David Brooks: The Epidemic of Worry

[sun rise]

I know I've fallen into anxiety and worry about the election. And as David Brooks points out, I'm not alone.

We’ve had a tutorial on worry this year. The election campaign isn’t really about policy proposals, issue solutions or even hope. It’s led by two candidates who arouse gargantuan anxieties, fear and hatred in their opponents.

As a result, some mental health therapists are reporting that three-quarters of their patients are mentioning significant election-related anxiety. An American Psychological Association study found that more than half of all Americans are very or somewhat stressed by this race.
...
Worry alters the atmosphere of the mind. It shrinks your awareness of the present and your ability to enjoy what’s around you right now. It cycles possible bad futures around in your head and forces you to live in dreadful future scenarios, 90 percent of which will never come true.
...
But the answer to worry is the same as the answer to fear: direct action. If the next president starts enacting a slew of actual policies, then at least we can argue about concrete plans, rather than vague apocalyptic moods.

Furthermore, action takes us out of ourselves. Worry, like drama, is all about the self. As O’Gorman puts it, the worrier is the opposite of a lighthouse: “He doesn’t give out energy for the benefit of others. He absorbs energy at others’ cost.”

If you’re worrying, you’re spiraling into your own narcissistic pool. But concrete plans and actions thrust us into the daily fact of other people’s lives. This campaign will soon be over, and governing, thank God, will soon return.

Hakuna matata.

http://www.nytimes.com/2016/10/25/opinion/the-epidemic-of-worry.html

 

[Laika]

I pity America. I mean you really don't deserve this sort of psychological abuse broadcast to you 24/7 through the TV or the internet as the media "junk food" substitute for actually being informed. Its been bad for democracy because of how propaganda has superceded informed dialogue. Its a massive failure of the american system of government when elites emotionally manipulate the people by buying airtime rather than the people reaching their own decision based on reason, evidence and intellectual rigour. 40% of the public will vote Trump whatever happens but I'm not going to go into what is actually on offer as I'm sure someone else can do that.

In the UK, I still remember waking up at 12am and deciding just to listen to the results of the EU referendum. I stayed up the whole night. I sort of "knew" it wasnt going to be good because it was so close. I changed my mind as to how to vote several times (ultimately voting remain). I mean the fact the MP Joe Cox got shot was proof of how toxic things became but its sad it really got that far. I handled the result somewhat better than my parents (who are still pissed). Several months later, We still dont know what the government is doing here (but we do sort of have one now). When the tories and labour were both having leadership elections it felt like being in "free fall". It was a really weird experience like an aborted revolution or a partial collapse of the british government. I'd never imagined I'd be so relieved to see a new conservative primeminister. I dont think the US election will be the same as brexit though as the tapes changed the dynamic of the whole election, plus the demographics of women and ethnic groups are likely to vote Clinton.

God bless the American people. You really deserve a holiday after all this. *smiles weakly*

 

[tytlyf]

RW media is dangerous, never trust them. Someone teaches these people to be fearful, paranoid and miserable.

 

[Revoltingest]

I don't worry about this election.
Every one is a travesty for us loopy Libertarians.
But we've survived every one so far.
So I advise.....