Coping During Uncertain Times
By Matt Giffin, MA, LCPC
The common thread that runs through many causes of anxiety is the feeling or perception of a lack of control, whether it is our performance in school or in our workplace, the way that we are perceived by others in a new social environment, or our concerns about safety when we step onto a plane. While we may not be able to orchestrate each of these scenarios in a way that completely erases our anxiety, we can access coping skills and formulate strategies that help us to mitigate our anxiety and successfully navigate many scenarios just like these. But what happens when our anxieties and fears are based on something that feels way out of our control?
In the last few weeks, many changes have taken place that might have inspired significant fear for the safety of yourself or the people around you, simply based on your gender, your sexuality, the color of your skin, or the place that your parents or your grandparents once called home. And when these fears are inspired based on the decisions of the government, it can feel very difficult to determine what, if anything, we can do about it. All of a sudden, the deep-breathing exercises that we practiced before giving a workplace presentation do not really seem like they are going to cut it any more. However, we are not completely helpless in this fight!
Stay Informed, But Don’t Doomscroll
In this day and age, our access to media is vast and valuable, but can very easily become overwhelming and downright harmful if we let it. Particularly with regard to politics, a concrete understanding of recent changes and a healthy speculation into potential changes to come are helpful tools in preparing for scenarios that might impact the wellbeing of individuals in particular marginalized groups. However, the social media algorithms that might serve us endless corgi videos after we have watched the first few, will typically do the same for politically-charged content. A comprehensive article or news segment to stay up-to-date is helpful, but do your best to avoid watching every video or clicking on every hyperlink before you find yourself ruminating on worst-case scenarios for hours on end.
Don’t Talk Yourself Out of Comfort
Journaling, and physical exercise, and mindfulness, and going outside, and deep-breathing, and setting boundaries, and social connection, and on and on and on. There are many coping skills that are often viewed as objectively healthy, but please don’t talk yourself out of the benefits of some good old fashioned comfort-seeking behaviors. Sometimes when we’re feeling particularly down, the activation energy to complete an entire page of our journals feels immense. We know that it will probably be helpful to do some of that processing, but we listened to our co-workers discuss the sadness of a recent tragedy for our entire lunch hour and we’re feeling sapped. It might not be an everyday choice, but the accessible joy of a sweet treat, a fun game, or a few hours of our comfort show is sometimes unmatched.
Embrace Community
One of the easiest ways to stoke our fears is to encounter hardship and immediately retreat, inevitably amplifying our anxiety’s focus on trying to overcome this hardship all on our own. Whether it’s a big city or a small town, we have the ability to find the like-minded and band together, sharing information, providing comfort, and encouraging one another to set our sights on change, advocacy, and love. Though the internet may leave us vulnerable to the occasional doomscroll, it also can provide a refuge to those who feel particularly isolated, either physically or ideologically. There are a multitude of support groups, helplines, Discord servers, Reddit threads, encouraging TikTok influencers, and even therapy blogs out there that might just be one comment away from fostering a relationship that can help today’s anxiety become tomorrow’s peace.
If you or those around you are in need of further support, our team at Counseling Works would be more than happy to assist! Together we can find hope and weather these storms! Schedule an appointment today!
