective coping mechanism from what I hear.
What you need to realize though is that you can only affect so much. Mostly if you need help you should help yourself first. Then if you're happy and capable, you need to help others. Not the other way around. So get with it and don't hang yourself up on "shit is fucked". It is, but it has been worse and it also can get worse. But that doesn't really matter for now, help yourself first if you need to.
Like ofc it's not wrong to also help others.
The situation is hopeless and has always been. But that's not as bad as it sounds and it frees you and me from the burden of the world. Do what you can, that's enough.
I can highly recommend this video for reflecting on hopeless thoughts: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJaE_BvLK6U
I'm not having hopeless thoughts.
I'm having issues with CBT being used as a way to teach people learned helplessness where "you can't affect other people." Because, actually, society in aggregate (often called governance) can totally influence, affect, and change other people. We seemingly have given up on holding people who break the social contract accountable for anything while forcing those who do uphold the social contract accountable for everything. Fascism is the end-stage manifestation of that.
In my experience, in practice, it does more to teach people they can't affect change more than it teaches them they can. It teaches them to be helpless on purpose.
Mostly if you need help you should help yourself first. Then if you’re happy and capable, you need to help others. Not the other way around
I think you're not getting what they're saying. Of course you can only work on yourself, but therapy doesn't exist in a vacuum and frequently you're just learning coping mechanisms for the status quo. Which is frequently good, being able to cope with society and remain functional is good, but people often have coping as the goal instead of merely being a step.
This person wants to change the system so coping mechanisms aren't necessary to deal with society
Hey guys this probably isn't the right place, but I'm new to mental health issues. About two weeks ago I started having crippling anxiety attacks, mostly at or right after work. I do intl logistics for my company so I've had a pulse on all this bullshit from the getgo.
At the same time I started having blood pressure issues, and the combination has a vicious feedback loop of anxiety > elevated heart issues > anxiety etc.
My doctor gave me 30 Xanax (and a plethora of heart meds), I've looked up self help type stuff to help with the anxiety... Mindfulness, breathing exercises, etc. Daily walks and exercise help the most but I feel so out of control of my emotions I don't really know what to do anymore.
Should I talk to my GP and get on something long term? Therapist? Keep trying self help?
I'm 38 and otherwise healthy, no depression, slightly overweight but physically active and eating healthy. I stopped all my vices (nicotine, alcohol, most weed I still take edibles CBD) and I don't know how to cope without being self destructive.
If anyone else is going through this and getting traction just let me know your experience I guess. I don't know anyone irl as affected as me so I mainly just want validation I'm not alone and there's a path forward.
Ask about propranolol - it's a beta blocker.
It was prescribed to a family member for stage fright that was causing physical symptoms.
The nervousness is still there, but the control of the body came back.
Imagine trying to play drums or something and your hands shaking so bad you can't hold the drumsticks...
If the xanax is messing with your thinking or energy, and you are medically cleared, a beta-blocker might help.
Thanks I'm actually on metropol! (sp?) Similar drug for similar effects I think
Hi. Long time therapy winner here. So first things first, you should absolutely talk to a therapist, not just take pills. The second thing you need to do is figure out your preferred grounding mechanism. This is usually going to involve one your senses, sight, touch, smell, hearing, taste, or breath. (Even though breath isn't a traditional sense)
I know people who keep pine bark on a necklace, I know people who list 5 things of a particular color near them, and I know people who listen to a song. Usually breath is combined with whatever else you're doing. Both as part of grounding and to cue your brain to pay attention to the sense you're using.
A therapist can help you figure what works for you to get you back from panic attacks as quickly as possible. And you are absolutely not alone.
There are already some good suggestions in the other comments, I just want to add a point: Anxiety attacks can be a problem by themselves, but they may also be a symptom of something else. Insofar it is good to sort things out with a professional (therapist or psychologist) who can do the tests to determine what the root cause is.
Having said that, a personal addition: Mental and physical exhaustion can exacerbate mental health symptoms of all kinds and - to me - it sounds worth pointing out that you experience these anxiety attacks at or after work. So anything you can do to reduce the exhaustion may already help a little to alleviate symptoms. If you have a possibility to slow down a bit and ensure that you are well hydrated and that your blood sugar doesn't drop too much (ie. make sure you aren't famished) that could already help you to get a better grip on these anxiety attacks.
Either way: Stay strong, friend!
I would definitely recommend trying therapy. Self help and meds will both help, but, for me, therapy made the biggest difference in the long run.
I don’t know anyone irl as affected as me so I mainly just want validation I’m not alone and there’s a path forward.
you can have that validation from me. spontaneous panic attacks or anxiety attacks can happen in the face of extreme danger, even if that danger would only be imaginary. in this case, it might be real, though, depending on your situation.
I assume you live in the US, since you didn't say.
