BPR:
Last week, I touched upon how the current political environment — where anger seems to be the animating force — is resulting in turmoil and distress at such a level that health experts fear it could be generating serious negative consequences for the mental health of millions of Americans. We are talking about symptoms like sleepless nights, damaged friendships, constant fatigue and mounting depression.
We are best prepared to deal with these mental health challenges when we are in good physical health and find time to downshift, exercise regularly and have good social connectedness with friends, family and co-workers.
Humankind has always disliked uncertainty in most situations. Now this condition frames our lives in unsettling global proportions. In response, a recent study showed that we are becoming less tolerant of uncertainty in our lives at all levels. According to Jelena Kecmanovic, adjunct professor of psychology at Georgetown University, this does not bode well for us. “Numerous studies link high intolerance of uncertainty to anxiety and anxiety disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, depression, PTSD and eating disorders,” Kecmanovic writes.
Writing in The Conversation, Kecmanovic points out, “Avoidance of uncertainty leads to relief in the short run, but lessens your ability to tolerate anything short of complete certainty in the long run. Tolerance for uncertainty is like a muscle that weakens if not used.”
As Pema Chodron, an American Tibetan Buddhist and ordained nun once wrote, “It’s not a terrible thing that we feel fear when faced with the unknown. It is part of being alive, something we all share.”
People “tend to underestimate their coping abilities,” adds Kecmanovic. At the same time, most of us overestimate how bad we will feel when something bad happens. “Humans are generally resilient, even in the face of very stressful or traumatic events. If a feared outcome materializes, chances are you will deal with it better than you could now imagine.”
“Repeated attempts at predicting and controlling everything in life can backfire, leading to psychological problems,” Kecmanovic warns. “The fantasy of humankind’s absolute control over its environment and fate is still just that — a fantasy.” read more
In redneck language=
“I’m over it, Now get me another COLD BEER”.
Thank you, Chuck Norris!
Control is an illusion.
“It’s not a terrible thing that we feel fear when faced with the unknown. It is part of being alive, something we all share.”
It’s not fear of the unknown that gives me grief, it’s that the very fabric of America and its core tenets is under attack and being eroded right in front of me.
Our civil liberties (free speech, my religious freedoms and ability to exercise the 2nd Amendment) are under attack, the rule of law is essentially meaningless now since only certain classes of folks are held accountable, elections being manipulated, the fourth estate abandoning their sacred oath while swearing fealty to a political party, bad people getting away with doing bad deeds with no accountability, academia rewriting history and indoctrinating future generations on how to be good little comrades, virtue, and honor taking a back seat to the accumulation of raw power and influence.
Our culture is changing, and not for the better.
I find that practice time at the range is beneficial to my health and well-being. 😉
Rich, those of us like you who remember the old ways and live by them are an example to those around you. That is why we must keep on keeping on
Control IS AN ILLUSION. And in the Frey it can evaporate in a heart beat. Save who needs to be saved, kill who needs to be killed. And SPLIT.
Chuck Norris is such as badass, he counted to infinity.
Twice.
“Fear of the unknown?”
More like fear of what insane people running government are doing.