Today is Sunday — the day of lyrics.
Lately there have been a lot of loud events that have shaken the ground under many people’s feet, mine included. It’s not easy to withstand this whole stream of ambiguous information.
Many people, myself included, are in a state of strong, prolonged stress. Even those who aren’t at the very epicenter of events, but are simply empathizing.
It’s obvious that chronic tension does nobody any good. So I decided to reflect on this topic.
A bit of amateur psychology
I recalled a sound and relevant statement from a psychology book I once read.
The gist of this statement was as follows: any stress is additional mental energy released by our brain in order to adapt to a changing (quickly or slowly) environment around us. In other words, one of the brain’s response reactions to external stimuli is the release of mental energy, with the help of which, presumably, we will more actively and successfully adapt to new changes and the life circumstances that have formed.
When such a situation arises, as I see it, there are two paths. The first is to be active, engaging in some kind of movement, whether it’s doing sports, simple walks, household chores, communicating with loved ones, tidying up around yourself, or solving any other life tasks. All of this is needed so that this mental energy, formed as a result of stress, comes out, that is, gets realized.
The other possible course of events is the opposite of the first — low-activity behavior, despite the fact that the psyche is in an agitated state. Such a path is by its nature unnatural and harmful to us. Reasoning with simple logic, if energy has formed — it must go somewhere, and preferably get realized into the external environment. If this doesn’t happen, it will go inward, thereby in no way easing the emotional torment, but only aggravating it, provoking the appearance of the next wave of stress, and following it, even more energy.
The raven: Well, screw this, I’m out..
Another problem with such a situation is that while in a depressed state, there’s often no strength, mood, or desire to do anything at all. You just want to lie down and stay lying, so that everything passes on its own. But the energy that has appeared doesn’t get properly realized on its own — it can only go inward, once again giving rise to states of stress and closing the vicious circle.
To break this circle, an act of will is necessary. Which also requires energy, somewhat different from the kind that forms as a result of stress. Unfortunately, in such a state the amount of willpower resource is often insufficient to break the vicious circle that has formed, or even to try to do so. Therefore it’s worth somehow spurring its replenishment. This could be meeting with loved ones, a short trip, buying a long-desired trinket, and so on. In general, you need to distract yourself for a moment, switch gears, get a minimal dose of positive emotions, so that our brain can replenish its store of willpower.
A raven displeased with you
Important!
It’s very important to keep an eye on your state and take some kind of action, constantly moving. Otherwise you start to mope, close yourself off, unnecessary thoughts appear that aren’t so easy to chase away, and so on.
And there’s indeed a lot of truth in the simple, banal saying: movement is the engine of progress. In this case, progress toward getting out of an anxious state.
Thanks for reading. I wish you more optimism and willpower resource. 😉
Raven photo authors: