Viral Anxiety: Are You Infected?
Anxiety is spreading like a cold virus! Talk to a friend at the grocery store and their fears and anxieties spread like germs. Turn on the news and the fear virus travels through the screen into your heart. One after another my clients are reporting unbridled anxiety since the election. They feel helpless, they can’t get away from it because of it’s pervasiveness. It’s spreading like an epidemic and we need to stop it before we are buried by it. The phenomena of “catching feelings” is called Social Contagion.
If you are one of those currently feeling overwhelmed by anxiety and fear I’m here to tell you that you are not alone. If these feelings have increased since the election you are experiencing a national outbreak of an anxiety epidemic. You need to know this so that you don’t isolate or blame yourself. The instability of our current times has reached epic proportions and we still try to continue on as if nothing has changed. No matter if you supported the winner of the election or not, the climate of anxiety is affecting everyone.
I’m not going to repeat the talking points that spread the anxiety, you’ve heard them all before. However I am going to remind you that you don’t have to spread the anxiety and you don’t have to let it engulf you. This is the time when detaching from the negativity and returning to your calm center is most needed. Calmness will not inhibit your ability to respond and take action. Instead it increase the odds that you act out of wisdom, creativity and patient understanding. You can bring sanity to our world when you return to your calm center. When you go viral, spread peace, not anxiety.
Thanks for this Sarah, I was getting physical symptoms, as are many people I know. One day I just reached a point and suddenly I could listen but I didn’t “feel it or react” the same way. I am very active and believe we can’t stand by and pretend this is OK. Now I am able to still object but not be overwhelmed by it.