What's important is that you make a long-term plan ("where do you see yourself in 30 years") that's as realistic as possible and also at least acceptable. Every time the panic attacks start just focus on that vision (and on the path to get there). That will calm you down and give you a clearer mind. However, it is utterly important that you make such a plan. Without such a plan, i am deeply convinced people cannot live healthy, happy lives.
I think you are very stressed, some heart medications reduce the heart rate effects of anxiety. Xanax reduce the mental anxiety, but it's very strong and you could become dependent on benzos creating another problem, they are best for short term management.
There some suplements that reduce cortisol levels, but also have a penthora of sife effects, they are called adaptogens, also SSRIs could reduce your anxiety without the risk of making you dependent.
I would search for another job also, if that's is a option for you.
I hope you can get the help you need.
A therapist probably wouldn't hurt to give a try.
You could also take stock of sources of stress in your life, especially any that have emerged/increased in intensity in the last few months. At my previous job, my anxiety took a massive spike due to a crazy boss, layoffs hanging over everyone's heads and an increasing workload. Even on anxiety meds, I was getting massive headaches on a daily basis and would spend hours on the verge of being ill from it. Once I got laid off, the anxiety went back down to my more manageable baseline, and the medication became a lot more effective for managing it.
Obviously, just entirely leaving the situation isn't a great option for everyone (heck, I lost the best paid job I ever had in the process, which wasn't great), but even if that isn't feasible, it might give you some insight into how you might mitigate the issue.
Also, keep on going when treatments don't work. There's no magic bullet here that works for everyone, so while it can be frustrating, keep trying things until you land on something that does the trick for you.
This is exactly why I'm trying to limit news intake. I was kinda spiraling out with it all. I'll still do stuff, show up and whatever, but man. This regime is AWFUL for my mental health.
And like for good reason, I know that I'm right to be scared of what's happening but I gotta mediate this.
Yeah, I had a realization after the election that I was basically consuming news as entertainment in place of other things I could be reading or doing. I'm voting, I'm attending protests, knowing more isn't going to change anything. It'll just make me feel worse.
Yeah, I'm struggling so hard to just limit my knowledge. Does it really make a difference to me personally if I miss one of the fucked up things Trump does? If you're already radicalized, it doesn't really matter if he's done 20 things wrong or 50. There's no further room to sway your opinion and no further actions you can take. It's just beating your mental health into the ground for no benefit.
But God damn is hard to convince the algorithms you don't want to see that shit anymore. You truly can't even do the simplest thing online without it showing up.
The psychological analogy here still counts. If you can't recognise your emotions, there's little to do about it. Worse, if you don't recognise your emotions they might break out in unpredictable places and ways.
Being anxious and depressed is directly related to your awareness of the world around you. It's not okay to be okay.
Sure, but now what? You don't have the power to change the world. So what do you do? You either develop a mind like a rock which sounds like dying on the inside to me or you actually just end it, right?
Like I want to find other solutions to this, but these are the only logical ones I can come up with.You do have the power to change the world when you stop individualizing your suffering or try to make it magically disappear by changing your perspective and start connecting your suffering to the suffering of others to build genuine community, power and resiliency.
Notice I never said "there is no use being negative all the time" as a lazy plattitude.
Try to find and enjoy the little things in life and try not to dwell all the time on things you can't affect at the moment.
this is exactly why therapists seem to be total nutjobs in my opinion, they don't have actual solutions that work for any case where the symptoms are justified by the climate other than "leave the climate that's justifying it".
Why I like my therapist so much. She understands wholly what I mean, and she helps me to remember we can only control what we can. I can control my plants, in this case.
On a tangent just last week I, well, I was telling her a video game I play I was having difficulty with the wolves. Everytime I'd come across them, I'd get anxiety and attacked, die, respawn, and when I'd go to get my inventory, I'd be shaking so bad I couldnt even use the mouse to gather it. The boar's were easy, the bears made me afraid a bit, but the wolves we're having me panic.
She asked, why do you think the wolves have you panic? The most generic, easy response, right? I shrugged it off and said probably my trauma (I have diagnosed c-ptsd). Meeting ended.
But for three days, I couldn't get the question out of my head. Why were the wolves freaking me out so badly? I wanted to defeat the wolves. Then I remembered, 14 years ago I was bit by a dog. Aggressively. He lunged for my neck, I blocked him with my arm where he snagged me. Another person put the dog in a head lock so he couldn't shake his head, the dog didn't let go until I, well, instinct kicked in I guess and I played dead, I exhaled and went limp. He let go, I went to the hospital and was lucky, he nearly missed my tendon. I had forgotten... I know.. I know, but it all made sense. The next time I came aross the wolves, I didnt lose my inventory.
So simple, so effective. You must find the right therapist and sometimes it's difficult.
Depends on the type of therapist approach. If it's the type that is about CBT and thinking you need to change it won't work just like it doesn't work on neurodivergents. If it's internal family systems or ACT it can absolutely help because it acknowledges those issues and validates what's happening without trying to change you. You learn skills to accept it and ride it out vs suppressing and forcing change.
Wait, is the plant me? Dude...
